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Well, good evening and welcome to Crowd Church. My name is Matt Edmundson and it

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is great to be with you this Sunday evening. I am joined by— how would I

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describe you, Dan? It's like, uh, Liverpool's answer to Batman. Uh, beside me is

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Dan Orange, which is being filmed as we speak. Well, I know they're waiting on

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you to get back.

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I know, yeah. It's being filmed on the Runcorn Bridge just down the road. Oh,

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there you go. Yeah, snow and everything, Batman. Snow? Yeah.

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In the middle of summer?

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Yeah, they've got fake snow on the Runcorn Bridge.

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Wow.

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I'm going to go down and have a look. Anyway, and on my right, we've got

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Liverpool's answer to Superman, Mike Harris. How are we doing?

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I'm doing really well.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, really. Looking forward to it.

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Did you forget your cape?

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Yes. Yeah, I would say I'm more like Robin.

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Robin.

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The leotard and goggles.

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So let us know in the comments what superhero you think you are. That would be

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really good. Alicia's in the comments. Hey, good to see you. Hello. Oh, yeah.

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Um, good to see you in there, but do say hi in the comments if you haven't done

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so already. I'm just writing the YouTube comments to say hi, let us know where

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you're watching from, um, and it'll be great to interact with you on this live

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stream. Yes, it would. So let me run down my little checklist. I think I've done

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the welcome, uh, and the intro, um, uh, invite to comment. Yes, I've done that.

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So, uh, just let you know that Crowd is an online church. You are welcome here,

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it's great to have you. Um, we are a Christian church. Uh, we've been doing the

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live streaming thing. If you're new to Crowd, by the way, we've been doing it

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for, I don't know, a good while. A little while, yeah. I don't think— since

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COVID um, we, we came online in COVID. And it's, it's a little bit different to

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a normal church, in-person church. It's a lot more interactive. And so you can

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join in in the comments, you can ask your questions, uh, we will try our best to

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answer them as we go through. Um, Mike's going to bring the talk, we're going to

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chat about the talk in something called Conversation Street. Um, so it's kind

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of— it is church, it's just a little bit different. Um, at the end of the

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service we've got live lounge, so we invite you to come join us on Google Meet,

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um, which Zoe will put the link in the comments for. Uh, just you just press the

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button on the thingy, so the Stream Deck, as she figures out the technology.

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There we go. Uh, so yeah, there's the comment, uh, www— no, go.crowd.church/meet.

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Giving you the wrong web address. The website is crowd.church if you want to

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find out anything about Crowd Church. We have a brand new website. Thank you so

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much, everybody, by the way, who have been, uh, dialing in and telling me where

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all the mistakes are in the website. That's been very, very helpful. We have

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fixed quite a few of them, um, so do keep those coming in. Uh, I, I would

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genuinely love to know where the mistakes are. Um, so yeah, uh, Crowd Church,

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you can find out all information about the church there. The Alpha courses we

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run, we've just set new dates up for a new Alpha course, which I think is the

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9th of September. Um, so if you'd like to register for that Alpha course,

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registration's now open. Alpha, for those of you don't know, is basically an

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introduction to Christianity. So a lot of people who are sort of searching, um,

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for answers, big life answers, and they're sort of curious about Christianity do

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Alpha. You don't have to be a Christian to do it, and most people aren't. Or if

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you're early in your Christian faith and you want to know some of the answers to

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the Christian, uh, story, then come and try Alpha. Uh, and like I say, the

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registration is available on the website. You can head to that and see all of

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those. So I think, uh, that's all of the notes. Well, actually, that's not all

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the notices, but I'm not going to bore you with the rest of them. We've got some

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really exciting stuff actually with Crowd coming up, so some big changes, um,

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which we're going to talk about probably— well, I don't know when we're gonna

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know because I'm just thinking actually in August, which this is the last, uh,

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one in July, the last livestream in August. So we don't livestream in August,

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the Sunday's, uh, Sunday's service. We do something called the non-live

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livestream. And so that's where we, we still like do a, a thing on YouTube with

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the talk there's just none of this sort of interaction that we have, this sort

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of live interaction, mainly because the whole Crowd team here, we just take

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August as a bit of a sabbatical and just refresh ourselves because there's a lot

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going on. Um, and so yeah, I'm not quite sure I'm going to talk about what's

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going on with Crowd Church. Maybe we'll do it later after the talk. We'll wait

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and see, uh, how it's happening. So let me put my specs on. Let's have a look at

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what's going on in the comments. Uh, Matt Crew, as the proofreader for the

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website, I saw no mistakes. That's really Hey, nice work. I don't think you've

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looked properly yet, Matt. There'll be some. Uh, Sam says the website looks

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great. Thank you, Sam. Uh, always good to see you, my friend. Um, let me just

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delete— Ros is on. Hi, Ros.

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How you doing?

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Uh, hopefully you're having a beautiful day. Sam says hi. Ellis, new website is

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much better, by the way.

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Good, good feedback.

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Yeah, yeah. It's all very good feedback about the website, which is great. Uh,

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Katharine is on 1886. Normally when people put their usernames— so Katharine

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1886, right? Normally when people put their users, like the year of birth, isn't

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it? So welcome. That's quite impressive. Uh, so good to have you on board. Uh,

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let me just clear out some of these things. There we go. Um, so yeah, great to

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see you, great to have you on board. Uh, Mike, what we talking— well, what are

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you talking about tonight?

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Um, so today we are talking about service. Um, we're talking about how Jesus

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created a new way of living, a new way of, um, leading. Um, I'm gonna look at—

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yeah, we're gonna look at that and how Jesus demonstrated that.

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Fantastic, fantastic. Well, Uh, unless I've missed something, Dan.

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No, I think that's—

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should we jump into it?

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Jump into it.

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It's okay. So we're going to jump into the talk. The legendary Mike Harris, also

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known as Superman, uh, is going to talk about service and this thing that Jesus

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set up. We're going to get into conversation street. Uh, grab your notebooks,

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grab your pens, write in the comments. We'd love to hear your thoughts, your

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ideas. Um, and of course, if you need Superman during the talk, just again write

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that in the comments. Mike will surely answer. Over to you, Mike.

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Great. Well, it is super to be here. And just as a little bit of a recap for

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those of you who maybe didn't see last week's Crowd Church, Ade was speaking and

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he was speaking about answering the question, who is our neighbor? And we had a

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little look at that and we had a look at why that was important to the to the

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guy who asked that question, um, and we looked at, you know, who our neighbor

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is. And today we are looking at how we treat our neighbor, um, and so that,

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that's what I'm going to be looking at. And the passage, um, which I'm going to

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read out is in the Gospel of John, so John's eyewitness account, um, and it's in

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chapter 13. So I'm just going to start by reading a little bit of that. It only

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takes a few minutes. So this is John chapter 13, and it says this: It was just

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before the Passover festival, and Jesus knew the hour had come for him to leave

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this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he

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loved them to the end. The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had

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already prompted Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew

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that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from

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God and was returning to God. So he got up from the meal, took off his outer

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clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into

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a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that

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was wrapped around him. I'm then going to jump to verse 12. When he had finished

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washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you

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understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and

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'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and

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Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have

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set you an example, that you should do as I have done for you. Very truly I tell

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you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the

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one who sent him." Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do

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them. Okay, so that is the passage, uh, quite a famous passage, uh, of Jesus

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washing the disciples' feet. And so first of all, I just want to point out a few

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things about this passage. So the first thing is, um, a little bit of context.

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So Jesus is not far off going to the cross to die. He knows that that is where

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he's heading, um, and he decides that this is a really, um, that one of the

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things that he wants to leave with the disciples is this example about how to

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serve. And so Jesus decides that he's gonna take on the position of the lowest

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possible servant and wash his disciples' feet. You see, back in those times, if

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a Jewish, um, person had Jewish slaves, he wouldn't— the master wouldn't even

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ask the Jewish slaves to wash people's feet. It was too degrading for them. He

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would actually ask— only ask Gentile slaves to do this job. This was even within

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slaves, there was like this hierarchy, and the Gentile slave was the one who was

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asked to clean feet because it was the lowest, the most degrading job. And Jesus

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decides to place himself in that role. And so he takes off his outer clothes, he

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wraps a towel around him, and he takes on the role of this low Gentile slave. He

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performs this act, and then at the end of the act, he tells his disciples to do

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the same, and if they do it, then they will be blessed. You see, this act of

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Jesus serving his disciples pointed back to his life, to everything that he had

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done, and that it was all an act of service. That this act of washing his

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disciples' feet is like what he's been doing since the start. He's been serving

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those that are ill, those that are sick, those that are around him. He's been

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serving them and teaching them and feeding them, and he's been laying himself

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down in order to raise up these other people. And so it's pointing back. It's

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actually, just for those geeks amongst you, it actually points even further back

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to Joseph. Uh, you know, I've got to, uh, thank a friend of mine, Alison, who

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pointed this out to me, that back when Joseph— and for those who don't know,

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Joseph and the technical, the dream coat and all that, that sort of story— his

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brothers eventually come to him in Egypt And through his steward, he provides water

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for his brothers, his 11 brothers, of which, you know, he's the 12th, for them

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to wash their feet. So you've got Joseph providing water for his brothers to

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have their feet washed before he announces who he is, before he reveals who he

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is. And then in Jesus, you've got Jesus washing the 12 disciples' feet before he

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goes to the cross to reveal who he is. So they're similar but different because

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Jesus is the one who takes on the role of the slave. You see, with Joseph, it was his

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slave who took the water out to wash his brother's feet, but Jesus took on that

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role himself in order to wash his disciples' feet. You see, Jesus calls us to

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serve and to, to live a life of service. This act pointed backwards to Jesus's

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life before this point. It was a present act of service, and it also pointed to

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the fact that he was just about to not just lay down his hopes and dreams, but

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to lay down his life on the cross. That even— he even lay his life down before

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death. He submitted to death, even death on a cross. And so Jesus calls us to

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serve and to serve our neighbor. And so the question, you know, for me, and, and

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it's the same question that was asked last time, is how can I do this? Of

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course, I could just go out and start serving, but how can I do this? And for

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this, we have to look at verse 3 of this. And it says this in verse 3, it said,

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Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power and that he had

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come from God and was returning to God. You see, Jesus knew who he was and where

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he'd come from. And in order for us to serve in the way that Jesus calls us to,

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we need to know those two things. We need to know who we are, and we need to

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know where we've come from. You see, because it's only then that we can serve

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like Jesus did, from a point of, of power. And it's only then that it is, that

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it is powerful and that it is useful. We need to know who we are. Well, first of

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all, in order to know who you are, you need to look at Jesus. You need to read

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the Bible, and the Bible will tell you a number of things. And you can go and

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look at these. I would encourage you to Google 'Who am I in Christ?' and you'll

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get big lists of verses and promises that tell you who you are. So you are loved

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unconditionally. Romans 8:38-39 tells us that there is nothing that can, um,

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separate you from Jesus's love. You are forgiven. There is no condemnation. You

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are a new creation. You are a— you are the workmanship of God, created in order

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to do good works. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. God himself lives in

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you. And so when you first of all recognize who you are, you don't now have to

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compete for attention. You don't have to compete for affirmation. You have that

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already because you know who you are, and that then enables you to be able to

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serve like Jesus did. But also, you need to know where you came from last week.

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Ade, um, talked brilliantly about, um, the Good Samaritan. And in Conversation

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Street, me and Dan, we were talking about the fact that in that story, it's,

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it's easy to think, oh, how do I serve other people? But it's also important to

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remember that we were the robber who was left for dead on the side of the road.

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And in the Good Samaritan story, you've got, um, the Samaritan who eventually

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comes and saves this robber, um, puts him on his donkey, takes him to the inn

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and makes sure everything is there for him and pays for all of his care and

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stuff like that. You know, we were the robber who was on the side of the road.

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But Jesus, through his death and resurrection, have come and saved us and

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restored us and made us a new creation. And when we start to read the Bible and

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we look at Jesus's life and we look at where we have come from, that enables us

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further to be able to empathize with those that are around us and serve them

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better. So we need to know who we are and we need to know where we've come from.

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We also need to know, like Jesus did, where we are heading. And you know, Jesus

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has prepared— is preparing a place for you. We are going to rule and reign in

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paradise with the one who is love, the one who has defeated death. And we are

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called and we are going to reign with Jesus. In that place. And that is

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something that we can look forward to, have hope in, fix— try and fix in our

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gaze. So let's remember who we are, where we've come from, and where we're

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heading. And that'll help us to serve. You know, I sometimes, um, look at people

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who are famous, people who are, you know, very, very wealthy. And I've taken a

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bad example, but Elon Musk. And I've had conversations with people, and I've

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joined in these conversations where I'm like, if only, you know, given all of

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the power, given all of the money that he has, he could do this and he could

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solve this problem. And if he just did this with his power, with his influence,

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then he could solve this problem. And he could do this, and he could do that,

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and he could solve all these problems. You know, when you look at other people,

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you know, like the President of America with all of this power, and if only they

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could do this and this, then they would be able to solve all these problems. I

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want to tell you today that heaven roars you on. Heaven looks down at you with

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all of the power and all of the authority and all of the possibilities that you

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have within you. And is roaring you on to serve and to influence those that are

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around you, to be it, to be Jesus' hands and feet with those that are around

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you, like your neighbor, like I talked about last week. And with the power of

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God in you, you are being cheered on. Um, and maybe today is time for you to to

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accept that challenge, to accept who you are, to accept where you've come from,

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to accept that you have been placed where you are. You have been given the power

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of God and that you are called to serve where you are right now and have an

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enormous impact where you are. I can't remember who it is who says, um, who is

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it? Dallas Willard was saying— I was reading today and he says that God's world

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is an arena, and you have a huge role, an indispensable role to play in it. I, I

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just want to throw out that challenge because this is a challenging piece of

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scripture, that you have been called and placed where you are. It is time to get

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up and kneel down. I just want to finish with, um, a little story that I heard a

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friend of mine say this week. It's just, just quite an inspiring story about how

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one man, um, saved someone in front of him. So this guy, I think he was a

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Catholic priest, and he really, really enjoyed running, um, but didn't have

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loads of money, but saved and saved and saved and was able to eventually buy a

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really good pair of running trainers. And he went out running in them, and they

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were brilliant. They were everything that he'd hoped they were going to be. And,

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you know, they were expensive, and he recognized that, you know, they were going

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to last a long time, and so he thought they were a worthwhile investment. A few

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days after he'd bought them and been out in them and realized how good they

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were, a guy turned up at his door, um, and didn't speak the same language, and,

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um, didn't have any shoes on, um, and clearly looked homeless, um, and looked in

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need of some, some real care. And so this guy was pointing to his feet and he

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needed something to wear on his feet. And so this guy went and got all the shoes

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in his house and put them before him, and he was trying them on, and the only

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ones that would fit were this pair of running shoes that, um, that, that this

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guy had just bought. And so, uh, the, the guy eventually decided, well, if

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they're the ones that fit, then you can take them. And, and he took them and he

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went off. That night, this guy had a dream. And in this dream— and as he was

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recounting this story, he could barely get the dream out because he was bawling

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his eyes out. And as he was explaining this dream, before him in this dream

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stood this man who he knew to be Jesus, wearing the trainers that he'd given to

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this guy. And this— the guy who, who gave up these trainers, you know, when he

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woke up in the morning, you know, he— one of the thoughts that he had was I

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could have missed that chance. I could have just gone and got any pair of shoes,

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a pair of shoes that, you know, that we didn't use, and brought them, and, and

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this guy would have been made up with them. And I might have missed this

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opportunity to give to my Lord, to my Savior, to my King, the best of what I

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had. You know, the people who you are surrounded by today they need you to serve

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them. They need you to show them Jesus. And what better way? You know, Jesus

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calls us to serve, to lay down our life for each other and for our friends. And

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when we do that, we don't always know or even get to see the power, um, that

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those acts have. Um, but they are powerful. You know, just, just to return to

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what Dallas Willard said, he says that God's world is an arena and you have an

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indispensable role to play. It is time for us to get up and for us to lay down.

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Back to you in the studio. Where I reside also. I

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thought I was on TV-am.

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Yeah, love that.

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He's like 1.5 meters away, because I'm not even that, like maybe a meter. I

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could probably smack you up with that.

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You probably could.

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So back to the studio. TV, you're going to have to explain TV-am.

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Yeah, that's a cultural reference from the past.

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That is a, there's only a certain subset of people. Maybe Katharine who was born

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in 1886.

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Maybe she can remember that. Yeah.

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Although Alicia put in the comments Um, uh, I, I saw this actually. We'll get on

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to the talk in a second, but I did see this because her, uh, YouTube is 1316 or

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something like that. Oh wow, 1316. And she goes it was just a random number

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assigned by YouTube, it's not the year she was born. She was at great pains to

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point that out. So, um, yes, anyway, regardless of whatever age you are, you're

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welcome at Crowd Church. Uh, we like multi-generational church. Um, to be fair,

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it's normally me that's the end of the old jokes.

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So yeah, you're the '80s.

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I mean, yeah, we went on to, um, uh, we've just— I've just literally got back

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from Wildfires, which is like a, a festival, Christian festival down in the

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south of England. If you're in the UK next August, highly recommend it. I'm

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going to be there. We're going to talk more about it on Crowd. Come join us.

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Anyway, the, um, Uh, where was I going with that? What did you just say? I

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totally lost my train of thought.

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The '80s.

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Oh, the '80s.

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Yeah.

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So we're down at Wildfires and, um, Anna, who you will know if you're a regular

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to Crowd, she's one of the, the key hosts, one of the leaders of Crowd. Her and

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Andy, um, went to one of these sort of game exchange cafes, which I'd never

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heard of. It's where you go— have you heard of this?

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No. You go into Wildfires.

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No, it wasn't our Wildfires, it was on the sort of way to Wildfires. It's where

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you go, you take a game and you leave that game but you take another game. So

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it's like a game swap, which is kind of cool. Anyway, Anna bought, uh, '80s

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Trivia.' We thought you'd like this, Matt, but we never actually did play on

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Wildfires. Um, so maybe we'll do that on live on the air one day. Anyway, I

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digress. Um, love that, Mike. So it's, it's interesting, is it? This whole— I

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think with these kind of stories, right, you— they become so familiar that you

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you— it's like you don't think about it, becomes autonomous. I mean, it's like,

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yeah, we know Jesus washed his disciples' feet, I probably should do something

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and serve at some point, and you're off to the next one.

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Yeah.

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Um, what was the biggest challenge when you prepared the talk?

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The biggest challenge was thinking about— I was talking last week about these

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two groups of people. And you hear us talk about you need to serve, and you've

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got one group of people who will just go out and do it. They're just people who

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say, right, if Jesus says I'm to serve, then I'm gonna go and serve.

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Yeah.

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And then you've got the other group of people who just don't think they're

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worthy.

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Yeah.

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And so they just feel condemned.

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Yeah.

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So you've got one group of people who just go and do it, their heart isn't

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really in it, but they just go and do it. And then you've got the other group of

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people you just feel condemned. And so the challenge was to try and think about,

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so how do we, how do we help, how do we help both groups?

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Yeah, I loved it, Mike. I really loved the, the heaven, heaven roars you on.

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Yeah.

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And that, and like you were saying, it, it's easy to say, oh, Elon Musk could do

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that, these people could say that, Bill Gates can, you know, make another

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vaccine, pay for that. Um, always putting the emphasis on someone else because

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they've got, got money. But we have, we have heaven's resources, don't we?

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We've got—

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no matter what our task is, God's got something for us to do. Like that, that

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priest giving his, his running shoes, you know, that if you can affect a life

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like that, that's what God wants us to to do.

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Yeah, yeah, that's such a good point, isn't it? And I think, um, it's one of

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those things where you— well, this is put here in the comments actually, uh,

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what in our society is the washing of people's feet that we could do for others?

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And that's a really interesting question, I think. Now I want to tie this in

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actually with something that Alicia said. So, um, she put in the comments. Let

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me see if I can find it here. Uh, it's incredible how Christ demonstrates such

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humility, and that humility isn't at all humiliation but a powerful

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demonstration of his love and majesty. And it reminds me of Ephesians 2:10: For

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we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God

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prepared in advance for us to do. Now, if you've not seen these comments, by the

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way, we, we live stream both horizontally and vertically on YouTube. There's two

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live streams going on, uh, and so we have to sort of remember to look at the

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comment streams. Um, but this is an interesting point, I think, because Ellis is

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asking what are the washing of the feet things. And I love, uh, and I was in the

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comments chatting with Alicia about this because I think it's great that it sort

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of defines these good works that God's got before that God's sort of preordained

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that we walk in. These good works are acts of service, right? That's what the

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word ministry— yeah— is. And he's prepared these ahead of time for us to do.

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Yeah.

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And so, um, yeah, I guess, what are these good works in the modern-day era? And

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I guess coupled with that is, how do you see them as good works rather than a

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chore Because in my head, do you— I mean, when you're— I don't know, maybe Zoe

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is better answering this question, but when we talked about chores with our

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kids, the word chore is never a word you'd go, that's— how can I, how can I do

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more chores, Dad? I'm so excited about doing chores. It's just the word chore

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itself. You did, you washed our feet metaphorically. Um, it's true, we were away

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and Zoe had made dinner for when we got back. Because she's a legend. But it's,

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it's interesting, isn't it, because we view these things as chores. There's a

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negative connotation with them. So, um, chores is a very—

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yeah, it doesn't inspire, does it? Because it is just like, got it.

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Yeah, I've got to put the trash out. Yeah, it's a chore.

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That's for sure. Rather than—

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yeah, well, I just need to serve my wife.

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Yeah, yeah, right. It's just something I, yeah, I need to do.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Fascinating.

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I love, um, so Mike, you, you put that God's got an indispensable role, or was

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that what Dallas Willard said? Uh, yeah, I really like that, that phrase,

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because it is, isn't it? We— I can think sometimes, oh, someone else could do

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that, or I could do this, but is that as good as that? Or it's not as great as

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what Paul did or Peter did. You know, he's got an indispensable role for us as

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individuals. We can't— I think we talked last week it's not something to

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compare. Yeah, you know, it's not— not my task I've got to do is comparable with

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someone else's. That doesn't work. It's just what God's got for us, let's do for

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him. And, and that's the important thing. It doesn't— it doesn't matter about

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its size or its, you know, standing or whatever that might be.

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Yeah, yeah, I, I totally agree. And I think, I think you But you're still on a

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really good point there, is in that you're doing it for God. And I think

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sometimes, you know, I can see something, I see a way of serving somebody, but I

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might not particularly like that person. But I know that there's commands for me

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to serve, but I do know that I love God. And so I think sometimes that's where

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we can get our motivation from. We could say, okay, at this moment I don't have

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those gushing feelings towards this person, but I do love God, and therefore I

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love for God, I'm gonna, I'm gonna do this. And I think the more you do that,

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you know, I, I know I've experienced this in my own life on occasions where,

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where I've decided to do that for somebody, is that the emotions, the emotions

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follow. Yeah, but then they're not always the driver. Yes. Um, yeah, and yeah,

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there's an interesting part at the end of that which can be a bit confused at

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the end of that passage where Jesus basically says, look, a slave is not greater

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than his master. And, and Jesus is saying, you aren't greater than I am, and

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look at what I'm doing, I'm washing the disciples' feet. And so we can identify

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with, with Jesus and say, yes, you are right, I'm not greater than you. I've

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seen you washing other people's feet, and therefore I'm gonna do the same. I'm

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gonna, you know, I'm, I'm gonna step up and I'm gonna do it. Um, yeah, I think

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it's also good, that verse that you said. It, it talks about the good works that

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God has prepared for us to do. Now, that good is good according to him. Yeah,

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not necessarily according to us. Yeah, Romans 8:28 says God works all things for

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the good of those who love him. And so we think everything in my life, God's

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working to make me better, to make me bigger, to make me stronger. It's like,

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yeah, no, the good is according to him.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, and you know, we, we do have heaven to look forward to and paradise to

409
00:34:13,289 --> 00:34:17,550
look forward to, but, but that good is, is, is according to him. Yeah, not, you

410
00:34:17,550 --> 00:34:21,810
know, and sometimes that is gonna elevate us. Yeah, lift us up. Yeah. And

411
00:34:21,810 --> 00:34:26,070
sometimes it's going to mean that we—

412
00:34:26,389 --> 00:34:27,750
well, more often than it's, it's not.

413
00:34:28,070 --> 00:34:28,389
It's not.

414
00:34:28,789 --> 00:34:33,382
Yeah, it's, it's more about, uh, other people, isn't it? So I love this idea. I

415
00:34:33,382 --> 00:34:37,975
mean, you made reference to it, Mike. I love this idea that in the Bible Jesus

416
00:34:37,975 --> 00:34:42,568
tells you how to be great. In the sense that greatness, or being great, was

417
00:34:42,568 --> 00:34:47,161
often seen in the church as a sort of a dirty word. I mean, what do you mean?

418
00:34:47,161 --> 00:34:51,754
Because you shouldn't want to be great. Have no aspirations, have no drive. I

419
00:34:51,754 --> 00:34:56,347
mean, have no desire to do great things. Jesus says, no, if you want to be

420
00:34:56,347 --> 00:35:00,940
great, that's awesome, man. Yeah, here's how you do it. You'd be serving.

421
00:35:01,659 --> 00:35:04,860
Paul says run the race to win, doesn't he? Run the race to dawdle, or, you know.

422
00:35:05,260 --> 00:35:09,780
Yeah, yeah. Do it, do it, don't fart about, but do it. And it's like, but he

423
00:35:09,780 --> 00:35:14,300
says, if you want to be great, you've got to be servant to all. He throws the

424
00:35:14,300 --> 00:35:18,820
whole thing upside down. And so leadership, then ministry becomes about who you

425
00:35:18,820 --> 00:35:23,340
serve rather than who serves you.

426
00:35:23,420 --> 00:35:23,500
Yeah.

427
00:35:23,659 --> 00:35:28,556
And so the good works that God's got beforehand that we should walk in will

428
00:35:28,556 --> 00:35:33,453
often be a blessing to someone else, or will be to serve someone else. And

429
00:35:33,453 --> 00:35:38,349
usually as you guys talked about last week, that will be at a cost to us.

430
00:35:38,510 --> 00:35:40,429
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

431
00:35:40,429 --> 00:35:44,901
And so not all the time. And you do get that, um, there is a benefit, I think,

432
00:35:44,901 --> 00:35:49,372
to serve. And even psychologists now say this, don't they, that you get this

433
00:35:49,372 --> 00:35:53,843
sort of, um, uh, kind of really good sort of feeling and vibe when you help

434
00:35:53,843 --> 00:35:58,314
somebody or when you give something. Do you know what I mean? And it's, um, and

435
00:35:58,314 --> 00:36:02,786
so it's not totally altruistic But at the same time, good works, like you say,

436
00:36:02,786 --> 00:36:07,257
are what God says, and usually that's for the benefit of somebody else. You are

437
00:36:07,257 --> 00:36:11,728
blessed to be a blessing, right? It's that whole drive. And I, I find that super

438
00:36:11,728 --> 00:36:16,199
duper challenging.

439
00:36:16,679 --> 00:36:20,599
I mean, it's super challenging, especially within the context within which we

440
00:36:20,599 --> 00:36:24,519
live, which is all about stepping on each other, elevating yourself. How quickly

441
00:36:24,519 --> 00:36:28,440
can you get up that ladder?

442
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:29,079
Yeah.

443
00:36:29,320 --> 00:36:32,960
How many likes? How many subscribers? All of that kind of thing.

444
00:36:33,199 --> 00:36:33,280
Yeah.

445
00:36:34,000 --> 00:36:38,720
Um, you know, and, and, and so we're called to swim against that, and that's

446
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:43,440
really hard, really hard to do.

447
00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,079
And well, it is because we live in a, in a— and just thinking that through,

448
00:36:48,079 --> 00:36:52,720
right, our whole culture is, I want it faster and I want it easier, right? I

449
00:36:52,720 --> 00:36:57,360
don't want any effort involved in what's going on. The whole thing about AI,

450
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:02,000
everyone's you either hate it or love it because there's going to be a robot

451
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:06,639
that's going to bring you a cup of tea whenever you want it, right? And we're

452
00:37:06,639 --> 00:37:11,279
all like, oh, and it's, it's this idea that actually those kind of tasks are

453
00:37:11,279 --> 00:37:15,920
menial, they're beneath us. And here we see Jesus doing the most menial and

454
00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:20,559
lowest of tasks, which is washing the disciples' feet. And it's— he didn't— he

455
00:37:20,559 --> 00:37:25,199
wasn't like, dude, come here, feet are dirty, sort them out. Here are my feet,

456
00:37:25,199 --> 00:37:29,840
do me a pedicure while you're at it. It wasn't, it wasn't like that, was it? It

457
00:37:29,840 --> 00:37:34,480
was like, here, give me your feet, dude, I know they stink, I'm gonna sort it.

458
00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:39,119
This is not like— I wouldn't want to do that job. I genuinely wouldn't want to

459
00:37:39,119 --> 00:37:43,759
do that. No, I've got a thing about touching people. I just, I don't know, I

460
00:37:43,759 --> 00:37:48,399
don't know how he did it. Yeah, but it's just, I mean, it's, it's, yeah, it is

461
00:37:48,399 --> 00:37:53,039
this kind of idea that greatness is found in the menial tasks, doing them for

462
00:37:53,039 --> 00:37:57,679
other people. I don't see that many leadership books You don't, you don't.

463
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:03,466
And, uh, you know, the thing is that, that those opportunities to serve like

464
00:38:03,466 --> 00:38:09,172
that are all around us. Yeah. And, you know, like Dallas Willard was saying,

465
00:38:09,172 --> 00:38:14,879
we've got this indispensable role to play, and Jesus has prepared these good

466
00:38:14,879 --> 00:38:20,585
works for us to do. And it's such a challenge for me because, you know, that

467
00:38:20,585 --> 00:38:26,291
there will be times— I'm sure today where there have been opportunities for me

468
00:38:26,291 --> 00:38:31,998
to lay aside my hopes for the day to serve somebody else. Yeah, it has to be.

469
00:38:31,998 --> 00:38:37,704
Yeah, it has to be. And I've not seen them. Yeah, I've been too busy. Yeah, I've

470
00:38:37,704 --> 00:38:43,410
been too elevated in my own thinking that I've missed them. Um, but, but, but

471
00:38:43,410 --> 00:38:49,117
they're there. Yeah, they're there for— they're there for all of us. And not

472
00:38:49,117 --> 00:38:54,823
only that, But God has given us everything we need, all the resources of heaven,

473
00:38:54,823 --> 00:39:00,530
everything we need to be able to go and fulfill that role and meet that need.

474
00:39:00,610 --> 00:39:00,690
Yeah.

475
00:39:01,090 --> 00:39:05,010
Um, and it's a challenge. Yeah, it's a challenge.

476
00:39:06,050 --> 00:39:09,852
It is. So what would you say then, going back to Ellis's question, are some of

477
00:39:09,852 --> 00:39:13,653
the modern-day examples of washing people's feet? Because I mean, if you just

478
00:39:13,653 --> 00:39:17,456
went in the street and said, can I wash your feet? I'm not sure that would go

479
00:39:17,456 --> 00:39:21,257
down particularly well, but I, I, what would be, do you think, some modern

480
00:39:21,257 --> 00:39:25,059
examples of this?

481
00:39:27,860 --> 00:39:35,000
Two, two examples that I'm thinking of that have just come to mind, very, very

482
00:39:35,000 --> 00:39:42,139
different. Um, first one is for, is to, I'm looking for the best way to describe

483
00:39:42,139 --> 00:39:49,279
this, not befriend but bless people who are seen as toxic. So, you know, for

484
00:39:49,279 --> 00:39:56,420
some people who've maybe messed up in terrible ways, being the person who's

485
00:39:56,420 --> 00:40:03,559
prepared to risk your reputation to go and, um, administer something of Jesus'

486
00:40:03,559 --> 00:40:10,699
love to them.

487
00:40:11,260 --> 00:40:11,340
Yeah.

488
00:40:11,980 --> 00:40:18,619
Um, to not completely disown them, that would potentially be something that

489
00:40:18,619 --> 00:40:25,260
could, that could put some dirt on you, if you like. Yes. Um, another way, I, I

490
00:40:25,260 --> 00:40:31,900
think just praising other people. I think the more, the more I'm online, the

491
00:40:31,900 --> 00:40:38,539
less I see of people praising— yes, other people.

492
00:40:38,940 --> 00:40:39,019
Yeah.

493
00:40:39,820 --> 00:40:44,791
And I think, I think it's a lost art. And you know, when you praise somebody

494
00:40:44,791 --> 00:40:49,764
else, you, you really are trying to lift them up, potentially at your own

495
00:40:49,764 --> 00:40:54,735
expense. Um, so yeah, so I think wholeheartedly praising other people and

496
00:40:54,735 --> 00:40:59,708
looking for things that are praiseworthy in other people and praising them for

497
00:40:59,708 --> 00:41:04,679
it. Yeah. Um, is one another way to do it.

498
00:41:04,679 --> 00:41:06,360
It's a really good point, just being generous.

499
00:41:06,760 --> 00:41:07,159
Yeah.

500
00:41:07,610 --> 00:41:11,703
I like that, Mike. And I think nowadays with the whole cancel culture, it's very

501
00:41:11,703 --> 00:41:15,796
easy to not even, not even, you know, if you're online, not even like something

502
00:41:15,796 --> 00:41:19,890
because you're concerned that, that, that links you to that. Yeah, to that, that

503
00:41:19,890 --> 00:41:23,983
statement. What, you know, I like what they said there, but what about what they

504
00:41:23,983 --> 00:41:28,076
said, you know, 10 years ago? But it's the same as, same as me, isn't it? We've,

505
00:41:28,076 --> 00:41:32,170
yeah, we are infallible people. Infallible? Fallible.

506
00:41:33,289 --> 00:41:37,730
I don't know how infallible I am. You go for it. I mean, you are Batman.

507
00:41:38,300 --> 00:41:39,659
We, we make mistakes. That's easy.

508
00:41:39,820 --> 00:41:40,139
Yeah, yeah.

509
00:41:41,179 --> 00:41:45,579
Um, and it's, yeah, just, just praising what, what someone's said or done, or

510
00:41:45,579 --> 00:41:49,980
just, yeah, loving them in that way.

511
00:41:50,059 --> 00:41:50,699
Yeah, yeah.

512
00:41:51,579 --> 00:41:55,087
Even I was thinking a more, much more menial thing. The first person to make the

513
00:41:55,087 --> 00:41:58,596
cup of tea, you know, in our culture, it's not like sitting there, oh, I made

514
00:41:58,596 --> 00:42:02,103
one last time, you know, and you're in the office. Yeah, it's your turn. He

515
00:42:02,103 --> 00:42:05,612
hasn't got one. Yeah, he hasn't done the round. Yeah. Being the first person,

516
00:42:05,612 --> 00:42:09,119
just little, yeah, little things.

517
00:42:10,559 --> 00:42:15,960
I, I know it's another, um, you know, sort of spiritual thing, but I think

518
00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:21,360
forgiving people as well, it's just really hard and it costs you a lot. And you

519
00:42:21,360 --> 00:42:26,760
don't, you don't see anything about forgiveness really on social media other

520
00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:32,159
than to say you need to forgive people because it benefits you. Um, And you

521
00:42:32,159 --> 00:42:37,559
know, that's another thing that can put this on you in one sense, and it's gonna

522
00:42:37,559 --> 00:42:42,960
cost you. Yeah, it's gonna cost you to do that.

523
00:42:43,679 --> 00:42:48,422
Yeah, I think it's— whenever you think about serving or ministering to somebody,

524
00:42:48,422 --> 00:42:53,164
the way I would answer this question— I mean, we can sit here and come up with a

525
00:42:53,164 --> 00:42:57,906
thousand different ways. Yeah, right, of how to do it. I think what happens is

526
00:42:57,906 --> 00:43:02,648
God puts opportunities in front of you. Yeah, right. And it's more, God, help me

527
00:43:02,648 --> 00:43:07,391
see the opportunity that I have in front of me. And usually that is found, um,

528
00:43:07,391 --> 00:43:12,133
in a people group that you probably have a bit of a heart for, right? So, um,

529
00:43:12,133 --> 00:43:16,875
some people have a heart, say, for the homeless. So the guys at Green Pastures

530
00:43:16,875 --> 00:43:21,617
Charity, a registered charity in the UK run by Andrew and his dad Pastor Pete,

531
00:43:21,617 --> 00:43:26,360
amazing charity, got a real heart for the homeless.

532
00:43:26,639 --> 00:43:26,880
Right?

533
00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:31,685
And they serve the homeless in a great way. Um, you've got people who have a

534
00:43:31,685 --> 00:43:36,491
heart for, say, sex workers. You've got people who've got a heart for those that

535
00:43:36,491 --> 00:43:41,296
work in the NHS or in medicine, right? So yeah, there's, there's something God

536
00:43:41,296 --> 00:43:46,102
will have put inside you, I would say, Ellis, where you have a heart for a

537
00:43:46,102 --> 00:43:50,907
certain people group. And so the big question then becomes, if that's where I'm

538
00:43:50,907 --> 00:43:55,713
feeling that specific aspect of of God's outpouring through me, how do I best

539
00:43:55,713 --> 00:44:00,518
serve in that community, in that people group? Um, and I think the easiest way

540
00:44:00,518 --> 00:44:05,324
to find that out is just to go and ask somebody, because that— to talk to

541
00:44:05,324 --> 00:44:10,130
anybody for 5 minutes, I'll tell you what the 4 biggest problems are in whatever

542
00:44:10,130 --> 00:44:14,935
it is they're working in. And you go, right, well, how can I make a difference

543
00:44:14,935 --> 00:44:19,741
there? And I think it's such a powerful way of reframing rather than just going,

544
00:44:19,741 --> 00:44:24,546
oh, well, that's nasty, isn't it? They're just gonna have to sort that out or,

545
00:44:24,546 --> 00:44:29,352
or do whatever. So today we were, um, uh, we had, you know, visiting one of the

546
00:44:29,352 --> 00:44:34,157
NHS hospitals. It's easy to complain about the hospital, um, and, you know, but

547
00:44:34,157 --> 00:44:38,963
at the same time, I'm like, how can I serve these people? How can I, how can I

548
00:44:38,963 --> 00:44:43,768
bless them? How can I encourage them? Um, and so you know, when you're talking

549
00:44:43,768 --> 00:44:48,574
to the nurse or whatever, I always like to use a phrase, legend. You are a

550
00:44:48,574 --> 00:44:53,380
legend. I mean, and just coming back to heaping praise on people.

551
00:44:53,780 --> 00:44:53,860
Yeah.

552
00:44:54,179 --> 00:44:58,308
Um, rather than you are a pain in the neck and you need to sort your life out,

553
00:44:58,308 --> 00:45:02,436
which may be true. Um, but we'll start with the legend first. But I think,

554
00:45:02,436 --> 00:45:06,565
where's your heart? What's that, that people group God has got on your heart?

555
00:45:06,565 --> 00:45:10,693
But also, what are the opportunities in front of you right now? Just think back

556
00:45:10,693 --> 00:45:14,822
through your day, and if you're in the, you know, world where today is just

557
00:45:14,822 --> 00:45:18,950
literally starting for you, think back through your yesterday and just think

558
00:45:18,950 --> 00:45:23,079
through 3 or 4 events. I reckon there'll be half a dozen opportunities in there

559
00:45:23,079 --> 00:45:27,207
for you to serve, right? So me being in the hospital, there would have been

560
00:45:27,207 --> 00:45:31,336
opportunities there to serve. Even here tonight, coming in, we have

561
00:45:31,336 --> 00:45:35,464
opportunities. You got here early and you set all of this up so we didn't have

562
00:45:35,464 --> 00:45:39,593
to do it, which was great. Yeah. Um, thank you, Dan, appreciate that. But it's,

563
00:45:39,593 --> 00:45:43,721
it's like there was none of that, or you weren't here on time, you know what I

564
00:45:43,721 --> 00:45:47,849
mean? It's like, I've done all of this. Which, no, this isn't—

565
00:45:47,849 --> 00:45:48,010
this is—

566
00:45:48,090 --> 00:45:52,137
it's not— it's not the vibe, it's not the culture. We just like, how can we

567
00:45:52,137 --> 00:45:56,184
serve? How can we bless each other? Um, even on the campsite, everybody was

568
00:45:56,184 --> 00:46:00,231
taking everybody's tents down. How, how they all got packed up, no idea. Um, but

569
00:46:00,231 --> 00:46:04,278
it was just, it was just lovely to see everybody sort of digging in and and

570
00:46:04,278 --> 00:46:08,324
helping. There's always opportunities to serve, and they don't have to— see, the

571
00:46:08,324 --> 00:46:12,371
thing about washing the disciples' feet, I look at that and go, that's weird.

572
00:46:12,371 --> 00:46:16,418
But it was an everyday thing. It happened all the time. It needed doing on a

573
00:46:16,418 --> 00:46:20,465
regular basis, and Jesus just went away and did it. It was not a big monumental

574
00:46:20,465 --> 00:46:24,512
thing that needed a million-pound fundraising. Do I mean, it was just like, I'll

575
00:46:24,512 --> 00:46:28,559
go do that.

576
00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:29,519
Yeah, I'll go do that.

577
00:46:29,599 --> 00:46:32,829
It doesn't, it doesn't have to be a big thing. Me and my wife were traveling on

578
00:46:32,829 --> 00:46:36,059
Monday, and we listened to this unbelievable podcast.

579
00:46:36,780 --> 00:46:38,380
Like, was it What's the Story?

580
00:46:38,940 --> 00:46:40,780
It wasn't that one, actually, but it was—

581
00:46:40,780 --> 00:46:41,260
that is a number—

582
00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:45,059
it is a very good podcast. Yeah, but on this occasion it wasn't that one. Um, it

583
00:46:45,059 --> 00:46:48,619
was a guy called Simon Guillebaud who's been on What's the Story.

584
00:46:49,500 --> 00:46:54,219
In fact, Simon was at Wildfire. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

585
00:46:55,340 --> 00:46:58,315
He was talking with a lady called Mary, and I put the link on because just

586
00:46:58,315 --> 00:47:01,289
Unbelievable.

587
00:47:02,010 --> 00:47:02,090
She—

588
00:47:03,449 --> 00:47:08,010
very, very brief. She just, oh, lived a horrendous—

589
00:47:08,329 --> 00:47:11,289
Sorry, did you say you've put the link on? No, I will do. I'll do that next.

590
00:47:12,409 --> 00:47:18,211
Horrendous upbringing. So many things happened to her. Anyway, you need to

591
00:47:18,211 --> 00:47:24,012
listen to the story, but she was saying that this is my last walk. I'm going

592
00:47:24,012 --> 00:47:29,814
out. I'm with my dog. She's homeless. She looked a mess. She was going to

593
00:47:29,814 --> 00:47:35,615
basically end her life before she probably did some damage to this guy that had

594
00:47:35,615 --> 00:47:41,417
really abused her. And a guy just walked past her and said, how was your day?

595
00:47:41,417 --> 00:47:47,218
No, have a good day. And that's it. Never saw that guy again. Radically changed

596
00:47:47,218 --> 00:47:53,019
her, changed her life. Like, just that, that word, because she looked a mess.

597
00:47:53,099 --> 00:47:53,659
Yeah.

598
00:47:54,480 --> 00:47:58,320
And it was the right time for her. And I think it really spoke to me that it

599
00:47:58,320 --> 00:48:02,159
doesn't have to be big gestures. Yeah, just sometimes it's people that we

600
00:48:02,159 --> 00:48:06,000
wouldn't, we wouldn't talk to, or just— we are— we're aware of God's prompting

601
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,839
just to not be in our own thoughts all the time. And, uh, yeah, really spoke to

602
00:48:09,839 --> 00:48:13,679
me.

603
00:48:13,840 --> 00:48:14,400
Wow.

604
00:48:14,559 --> 00:48:18,480
Yeah, beautiful testimony. She's just impacted so many lives and stuff since.

605
00:48:18,800 --> 00:48:24,250
Yeah. Yeah, amazing. I, I think, um, one thing throughout the day that would

606
00:48:24,250 --> 00:48:29,701
change, um, my motivation is to remember that when, like that guy who just says

607
00:48:29,701 --> 00:48:35,151
have a great day, something like that, but I think about going throughout my day

608
00:48:35,151 --> 00:48:40,602
and all the opportunities that I've got to serve is to remember that when I see

609
00:48:40,602 --> 00:48:46,052
an opportunity to serve, that it's God who's asking me to go and do that. I

610
00:48:46,052 --> 00:48:51,503
think sometimes the, the task can seem menial. If, if, say, you're, you know,

611
00:48:51,503 --> 00:48:56,954
you're working in an office or something like that, and there's something that

612
00:48:56,954 --> 00:49:02,404
needs doing that isn't your job, and you go and do it. And maybe it seems menial

613
00:49:02,404 --> 00:49:07,855
because you think doing this is, is helping my boss or something like that. But

614
00:49:07,855 --> 00:49:13,305
when we remember that that task— go and say hello to that person— is something

615
00:49:13,305 --> 00:49:18,756
that God— a good work that God has planned in advance for you to do, you're

616
00:49:18,756 --> 00:49:24,207
being asked by the Creator of the universe to go and do that. Yeah. And we mess

617
00:49:24,207 --> 00:49:29,657
it up all the time, and we don't do it, and we create a thousand reasons why we

618
00:49:29,657 --> 00:49:35,108
shouldn't. But remembering, as you go through your day looking for

619
00:49:35,108 --> 00:49:40,558
opportunities, that is that it is the Creator of the universe that is asking you

620
00:49:40,558 --> 00:49:46,009
to go and do that. And I think that changes things. That changes things when

621
00:49:46,009 --> 00:49:51,460
it's like, it does.

622
00:49:51,860 --> 00:49:52,579
Yeah, yeah.

623
00:49:53,059 --> 00:49:57,219
Can you, can you put that chair away? Can you do this? Can you do that? Can you

624
00:49:57,219 --> 00:50:01,380
pay for this for that person? Um, I'm more motivated to do that when I remember

625
00:50:01,380 --> 00:50:05,539
that it's he who has gone before me and prepared these works for me to do.

626
00:50:05,619 --> 00:50:09,175
Yeah, yeah. So, so that comes back to what you said earlier, remember? Who you

627
00:50:09,175 --> 00:50:12,730
are, where you've come from, where you're going.

628
00:50:13,130 --> 00:50:13,210
Yeah.

629
00:50:13,929 --> 00:50:19,579
Um, and, and I know, and you drew it out actually right at the start of that

630
00:50:19,579 --> 00:50:25,228
verse, um, or this— right at the start of those verses. Uh, what was it it said?

631
00:50:25,228 --> 00:50:30,877
Let me just pull up the scripture here, uh, so I don't mess it up. But it was,

632
00:50:30,877 --> 00:50:36,526
um, Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power. That's a

633
00:50:36,526 --> 00:50:42,175
remarkable statement, isn't it? It's like, all things are under my power. And

634
00:50:42,175 --> 00:50:47,824
it's like, even in the midst of that, he still serves. Remember who you are,

635
00:50:47,824 --> 00:50:53,473
where you've come from, where you're going. And I think that sense of identity

636
00:50:53,473 --> 00:50:59,122
frees you from this need to try and prove yourself, right? Or by having

637
00:50:59,122 --> 00:51:04,771
everybody serve me, right? Look how good I am, I've got all this going on around

638
00:51:04,771 --> 00:51:10,420
me. Um, this sort of— it frees you from that need because you go, well, I'm

639
00:51:10,420 --> 00:51:16,069
God's, I'm already enough. He's given me everything I need that pertains to life

640
00:51:16,069 --> 00:51:21,719
and godliness. I'm content with that. Bring it on. I can now serve. I don't need

641
00:51:21,719 --> 00:51:27,368
to prove anything to anybody, right? And I think there's something quite

642
00:51:27,368 --> 00:51:33,017
remarkable about that. Um, that verse is not there by accident. When John

643
00:51:33,017 --> 00:51:38,666
wrote this gospel, um, or Mark, or, you know, whoever wrote the gospel, um, it's

644
00:51:38,666 --> 00:51:44,315
like, yes, Jesus knew this and he did it anyway. I love that. That's the, you

645
00:51:44,315 --> 00:51:49,964
know, that's the whole, um, Philippians thing. And let this mind be in you that

646
00:51:49,964 --> 00:51:55,613
was in Christ Jesus. He did not consider it robbery to be called equal with God.

647
00:51:55,613 --> 00:52:01,262
And it's like, who humbled himself even to the point of death and became a

648
00:52:01,262 --> 00:52:06,911
servant. I mean, is that— that's the whole deal. It's like, humble yourself,

649
00:52:06,911 --> 00:52:12,560
become a servant, and change the world. It's a, it's a remarkable formula. We

650
00:52:12,560 --> 00:52:18,210
should put that on a t-shirt. New t-shirt slogan. Um, just look at the comments.

651
00:52:18,849 --> 00:52:23,996
Um, I think as Jesus, you know, used lots of parables a lot of the time to be

652
00:52:23,996 --> 00:52:29,142
able to communicate things, but just as what you were saying then, Matt, you

653
00:52:29,142 --> 00:52:34,289
know, he was asked who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven, and he

654
00:52:34,289 --> 00:52:39,435
answered that quite plainly. He says, be the humble. And, you know, the— for me,

655
00:52:39,435 --> 00:52:44,581
you, you know, what, what greater act of humility than than Jesus washing the

656
00:52:44,581 --> 00:52:49,728
disciples' feet. But you've got to remember, like, all of the things that Jesus

657
00:52:49,728 --> 00:52:54,874
made him— made himself not subject to, but placed himself under. So you've got

658
00:52:54,874 --> 00:53:00,020
all the tax system, you've got the fact that he's in a human body, you've got

659
00:53:00,020 --> 00:53:05,167
the fact that he grew up with all the temptations, you've got the fact that

660
00:53:05,167 --> 00:53:10,313
there was rules, bad rules, bad occupation that he had to— and he had all the

661
00:53:10,313 --> 00:53:15,460
power.

662
00:53:15,860 --> 00:53:15,940
Yeah.

663
00:53:16,480 --> 00:53:21,946
Yeah, to solve it in a second. Yeah, distorted culture. He was faced with, you

664
00:53:21,946 --> 00:53:27,413
know, all these disciples that were just absolutely useless, and, you know, and

665
00:53:27,413 --> 00:53:32,880
then he submitted to even death itself.

666
00:53:33,360 --> 00:53:33,760
Yeah.

667
00:53:33,920 --> 00:53:38,579
And you just think, yeah, that, that's humility. And, and the way we get

668
00:53:38,579 --> 00:53:43,239
humility is by, is, is, is by knowing who we are. Where we've come from.

669
00:53:43,880 --> 00:53:43,960
Yeah.

670
00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:47,880
Um, and where we're going, and when, when we know that we can, we can serve.

671
00:53:48,440 --> 00:53:52,760
And the next day, you know, he's going to be crucified. You know, that's the— I

672
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:57,079
think, I can't do much today because it's work tomorrow, you know.

673
00:53:57,480 --> 00:53:59,800
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting crucified.

674
00:54:00,039 --> 00:54:02,480
Yeah, but I'm still going to wash your feet. Yeah, yeah. I need to get this

675
00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:04,920
done. Yeah, yeah.

676
00:54:05,960 --> 00:54:11,283
It's a really interesting point then. I've not thought about it. Um, so, uh,

677
00:54:11,283 --> 00:54:16,607
Alicia has put in the comments, one of my recent projects is figuring out how to

678
00:54:16,607 --> 00:54:21,931
make one of my sister's brownies. It's a small thing, but our kitchen makes me

679
00:54:21,931 --> 00:54:27,254
claustrophobic, so it feels big to me, and it means a lot to her because she

680
00:54:27,254 --> 00:54:32,578
knows how uncomfortable I get in tight spaces. Sometimes it really is the little

681
00:54:32,578 --> 00:54:37,902
things. Um, don't ask me why I made my— okay, yeah, yeah. Um, well, one Anybody

682
00:54:37,902 --> 00:54:43,225
out there that wants to make, uh, the brownies for Crowd Church, for the hosts

683
00:54:43,225 --> 00:54:48,549
and the speakers of Sunday livestream? Oh yes, all is greatly received. But, uh,

684
00:54:48,549 --> 00:54:53,873
I love that. It's, it's the little things. And actually, again, Alicia's

685
00:54:53,873 --> 00:54:59,196
highlighted this point that it sometimes costs you. You've got to put yourself

686
00:54:59,196 --> 00:55:04,520
in uncomfortable positions, right? It can feel weird in the sense of it's

687
00:55:04,520 --> 00:55:09,844
unusual, it's a little bit different to go out and serve. Um, so it can— it

688
00:55:09,844 --> 00:55:15,167
would, it would feel weird if I started washing feet, for example. I mean, but

689
00:55:15,167 --> 00:55:20,491
it's like it— so it can cost you, it can, it can feel like that. So I think

690
00:55:20,491 --> 00:55:25,815
that's awesome. Keep making the brownies, and I'm sure your sister will love it.

691
00:55:25,815 --> 00:55:31,138
Um, uh, helping those who are heavily judged by society seems like a timeless

692
00:55:31,138 --> 00:55:36,462
example of washing people's feet. Yes, I would totally agree. Yeah. Um, Ellis's

693
00:55:36,462 --> 00:55:41,786
question makes me think of groups who are still heavily stigmatized, like those

694
00:55:41,786 --> 00:55:47,110
with visibly displayed addictions and visible psychiatric— psychiatric—

695
00:55:47,349 --> 00:55:47,429
yeah.

696
00:55:47,670 --> 00:55:52,761
Um, symptoms. I think that's a big one, isn't it? Mental health. There's a big

697
00:55:52,761 --> 00:55:57,853
opportunity to serve, uh, yeah, in a whole arena there. Uh, what's happening in

698
00:55:57,853 --> 00:56:02,945
August? Oh, good. Jeez, we should probably talk about, um, August. I'll come

699
00:56:02,945 --> 00:56:08,036
back to that. Um, thinking of 1 Corinthians— this is Alicia again— uh, 12:22: on

700
00:56:08,036 --> 00:56:13,128
the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,

701
00:56:13,128 --> 00:56:18,220
and the parts that we think are less honorable, we treat them with special

702
00:56:18,220 --> 00:56:23,311
honor. That's, that's a really cool thing in church. Um, that we should be doing

703
00:56:23,311 --> 00:56:28,403
a lot more. Um, yeah, very good. Hopefully I've got through all of the comments.

704
00:56:28,403 --> 00:56:33,494
Matt Crew says drop some brownies off for all website proofreaders as well.

705
00:56:33,494 --> 00:56:38,586
Yeah, I think you've got something going on with the brownies, Alicia. I just—

706
00:56:38,586 --> 00:56:43,678
yeah, that's it, everyone's just now thinking of brownies, um, which is just a

707
00:56:43,678 --> 00:56:48,769
beautiful thing. So, um, thanks, Mike.

708
00:56:48,849 --> 00:56:49,250
That's all right.

709
00:56:49,489 --> 00:56:53,159
Thanks, Dan. Um, before we go, let's talk about what is— let me just remind you

710
00:56:53,159 --> 00:56:56,829
what's going to happen in August. Uh, so we do have the non-live livestream, so

711
00:56:56,829 --> 00:57:00,500
we will still be putting stuff out every week. Um, I'm just looking slightly

712
00:57:00,500 --> 00:57:04,170
wide-eyed because— just put Mike's camera on the screen. His background's

713
00:57:04,170 --> 00:57:07,840
changed.

714
00:57:09,599 --> 00:57:10,639
He's on holiday already.

715
00:57:12,960 --> 00:57:15,039
Like, that's what's happening.

716
00:57:17,340 --> 00:57:18,460
Mike's already there.

717
00:57:18,940 --> 00:57:23,309
He's joining us live from the beach, which I absolutely love. Is that, is that

718
00:57:23,309 --> 00:57:27,678
just totally gone now? So is that what's happened? Okay, you're gonna fix that.

719
00:57:27,678 --> 00:57:32,047
Um, so yes, I love that. That's brilliant. Uh, so yeah, we're gonna do the

720
00:57:32,047 --> 00:57:36,417
non-live live streams in August, so do keep joining in. Just still write your

721
00:57:36,417 --> 00:57:40,786
comments. People will be joining in and watching. Uh, the small groups,

722
00:57:40,786 --> 00:57:45,155
depending on which small group you're in, may or may not be happening, but the

723
00:57:45,155 --> 00:57:49,525
small group leaders will be, uh, informing you about that. Like I said, every

724
00:57:49,525 --> 00:57:53,894
bit of information you need is on the website. Coming up in September, we are

725
00:57:53,894 --> 00:57:58,263
making some big changes. Well, I'd say big— let me not overemphasize. We're

726
00:57:58,263 --> 00:58:02,632
going to make some changes to Crowd Church. Uh, we're going to introduce church

727
00:58:02,632 --> 00:58:07,002
membership, uh, which we're going to talk about. We're going to be doing small

728
00:58:07,002 --> 00:58:11,371
groups slightly differently, um, bigger and better ergo more awesome. Um, so

729
00:58:11,371 --> 00:58:15,740
really excited about some of the changes coming to small groups. Um, so if

730
00:58:15,740 --> 00:58:20,110
you're not a member of a church, if you're not, uh, and you would like Crowd to

731
00:58:20,110 --> 00:58:24,479
be your church, we'd love to talk to you about membership. Um, the small groups—

732
00:58:24,479 --> 00:58:28,848
if you're not in small groups, come join us on Wednesday night. We'd love to see

733
00:58:28,848 --> 00:58:33,217
you in the various small groups. If you'd like to talk to me or Dan or Mike or

734
00:58:33,217 --> 00:58:37,587
anyone of the Crowd Church leadership just about Crowd, what's going on, all

735
00:58:37,587 --> 00:58:41,956
that sort of stuff. Um, before obviously becoming like a member, uh, we'd love

736
00:58:41,956 --> 00:58:46,325
to talk to you. Um, but yeah, what else is happening in Crowd in September? Um,

737
00:58:46,325 --> 00:58:50,695
more in-person meetups. Yes, that's another big thing that's happening. We're

738
00:58:50,695 --> 00:58:55,064
going to be doing a lot more in-person meetups around the UK, and we're going to

739
00:58:55,064 --> 00:58:59,433
be doing them in the north and in the south. Wildfires next year, which

740
00:58:59,433 --> 00:59:03,802
literally I've just come off the back of, we're going to be doing a big crowd

741
00:59:03,802 --> 00:59:08,172
gathering there at Wildfires. If you'd like to come join us, we'd love to see

742
00:59:08,172 --> 00:59:12,541
you there. Um, more details will be coming up on the website soon, but you'll

743
00:59:12,541 --> 00:59:16,910
probably have to book that quite quickly because Wildfires does sell out quite,

744
00:59:16,910 --> 00:59:21,280
quite quickly. Uh, Alicia says there's so many exciting developments.

745
00:59:21,679 --> 00:59:21,760
Yes.

746
00:59:22,719 --> 00:59:26,760
Uh, Ellis, what's membership? Uh, stay connected, Ellis. We will talk to you a

747
00:59:26,760 --> 00:59:30,800
bit more about that. Um, it's basically where you make brownies every week.

748
00:59:31,199 --> 00:59:31,280
Yeah.

749
00:59:31,550 --> 00:59:34,350
Don't worry, membership does sound a bit sometimes like subscription and stuff

750
00:59:34,350 --> 00:59:37,150
like that. That's not it. Yeah, wait until September.

751
00:59:37,469 --> 00:59:41,764
Yeah, yeah, it's a good thing, we promise. It's, uh, it's a good thing. It's

752
00:59:41,764 --> 00:59:46,059
right, you don't have to give your inside leg measurement, all that sort of

753
00:59:46,059 --> 00:59:50,353
stuff to join. Um, all it is is just saying, listen, um, I want to be part of— I

754
00:59:50,353 --> 00:59:54,648
want to be part of Crowd Church. We know from a pastoral standpoint where— who

755
00:59:54,648 --> 00:59:58,943
we're responsible for, um, which is really great, and who we're shepherding. Um,

756
00:59:58,943 --> 01:00:03,237
and so it's just— that's all it is. It's, it's not a big deal. But I would say

757
01:00:03,237 --> 01:00:07,532
it's not a big deal. Actually, I'm really excited by it. Um, I think it's going

758
01:00:07,532 --> 01:00:11,826
to be great. So that's— but like I say, a lot more information coming soon on

759
01:00:11,826 --> 01:00:16,121
the website. We will talk more about it in September, which is when we're going

760
01:00:16,121 --> 01:00:20,416
to launch all of these things. But for now, we are going to go to live lounge. I

761
01:00:20,416 --> 01:00:24,710
nearly called it livestream. It's not livestream, live lounge. Um, uh, Zoe's put

762
01:00:24,710 --> 01:00:29,005
it in the, the, the comments, the go.crowd.church/meet, if you'd like to come

763
01:00:29,005 --> 01:00:33,300
and meet us in there. Um, but yeah, any final comments from you, Mike?

764
01:00:34,500 --> 01:00:39,519
Um, I suppose just look out for ways to serve, uh, this week. And, um, just

765
01:00:39,519 --> 01:00:44,539
remember that it's Jesus, it's he who is asking you to serve. And, you know,

766
01:00:44,539 --> 01:00:49,559
maybe one way is just to praise people. Um, look for ways to, to praise people

767
01:00:49,559 --> 01:00:54,579
this week. Yeah.

768
01:00:55,070 --> 01:00:58,923
Dan, I think what, um, Mike said in his talk, just who you are in Christ, just

769
01:00:58,923 --> 01:01:02,776
perhaps just Google that. Who am I? If I— if you've given your life to God,

770
01:01:02,776 --> 01:01:06,630
yeah, search who are you in Christ and see what he's, what he's done for you.

771
01:01:06,630 --> 01:01:10,483
And if you haven't given your life to Jesus, get to know him. Yeah, you know,

772
01:01:10,483 --> 01:01:14,336
send an email if you've got any questions. Get to know this Jesus. Best decision

773
01:01:14,336 --> 01:01:18,190
you'll ever make.

774
01:01:18,909 --> 01:01:23,067
Very good, very true. Um, and, uh, you can also go to the Crowd Church website.

775
01:01:23,067 --> 01:01:27,224
There's a whole bunch of stuff about identity on there. Just click the identity

776
01:01:27,224 --> 01:01:31,381
link, um, and it'll be in there, um, all the scriptures, everything. A lot of

777
01:01:31,381 --> 01:01:35,538
talks about identity. So yes, um, well, have a phenomenal summer, um, uh,

778
01:01:35,538 --> 01:01:39,695
whatever you're doing in August. I hope you have a great time. Um, really,

779
01:01:39,695 --> 01:01:43,852
really excited for the summer plans. What have you got going on over summer? Are

780
01:01:43,852 --> 01:01:48,010
you doing anything exciting? You're going away?

781
01:01:48,170 --> 01:01:52,440
I'm going away, yes, at the end of— yeah, I was just saying, one of my customers

782
01:01:52,440 --> 01:01:56,710
has said we can stay in his, his place in Spain in the heat.

783
01:01:57,030 --> 01:01:57,429
Oh, okay.

784
01:01:57,909 --> 01:02:02,189
Which is pretty awesome. Yeah, he's not there, he's, he's getting out there and

785
01:02:02,189 --> 01:02:06,469
we're a family going. So very much looking forward to that. Yes, nice.

786
01:02:06,869 --> 01:02:07,829
Love that. What are you doing, Mike?

787
01:02:08,469 --> 01:02:10,710
Um, gardening, uh, for most of it.

788
01:02:10,869 --> 01:02:12,789
But I am— busiest time of the year for you and your gardening.

789
01:02:13,110 --> 01:02:16,750
So it is pretty busy. It is pretty busy. Um, looking to try and sell some plants

790
01:02:16,750 --> 01:02:20,389
and then we're off to Devon for the week.

791
01:02:20,630 --> 01:02:25,014
Nice, nice. Brilliant. Well, whatever your summer plans are, we wish you a very,

792
01:02:25,014 --> 01:02:29,398
very happy summer. Like I say, do stay connected with us over August. It just

793
01:02:29,398 --> 01:02:33,782
won't have the live conversation stuff. That will start again back in September.

794
01:02:33,782 --> 01:02:38,166
Hopefully we'll see you in Live Lounge, but that's it from me. That's it from

795
01:02:38,166 --> 01:02:42,550
Dan. That's it from Mike. God bless you. You are an absolute legend.

796
01:02:43,199 --> 01:02:45,159
See you soon. Bye for now.