In this week's teaching, Martin examines what a religious spirit is and what a political spirit is - and why both are dangerous.
01Two Forces That Quietly Wreck Everything
There is a moment in Mark's Gospel where Jesus gets into a boat with his disciples after a frustrating encounter with the Pharisees. The religious leaders had just demanded a miraculous sign from heaven, basically asking Jesus to prove who he was, despite having just witnessed him feed four thousand people with a handful of loaves. Jesus refused. He got into the boat and left.
On the water, with only one loaf of bread between them, the disciples started worrying about food. They had completely missed the point. And so Jesus gave them a warning that was about far more than bread: "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod."
Leaven. Yeast. The thing that gets into dough and works its way through everything. Jesus was not talking about baking. He was talking about two invisible forces that have a way of corrupting everything they touch: the religious spirit and the political spirit.
02What a Religious Spirit Looks Like
The Pharisees were the religious elite of their day. Teachers of the law. Guardians of orthodoxy. And they had turned something meant to bring life into a system of control.
A religious spirit, as described in this talk, is more concerned with appearances than with the heart. It wants to be seen doing the right thing, even when the motivation behind it is hollow. It creates an us-and-them culture where "we" are doing it properly and "they" are getting it wrong.
"A religious spirit allows us to assign motives to other people's actions. It allows us to judge the intents of their heart."
Perhaps the sharpest observation was this: "It allows us to judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people by their actions."
Read that again. We give ourselves credit for meaning well, even when our behaviour falls short. But when someone else falls short, we judge them solely on what they did, not on what they meant. The result is that we end up "spiritualising our own dysfunction rather than owning our own brokenness."
It is a subtle thing. Nobody sets out to develop a religious spirit. It creeps in. Like leaven.
03What a Political Spirit Looks Like
The Sadducees and the Herodians were the political operators of Jesus's day. They were religious in name but political in practice, more interested in power than in truth. And the spirit they carried has not gone away.
A political spirit always needs an enemy. It is more concerned with winning than with solving problems. It does not just disagree with opponents; it demonises them. "It is not just that someone might be wrong. A political spirit will cause somebody to say they are evil."
It reduces complex issues to partisan opinions. It is not interested in practical wisdom. Winning is what matters, and winning is measured by popularity, by being liked, by having the numbers on your side.
"A political spirit creates a culture where we do not have permission to make our own decisions. It is decision by affiliation. If you are one of us, then you must think this way."
And here is one of the clearest diagnostic tests: a political spirit cannot acknowledge the positive accomplishments of anyone on the other side. Ever. There is no generosity, no nuance, no willingness to say "they got that right." Because to concede anything to the opposition feels like losing.
04Why Jesus Warned About Both
It is worth noting that Jesus did not warn against one of these and embrace the other. He did not say the religious spirit is the dangerous one, but a bit of political savvy is fine. He put them side by side. Beware of both.
Both create division. Both prioritise being right over being loving. Both operate through a kind of tribal thinking that sorts people into categories and then treats those categories as more real than the actual people in them.
And both work like yeast. They do not announce themselves. They get into the culture of a church, a family, a friendship group, a workplace, and they quietly corrupt everything from the inside out.
"That political spirit is insidious, and we need to, as the church, be really careful not to allow that to influence us."
05The Disciples Who Missed the Point
The darkly comic backdrop to this whole teaching is the disciples sitting in a boat, having just witnessed Jesus feed thousands of people from almost nothing, panicking because they only have one loaf of bread.
Jesus's response is exasperated: "Do you not see or understand? Do you not remember? When I broke five loaves for five thousand, how many baskets did you pick up? Twelve. When I broke seven for four thousand, how many baskets? Seven. Do you not understand yet?"
They had seen the provision. They had participated in it. They had literally collected the leftovers. And still they could not connect what had happened before with what was happening now.
"One loaf with Jesus is enough."
That line from the talk cuts through the anxiety that so many people carry. The fear that there will not be enough, that God will not come through this time, that past provision was a one-off and cannot be relied upon. Jesus is essentially saying: have you already forgotten?
06The Blind Man Who Saw in Stages
Immediately after this exchange, Jesus heals a blind man in a way that is unique in the Gospels. He does it in two stages. After the first touch, the man says, "I see men, but they look like trees walking around." His sight was partially restored. Then Jesus touched his eyes again, and he saw everything clearly.
There is something deliberate about this being placed right after the disciples' failure to understand. They, too, were seeing but not clearly. They had partial vision. They could see the miracles but could not grasp what they meant. The healing of the blind man is almost a parable of what the disciples needed: a second touch, a deeper understanding, clarity that comes in stages rather than all at once.
07The Exercise That Changes Perspective
The talk closed with a practical challenge. Take a piece of paper. At the top, write down what you need God to do right now. The specific thing. The financial pressure, the health concern, the relationship that is falling apart, the situation that feels impossible.
Then at the bottom of the same page, write down every time God has turned up and done something you could not have done yourself. Every provision. Every answered prayer. Every moment where things should have gone wrong but did not.
"It will encourage you and it encourages us into remembering that God can do it and he will do it. It is not about the size of your faith. It is about putting your faith in the fire and leaving it there."
The word Jesus used for "littleness" of faith is better translated as "briefness." The problem was not that the disciples' faith was too small. It was that they did not sustain it long enough. They lit the fire and then pulled it straight back out.
08Something to Consider
The religious spirit and the political spirit are not just ancient problems. They are alive and well in churches, in workplaces, in families, and on social media. They show up whenever we start caring more about being right than about being kind, whenever we judge others by their actions while excusing ourselves by our intentions, whenever we need an enemy to feel like we belong to a group.
Jesus said to beware of both. Which one has been quietly working its way into your thinking?
Topics in this talk
View Full Transcript
Dealing with the Political and the Religious Spirit Matt: [00:00:00] [00:01:00] Well, good afternoon and welcome to Frontline City. Uh, live church broadcast here on Facebook and all things into web. Uh, my name [00:02:00] is Matt Edmundson. If I've not met you before, it's great to see you. It's great to have you here. If you are watching the recording of this and you're not watching it live, it's still great to have you, and it's still great to see you, uh, even though maybe a little bit delayed and that's cool. And that's okay. Welcome to church. Welcome to Frontline City. Uh, I love Sundays, I love church, and, um. In these, what? It's the phrase they keep using all the time at the moment. These unprecedented times. Uh, that's the phrase they use over and over again, isn't it? In these unprecedented times, uh, doing church online, I appreciate it's a little bit unusual and a little bit different, but it makes it a bit more accessible, I find, and a bit more accessible to a whole bunch of people. And I know for everybody who joins us on the live, there's another 10 or 15 people who watch this video after we have broadcast, which is amazing. So welcome one and all whether you are, uh, live or whether you're in the future. Or rather, I'm in your past. You'll get what I mean. It's great to see you. Great to have you here. Uh, do me a favor, if you could [00:03:00] just give us a wave or shout out in the comments, uh, to let me know that you can actually hear me, because I assume you can. But it's not always the case. We do occasionally have those technical issues. Um, and I checked a few seconds ago, I think there's about a 10 to 15 second delay, uh, between what, what, what, when I say it and when you hear it. So, uh, bizarre that, um, the delays are getting longer and longer on Sundays because so many churches are broadcasting on Facebook Live, which I find really. Fantastic. Um, and apparently lesson day, the whole Facebook Live thing got screwed up massively. So who knew? Awesome. Dave can hear me look at that. Dave, it's great to have you. I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna take a few seconds right now to fix that text issue that's just gonna bug me senseless. So just bear with me one second while I do that and let's see if we can get it so that when, uh. [00:04:00] Awesome. And Sharon's here. You got back from your bike ride then, babe. Awesome. Look at that. We can now see the comments. Lemme put the comments. Where should we put them? Let's just put them there for now and we'll make 'em a little bit smaller. Oh no, that's not worked has it? Ah. I'm still getting used to this software and how it works. There we go. That's better. Great to have you. Great that you are here. Happy Sunday. I hope your weekend has been good. Um, if anybody's doing any exciting things for the bank holiday, do let us know. Um, in the comments below, it'd be great to hear what your plans are, what your thoughts are. I have spent most of the day in my basement playing around with wood things because, you know, it's very holy to do the carpentry thing. I just wanna point that out on a Sunday as well. Absolutely. Uh, so today we are going to do what we normally do on a Sunday. Uh, and that is, uh, we're gonna have someone share today. It's gonna be Martin. Martin's gonna be sharing as [00:05:00] we are carrying on our study in Mark's gospel. Um. Martin has done it slightly differently. This week, I'm told, uh, there is gonna be a, a sort of a, a period at the end, uh, where we have some music performed by the beautiful and talented Miss Abby Sharples. Um, and, uh, that's gonna be a time of reflection for you. So you, uh, will need a pen and paper for that segment. Okay? Uh, so I hope you have, uh, your pen and paper ready. Um, if not, go and grab one, get one, because apparently you're gonna need one. Some kind of device for writing notes down. Uh, and once that has finished, I'll be back again going through the comments as we do. I love the comments. It's my favorite part of the service. Not gonna lie, I do enjoy your feedback and your comments, so make sure you are commenting away today as usual. Um, and then after that we will close down the Facebook Live and we will head on over to Zoom, uh, where, uh, we'll [00:06:00] just catch it with one another where you can see me and I can see you and, uh, we can have a conversation so it's not just. One way and we catch up and we'll do a bit of Prayer. Um, and uh, yeah, it'd be good to see you in there. The link for Zoom is in the Facebook comments. Um, I have put it in there. I can see it. Uh, so if you are unsure of what the link is, do look in the comments and it will come up in there and you can just click that. It's the same as the one from last week, so it doesn't really change. So do feel free to come and join us. Okay. So that is this week. Hurrah. Now a whole bunch of you have joined. Here we go. Here's Mona. Hey Mona. How you doing? Hey you guys and gals, it's good to see you. Hope you are well and you know, smiling lots. I'm sure you are. I have no doubt. Uh, so, uh, like I say, for those of you who dunno me, my name is Matt Edmundson. If you've just joined us, [00:07:00] I head up Frontline City. Now, Frontline City is in fact a church plant. It is a brand spanking new church plant, uh, which is starting in Liverpool City Center or started in Liverpool City Center pre COVID. Um, and, uh, we have moved online. During the lockdown period and it is going so well online that we will keep doing something online after the lockdown. I don't know yet what it's gonna look like. Um, we will definitely keep you updated and posted on that. But yeah, I head up Frontline City with my wife Sharon and Martin, who you'll see later. He's part, a whole bunch of folks involved in it and we are part of Frontline Church. Which is a church here in Liverpool, uh, wave Tree. I've been going to that church since I was, well, since I was a brand spanking new Christian at around age 18 when I moved to Liverpool and I came here for university. So all of you who are thinking of coming to Liverpool for university do it. It's an amazing city of fantastic place. And if [00:08:00] I do say so myself, it's got some great churches here. So why would you not join? And when I, uh, joined Frontline Church, Dave, who you saw earlier, can I add his comment back? There we go. That Dave there, Dave Connolly, uh, was one of the founding pastors of the church. There was maybe 25 people in the church when I joined it. Um, and that was on a good day, right? So, uh, it was good to be there at the beginning. Um, and the church plant that we're involved in Frontline City is part of Frontline in Liverpool City Center. Uh, hopefully doing great things. So, um, yeah. Awesome. So fantastic. Now I am gonna say, uh, a big, fat, warm welcome. Oh, I've just got a text message here from Josh Dad. Facebook is saying the stream has ended. Ooh, let's have a look. Is that true? Can everyone still hear me okay? Or is it just Josh having issues? Uh, I'm just gonna go onto Facebook [00:09:00] and check. I don't normally have, um, the Facebook live feed open on Facebook at the same time as I'm doing it. 'cause you do get feedback. So let's have a look. Ah, I'm back on again. Apparently I disappeared, so, uh, I, I see me there. It's okay now. Good. So just, just Josh and Sharon saying I disappeared. Maybe it's a, maybe it's a house thing. Who know? Uh, so anyway, we're back and if you missed us, welcome back. Uh, it's always good to, uh, have a few tech issues. Uh, thanks for letting me know if you can see or hear me. If there are any problems, do let me know. Um, like I say, there is about a 10 to 18 second delay, so don't be impatient. Is all I'm saying. Okay. [00:10:00] So this week, uh, we have community on Wednesday night, just to let you know. And on Friday night we are doing alpha, which is week seven, which is all about how God guides us. If you would like to join us for that, um, you would be more than welcome if you've not already. Joined us for Alpha, do let me know. Um, it will be great to see you in Alpha. Alpha's been going really, really well. Really, really enjoying doing Alpha to the point where, um, we're wondering how we can get more alphas into the whole process 'cause it's just a fantastic tool to find out more about the Christian faith. Mona says it's fine as well. Awesome. Good. Alrighty. So. I, without further ado, will bring on Mr. Langston. As I said earlier, um, you'll need a pen and paper, so hopefully you have one. We have been doing a whole big teaching series on Mark's Gospel. We have just literally been working through it without an agenda. Just you take that bit and Martin and Sarah, you take that bit and Sharon, you take [00:11:00] that bit and I'll take the other bit and we'll see where it turns out. Right. So I have really, really, really been enjoying the whole journey through Mark's gospel. Um, I mean a lot actually, because when you get to teach something and when you have to share something, you have to study in depth and, and so on and so forth. And I'm doing next week's talk so I know what's coming up. Uh, and I said to Sharon yesterday as I was. Just making some notes and doing some Bible study. I said I think I've just tripled the time it's going to take to do it, um, because it's just so rich and there's so much in there, even in such a few short verses. There's always something magnificent isn't there about God's word and something amazing in it that you can just chew on. And we've been doing that in Mark's gospel and we're on chapter eight and we've been doing this a while, so, uh, it's probably gonna take us another. Well, it's gonna take several months, maybe the whole year to work through Mark's gospel, which is fine. Like I say, we don't have an agenda. We're just enjoying the journey and enjoying God's word on route. So that said, [00:12:00] let me bring Martin on. Grab your pen and paper and let me get this, uh, working here. Sit back, relax. Let me know if there's any technical issues. I'm fairly sure we're all good at the moment, but if there is anything, uh, do let me know. That'd be cool. Either lemme know in the comments or text me 'cause I've got both up here on my screen. Um, and write your comments and thoughts as we go through Martin's teaching. That'd be cool. Awesome. I'll see you in just a few minutes. Hey guys, it's great to be with you. For those of you that don't know me, I'm Martin. I'm one of the team that's helping, uh, bring together the Frontline city, uh, church plant. It's a real privilege to be speaking to you again today. Um, uh, for those of you that know me, I'm, I'm married to Sarah, uh, who spoke last week. Um, and I have three little people who you'll have seen bouncing around on some of the videos. You might have seen them in, uh, possibly in the feeding of the [00:13:00] 4,000, uh, and various other high quality dramas, uh, in recent weeks. It's really good to be with you. Um. I'm a bit, uh, speaking today, uh, on the next bit of the passage that leads on from what Sarah was talking on last week in Mark eight, and we're, we're looking at the feeling of the 4,000 and we're on a kind of journey through Mark, um, looking at the life of Jesus and what Jesus is saying to us today. Without any ado whatsoever, I'm gonna dive right into the passage. We've not got a drama today. My little acting troupe, uh, is, has been given the week off. Um, so we are just gonna get into the passage and there are a couple of, uh, really useful little nuggets that Jesus, as he is speaking to the disciples unpacks that I think are really relevant to our situation now. And so. Should we just pray to [00:14:00] begin with and then let's, let's get right into it. So, father, we pray that you would illuminate this passage of scripture to us and you would unpack it and unfold it so that we would understand the scripture better, but ultimately that we would know you. And in Jesus' name we pray that. Amen. So Mark. We've, at the beginning of the passage we had the bit that Sarah preached from last week, which was the feeling of the 4,000, they've, Jesus has been preaching on the hillside. It's got late. He has compassion on the people. There's nowhere for 'em to get food. And there are seven loaves in the Crowd. So he takes the seven loaves and miraculously multiplies it so that there is a, a multitude of food. There is more than enough to go round. And in the end, the disciples end up collecting seven baskets, large baskets, um, of leftovers. So that's the, the [00:15:00] context. And you remember that, um, the disciples that they, they just couldn't. Kind of get the head round. When they, when they then got into the boat and they only had one loaf left, um, with them, they only took one loaf with them. That actually they, they, they realized they didn't have enough food and they wondered what they were gonna do with that. And one of Sarah's points last week was. Almost be a little bit less like the disciples. Remember the things that God's done previously? 'cause you'll remember that Sarah was telling us about their feeding. You know, the context, the backdrop to this was the feeding of the 5,000 that we had gone before it. There was the feeding of the 4,000. And then they have this moment in the boat and they're like, ah, we've only got one loaf with us. What's gonna happen? So we pick it up now at verse 11. The Pharisees came out and began to argue with him. That's [00:16:00] Jesus seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. Sign deeply in his spirit. He said, why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given. Leaving them here again embarked and went away to the other side. Now I'm gonna pause there for a second, um, because. What's happened here is the, the Pharisees, the teachers of the day, the, uh, religious, uh, the mo, they were the, they were, they were, uh, the teachers of the law, the ju the Judaic Law, um, had come out and they were challenging Jesus' suggestion that he was, he was the son of God, that he was from heaven. Um, they really, uh, weren't. Keen on him. And they wanted, they were basically demanding to see a miracle, um, that he would, to test him, that he would prove himself as being who he said he was. And he was saying to them, no.[00:17:00] And then Jesus gets into the boat, um, and he journals across to the other side. Now. Uh, verse 14, we get, and they had forgotten to take the bread and did not have with them more than one loaf in the boat with them. And he was giving orders. He, Jesus was giving orders to 'em and saying, watch out. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. So let's just pause there for a second and think about what that is that Jesus is saying. He's saying, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. Now there's, to unpack this a bit more, there's a, a Matthew also in his, in the gospel of Matthew. Matthew also recalls this situation and, and he recalls it in Matthew 16. And at Matthew 16, verse six, um, it says, and Jesus says, uh, the disciples came, verse five, and the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they'd forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, [00:18:00] watch out and beware. 11 of the Pharisees and the Sadducees, Pharisees and the Sadducees. Now, the Pharisees, as I say, were the teachers of the day. They were the religious elite. They were the teachers of the law. And lots of the time throughout the New Testament, the Pharisees are used as a stereotype of a religious spirit, somebody having a religious spirit. And we'll unpack what that looks like in a minute. Um, but who were the Sadducees? The Sadducees were a, uh. They were a political group. They were a religious group, but they were very political and they were, um, similar to a group called the Herodians. But, uh, uh, guys that were Herod. So the 11 of, uh, the Pharisees of Herod. Herod was a political figure. He was the king. Uh, Herod a gripper, I think. Um, and he, what Jesus is saying here is beware of the religious spirit. And beware of a political [00:19:00] spirit. So let's just have a little think about those two things for a second. 'cause they're the two cautions that Jesus gives us, and I want us to be conscious to be thinking about, just to allow the Holy Spirit to convict us if we have allowed a religious or a political spirit, um, to impact us. So let's just think for a second about what a, a religious spirit looks like. Religious, someone with a religious spirit, uh, wants to be seen to be following the rules. It's more about doing the right thing, even if your heart's not in it, to be seen to doing the right thing and a religious spirit case are very much an us and them. Culture, but like the political spirit, but us and them culture and it's we, the us we are doing it right, them, they're doing it wrong, [00:20:00] and it's us and them. If we've got a religious spirit, it allows us to assign motives to other people's actions. It's to assign motives to judge the intents of their heart. That's a really, um, clear science. Somebody has a, a religious spirit. It allows us to assign motive to the intent of other people's hearts. Um, and it allows us, if we have a religious spirit, it allows us to judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people by their actions. Lemme say that again, allows us to judge ourselves by our intentions, but other people by their actions. And so we end up spiritualizing our own dysfunction rather than owning our own [00:21:00] brokenness. A religious spirit. There's a quite a bit more to it than that, but I don't want to spend a long, long time looking at that today. So, but that's a little, if, if anything, from there, from what I've just said, uh, kind of pangs a little, uh, the Holy Spirit kind of puts a little finger on, then you need to just, well, you need to deal with that. Um, uh. Yeah. Um, and you need to get rid of that. Beware of it. Jesus says, beware of the, uh, the leaven, the, the spirit, the, the kind of in that, the, the yeast that gets into the whole dough. Get beware of the, the little bit that that affects everything. You want to get rid of a religious spirit. Wherever you can, wherever you find it, you want to remove it. So. Er, the spirit of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Es were is a political spirit, so let's just have a little think about that for a [00:22:00] second. Um, 'cause they are a little bit similar in some ways. That also creates an us and them. A political spirit always needs an enemy. A political spirit is more concerned with winning than solving a problem. It causes people to demonize anyone who doesn't agree with them. It's not just that, um, someone might be wrong, a political spirit kind of will cause somebody to say they're evil. They're not just wrong, they're evil. It reduces us to kind of partisan opinions. Uh, we're not really interested in practical wisdom. We're more interested in winning and winning, or losing is measured by are we liked? How well are we liked, do people like us?[00:23:00] A political spirit creates a culture where we don't have permission. To make our own decisions. It's kind of decision by affiliation. If you are one of us, then you must think this way. A political spirit, one of the, you know, features of political spirit is that it can't, somebody that's subjects politically can't acknowledge a positive accomp. You know, the positive accomplishments of anybody that they're, they're kind of vilifying, they, there would be no possibility. They, they just can't. Bring themselves to acknowledge any positive. Now there'll be lots more, but there a couple of little examples there. I'm sure we can all think of situations going on around us at the moment, which are heavily influenced by political spirit. I mean, you, you think only of, you know, coronavirus and, um, some of the swirling mix of stuff that's going on at the moment where we've gone from a maybe a situation where there was [00:24:00] quite high level of, um. You know, dialogue and now there's a little bit more political game playing that political spirit is insidious and we need to, as the church, we need to be really careful not to allow that influence or not that, to not to allow that to influence us. So, so that is. That's the context of the passage. That's a very, very brief, uh, run through of, you know, a religious spirit and a political spirit. And we need to, if the Holy Spirit has convicted you of any of the, of of those points, then you need to take some time to deal with that. And if you are, you know, I, I'm conscious that, uh, as well as our relatively smaller community, um, that has been gathering, you know, from before we were all locked down to now. That we are virtually, it seems it's incredible. We seem to have, um, hundreds of people who are connecting with us each week, um, both on Sunday and after, after Sunday through the week. And if [00:25:00] you are connecting with us afterwards, it's, we, we love having you with us. Please comment, um, in the, uh, in the box and connect with us. We would love you to connect with us and we would love to be able to pray with you. Um. If you're going through stuff, we, we wanna be able to connect with you. We wanna, uh, walk, you know, with you. So please do connect. So let's now continue, now that we've got some context to what Jesus is saying, let's continue working our way through the passage. So it, it's quite funny in its own way because, so, so you'll recall we've got the feeding of 5,000, we've got the feeding of the 4,000. They get into the boat, they've got no bread, they've got one loaf. But one loaf with Jesus is enough. Then the Pharisees come along and they say, we want a sign. Show us a sign that you're from heaven. And Jesus says, you'll get no sign. And, and the [00:26:00] disciples think He's talking about the fact that we've got no bread, and Jesus knows that they're, that's what they're saying. He. And he addresses it directly, he says. Come on guys. And this is after they've, they've left the Pharisees. Is this, what, what, what are you, what are you on about? And they begin to discuss with one another. The fact that they had no bread. And Jesus aware of this said to them, why do you discuss the fact that you have no bread? Do you not see or understand? Have you heart? Have you a hardened heart, having eyes? Do you not see and having ears do not hear? And do not remember when I broke five loaves for 5,000? How many baskets full of broken pieces? You picked up and they said to him, 12 when I broke seven for 4,000, how many large baskets full of broken pieces did you pick up? And they said to him, seven. And he was saying to them, do you not understand? Do you not get it yet? Come on. And they came to Beth Eder and they bought a blind man to Jesus. And [00:27:00] implored him to touch him. Taking the blind man by the hand, he brought him out of the village and after spitting on his eyes and laying hands on him, he asked him, do you see anything yet? And he looked up and said, I see men and I see them walking like trees, walking around. Then again, he laid his hands on his eyes and he looked intently and was restored and began seeing everything clearly. And Jesus sent him to his home saying, do not enter. Do not even enter the village. So. It is quite funny in context, the disciples misunderstand that when Jesus is saying to the the Pharisees, you will get no sign that he is not saying there'll be no food. It's not a problem because they weren't out to test Jesus, but they hadn't understood they had missed the point that Jesus was able and willing to provide. He would meet them at their point of need. He would. They had one loaf. They brought what they had. And if they had [00:28:00] done that and said, Jesus, Jesus would've prayed. Maybe they would've prayed. Had, had they not understood, they hadn't got it. Evidently at that point they hadn't. And, and later in Matthew, so shortly after that, there, uh, in the, in the, uh, account in Matthew, Jesus is, is talking about a mustard seed. He says, have you not got even a mustard seed of faith? He said, if you had even a mustard seed. Then you would say to this mountain, be cast into the sea and it would go, but because of the littleness of your faith. And, and when he's saying that fact, let's, let's just turn that passage up for a second. 'cause that's, it's quite an interesting passage in this context. Um, it's Matthew 17 verse. 20. [00:29:00] And he said to them, because of the littleness of your faith, for truly, I say, oh, they, they're asking why? It's that they couldn't, um, cast a demon out of someone. And, and he said, because, because of the littleness of your faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you'll say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Now Jesus there is talking about he's, when he's saying the littleness of your faith, sometimes we misunderstand that and we say, oh, it's got good, a little bit of faith. But he's not saying that. He's saying Littleness is better translated briefness because of the briefness of your faith, because you just put it in the fire for just. Just a second and then pulled it straight out again. No, he's saying, he's saying like with the loaves and with the bread, with the one loa, because of the little, because of the briefness of your faith, if you'd have believed and, and persisted in your belief, nothing would've been impossible to you. And he's saying to them, do you not see God is able, he's willing, I'm, and he is saying, Jesus is saying, I'm, I'm able and I'm willing [00:30:00] just ask. It'll be given to you. They don't get it. So in a second, I'm gonna put a video. I'm gonna put, um, uh, some worship on. Abby has very kindly done, uh, some worship song, and I think my Abigail has done, uh, a little prophetic dance, which I will play by the wonders of, uh, technological magic. We'll try and meld in together. Um, and whilst that's playing, can I encourage you? What I want you to do, grab a piece of paper. Um. Write down what it is that you want, what it is you need God to do. Now, Jesus, when he was addressing the Pharisees, he said, I'm not gonna be doing that. He had nothing to prove. He did not need to prove who he was. He was not up for proving him who he was, and that's why they were sent away. They got no sign. [00:31:00] They were saying, we want you to show us, prove to us who you are. And Jesus said, no. So we don't approach Jesus like that. We are just, we are, we're, we're, we're writing down to, to help us on the, on a piece of paper, as a practical exercise of saying, this is where I'm at, God. This is what I need. This is what I have got, but this is what I haven't. I bring my one life. God, I need you to turn my one life into whatever. Maybe it's a thing of finance. I've got this, I need that. Maybe it's a thing of healing. All of it's impossible. Without God, if God doesn't turn up there is it's, it's not something we're gonna be able to do on our own. God is able though, and not only is he able, he wants to help us. He will meet us at, as we cry out, as we, as we pursue him, he meets us. Once we've written down [00:32:00] at the top, on the top of our page, write down where, what it is that we need God to, to do, what, what is it that we are hoping that God will, will do for us and through it and in the bottom of the page, we're thinking back to last week. Now, you know, like what Jesus was saying to the disciples? He said, do you not remember the, that when we fed 5,000? Do you not remember? And there were 12 baskets left over. Do you not remember when we fed 4,000 and there were seven baskets left over and we only had five loaves? At the beginning of the, of the 5,000, we only had seven loaves. At the beginning of the 4,000. And look, we had. All this food left over. So at the bottom of your page, start writing out all of the occasions when God has turned up and done something totally miraculous for you. All of those moments, all of those times where there's been, you know it it, but for the good grace of God turning up, it would've gone wrong on and make a list of them. 'cause it will encourage you and it encourages us into remembering that God can do it and he will do it. It is not about the [00:33:00] size of your faith, it's about putting your faith in the fire and leaving it there. God will meet us at that point of need. So I'm gonna switch over to the video of the, we're gonna switch over to the worship now and, um, take some time. We are gonna pause for a few minutes. We're gonna take some time, write out, be honest with God. This is where I'm at and this is what I, I, I, I'd need you to do. This is where I'm at. This is my need. Jesus, I know nothing is impossible with you. And then from there, we're gonna go back over to Matt. Bless you guys. Thank you for listening. Um, if you've got, uh, testimonies in coming weeks, make sure you comment and let us know. Connect with us, um, and we'll see you soon back to, uh, over to the Worship and then back to Matt. Bless you.[00:34:00] [00:35:00] [00:36:00] [00:37:00] [00:38:00] In my heart.[00:39:00] Okay, so, uh. Thanks, Abby. Thanks, Abby. Abby and Abby. The Abby. Abby, uh, thanks Martin for bringing the teach, and I really enjoyed that, uh, description between the religious, uh, spirit and the political spirit. That was really, really cool. Um, and then just writing down stuff, just remembering stuff, what God has done. Oh my goodness, we could be here all day. Right. I loved that and I loved how, uh, Abby and Abby you were. Uh, making it easy for me to think about stuff that I was writing down, which was brilliant. So thank you for that. Um, write down in the comments below, uh, what you, what you thought of it, um, and what your answers to the questions are that you see there on the screen. Hopefully you were writing those down. Uh, what's Dave put here? I [00:40:00] thought made that comment to the broadcast. Oh, where did he go? Let's try that one again, shall we? Here we go. Oh, let me resize that. There we go. I, thoughtful consideration. Hebrew culture of the time sought signs and wonders. The Greek culture of the day sought knowledge. I read that just before it disappeared off the screen. Um, very true. Uh, a thoughtful consideration. Hebrew culture of the time sought signs and wonders, and that's what they needed. The Greek culture of the time sorts knowledge. Okay. Uh, I guess. Which ones do you seek? I mean, you know, I read the story there and Martin was talking about these guys demanding a sign. Jesus, I need you to do, you know, this big sign from the heavens. I know you've just fed like 4,000 people that I've fished. And that was, you know, that was interesting and weird how you did that. We actually think that's from the devil. What we really [00:41:00] need is a big sign in the sky. And um, you know, I. I just remember the amount of times where, in my own life, where you know, God's doing something over here, which is miraculous provision, and I'm kind of like, I see it, but it's I need something bigger. I need something different. God, I need you to intervene over here. I need the sign in the sky. It's an interesting thing, isn't it? And um, and that demand for signs, demand for God to do things that almost at our beck and call to, to prove that he is actually who he says he is, which is bizarre. 'cause by very definition of God being God, he doesn't need to do anything at all to prove that he's God. He is just, God just is. Bish bash b jobs are good, right? So, um. So, yeah, I, I, I, I, I agree with that. I, I think it's, it is fascinating how, you know, this, the, what signs do people [00:42:00] need? Um, really, I mean, you know, it's, it's, uh, it's, it's quite a fascinating one. Have you done that? Maybe, for example, have you, have you seen God working over here or you've noticed God's doing something over here, but it's not quite what you want, it's not quite what you need. Uh. You know, with your, I know better than you, kind of how, and you can see Jesus just going, what is wrong with you people? What is wrong with you people? Um, when he is talking to the Pharisees and the Sag sees here, and like Martin said, that political, that, um, religious spirit, the desire to obey the rules, to get everything, you know, just. Do it the way they think it should be done, rob them from the joy of seeing God at work. I mean, everybody's, everyone saw them. The feeding of the 5,000, everybody saw this guy get healed. Do you know what I mean? People see it, and yet some people were joyous and over the moon telling the board about, and other people [00:43:00] saw exactly the same thing, but they're like, man, this is the work of the devil. This is not right. This is not godly. We need to. Stop this guy. Both see the same thing, both interpret it in different ways. God help me to interpret what you are doing in my life the right way and not misinterpret it. Um, which is what the political spirit and the religious spirit causes, isn't it, in reality, um, will become so fixated on being right. Uh, that we forget that actually God's doing a miracle right beside us. Let's just crack on with that. So, uh, what else have we got going on here? Have you guys put any, what did, what, what else are you guys putting in there? Don't forget to write your comments. Let's, uh, crack 'em with conversations around those. Okay. So I loved this comment here. I'm gonna put it up on the screen just because I, I can, uh, I have [00:44:00] that power. Let me, um. Let me do this real quick, uh, 'cause I'd love your thoughts on this comment, uh, that Martin said here. Um, I've, I have to be honest, I've used this a lot. Um, I've heard it a lot recently as well. We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge judge others by their actions. Lemme put that now. I'll stop moving it around now. Uh, we judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge others by our actions. Anybody else convicted by that? It's been something which has been mulling in my head for, for a while. I've, I've, I've said it a lot recently, and it, um, and that's, that's the sum of the religiousness, isn't it? That's the sum of the political aspect. And don't get me wrong, you can have this religious spirit and not have a religious bone in your body, you know, have no connection to faith whatsoever. But because you have this, I'm right, your wrong attitude. We judge ourselves by our intentions, but we judge [00:45:00] others by their actions. Whereas if we judged everybody equally, I wonder what we'd truly think of ourselves. I wonder what we'd truly think of other people if we just give them a bit of a break as well. Um, but yeah, this is a, a really interesting phrase that really stuck out to me. That was one of the things that I wrote down. And so for me, when I was writing down, you know, uh, the question, uh, write out the occasions that God has done amazing things for you. Oh my goodness. You know, there's, I just, I, he, God's provision is, is unrelenting. And, um, his grace is unrelenting. And, you know, he, he does these amazing things for us. He provides for us. Just recently, I'll tell you a little story. Should I tell you a story? 'cause you know you're being quiet in the comments. I'm just going to tell you a little story. One of the things that, um, happened this week, uh, I'm taking a week off. Uh, finally, I've been really busy at work and so I'm taking a few weeks off and, um, I'm playing [00:46:00] with a new tool, a new power tool that I've ordered. Which may not sound that exciting to you, but trust me, it's exciting for me, right? Just it it is. And um, and I ordered this tool last week. Uh, and on Thursday it was still telling me that it was in Germany. Had not left Germany yet, and I'm like, Hmm, I wonder if I need to reschedule my week off and post it, uh, postpone it a week. So, um, I, 'cause I really wanted to play around with this tool. I just didn't want to, you know, sit around, do nothing. I, I had a purpose for my week off. Uh, and we, you know, on Thursday I was telling the guys there's a strong chance I'm gonna be at work. 'cause this thing is still in Germany and it's bank holiday Monday. I don't think I'm gonna get this for Tuesday. Well, it arrived yesterday, I mean. Praise God, right? So I've been playing around with that tool, but let me tell you about this tool and, uh, the provision of God, not only getting it to me in time, you may say, well, that's just coincidence, or that's just postal service for me, that's [00:47:00] just, you know, call it whatever you like. I'll just call it the blessing of God. Um, and there's a lot of those things in my life. Um, I have been saving up for this tool for a while. 'cause, you know, I need. It's not a cheap tool. So I've been saving up, saving up, saving up. I've been selling stuff on, um, eBay, some old stuff that I don't use anymore, trying to raise the cash to pay for the tool. Um, and I've been doing that for, I guess about six or seven months now. Uh, and just saving up, just, you know, quite happy to just keep plodding along and see what happens when, um. When I decided that I was that, you know, I thought, oh, I really wanna get this tour. I wonder what I can use to buy it with, and I was just investigating my American Express card because I have an MX card for work. And I'm gonna, I was gonna close my American Express card down because I don't really need it anymore. We don't really use it for work. And I thought, I'll, I'll close this down now. Um, but over the years I had amassed, uh, because we'd used it for [00:48:00] company purchase, a lot of points on the card. A lot of points, um, you know, like the reward points that you get and American Express now do this thing whereby, um, you can use those points towards purchasers. And just last week when I contacted them about my card, they had doubled the value of the reward points. Right? Now what this technically means is you can buy twice as much, um, with your American Express reward points. Then you could, two weeks ago, because of COVID, they decided to double the value of 'em when you redeem them against purchases. And I was like, oh my goodness. Um, and the amount of points I had on my card. Guess, guess the value if you can, if you can see where this is going, guess the value. That's right. It equated to the value of the tool. Right. So I've been saving up, I've got about halfway there. Um, that [00:49:00] money is still in my bank account. Well, some of it is 'cause I bought some other tools with it, but that's another story. Uh, but I managed to buy this tool with my air miles. Because of this sort of quirk that American Express have done, which I'm super grateful for, and it's arrived just in time for the time I was gonna take off to play around. With all those things put together, I'm just sitting here thinking, think of Jesus. God's provision is cool and it is awesome, right? So, uh, that's my story. That's one of the things that I wrote down. Now let me bring some, you're starting to have some comments. Let, let me stop talking and bring you guys in. So, uh, Abby, God has brought sunshine when there was rain. I need God to help me when I'm angry. Man that is very self-aware, isn't it? Um, I'm tightly the same. Uh, God definitely needs to help me when I'm angry. Uh, well done. Abby. Rebecca, what? What have you put here? Uh, God has helped me make decisions in the past. I need God to help me decide about going back to school. Wow. Wow. Wow, wow. [00:50:00] Yes, that is. Very wise and very true. And, and I pray that God gives you the guidance that you need. Uh, what's another comment from Sarah here? What's this? Hope you don't damage any fingers with your new tool. Sounds dangerous. Thanks Sarah. Appreciate that. For those of you who don't know, uh, about 16 years ago, I cut off three of my fingers, uh, with a power tool 'cause I was being, being a numpty. Um, and so every time I pick up a tool, now everybody is joking about not losing any more body parts with it. Uh, even my kids were giving me grief about it, but that's another story we've moved on. I what have you put here. Let's have a look. Uh, seeing things right and not getting caught up or hold to our preconceptions or standpoints can be so hard making us miss the point, right? The way Jesus lived out his points, uh, uh, was hardly ever through argument. Very true indeed. Very true. [00:51:00] Dave put here, let it go. Let it go. Let it go. I assume you're talking about the hand thing, uh, rather than, uh, Mona's, um, comment. Uh, but yeah, I dunno. Uh, but no, I think you're right, Mona. Um, you know, we need seeing things right and not getting caught up or holding onto pre preconceptions or standpoints. Uh. Makes it easy to miss the point. And I I what have you put here? This, what's this? The song? What Was Wrong with my singing? What's Wrong With You? Okay, I'll try not to sing in Future, but you know the song Let It Go. Right? It just, every time I see that phrase, I hear the song in my head and I, I will spay you from the singing. Um, very good. Uh, yeah. Dave says your hand, so yeah, let it go your hand. Just, you know. One day I'll tell the full story of that. Or maybe Dave should tell the full story of that he was at the hospital. In fact, everybody [00:52:00] on this call, so Dave Conley was at the hospital when I did my hand. As I walked in, he was walking out. Um, and Dave took me into hospital, practically took over the whole section where I was and bossed everyone around. It was awesome. Um, got me a whole bunch of drugs, which you know, you expect from your church pastor and Martin, the guy who spoke was the guy who drove me to hospital. So, you know, I appreciate everybody that was involved, uh, and uh, on that fateful day. Anyway, let's move on. So what we are gonna do now is we are gonna head on over to Zoom. I will, the link for Zoom is in the comments, so you should be able to click that link, um, and come join us in the Zoom chat. It'll be great to see you there. Um, and we're just gonna have some conversation. Sharon's gonna do a little bit hopefully, which will be cool. Uh, and take that on. Um, and, uh, let's just put a [00:53:00] comment here. Not very talkative today. I've had some life issues. Oh, sorry to hear that. But I hope, um. And that's all right. Don't need to be talkative every week. Uh, I appreciate, uh, you coming on and being tightly honest. Uh, I meant in reply to Dave's Let it go. You are, your singing ain't bad. Oh, bless you. You should tell my wife and kids that because they don't agree with you, Mona. They think my singing is awful. So you know, Mona has spoken truth. Everybody. Hey, Will's here. Yay. Hey Will. How you doing buddy? Great to see you. Great to have you. Um, we missed you on the bike ride yesterday, just saying, or was it the day before when we bumped into Kate? I can't remember. Uh, but um, yeah, I hope you're doing well. Um, and any other, I think that's all the comments, right? So we are gonna do the Zoom thing, as I said, as I started to say for more comments in terms to me, uh, we're gonna do Zoom thing. So if you would like to, um, head on over to Zoom. [00:54:00] That was Elias. Was it? Elias hijacked your, um, Facebook that was, or this is Elias. I'm not quite sure. Elias, do you not even have your own Facebook? I don't know. But it's great to see you. It's great to, you know, see you Elias. Great, great that you are here. Um, so let's, uh, Elias, everybody join us in Zoom. Head on over to zoom. Click the link. Let me see if I can, um, add that here. Copy that down in the next 15 seconds. But that's what you're looking for in the comments, right? That's what you're looking for in the feed. Go grab that link, um, and click that. I am going to end this broadcast now. Thanks so much for joining us. It's been great to see you. As I said, Friday we have Alpha where we're talking about how. God guide us, which is gonna be a great topic to get into. Come join us for that. If you are on Alpha, it'd be great to see you. Um, and next Sunday we'll be [00:55:00] back here, uh, at 4:00 PM Facebook Live. I'm gonna be carrying on the study in Mark's gospel where we talk about this portion of scripture where, just to give you a little preview, there's this portion of scripture where, uh, Jesus is walking down the road with the disciples and he says to Peter, Peter, who. Who do people say that I am? I'm kind of curious. What's public opinion? Let's do a little market survey. Uh, who do people say I am? And then he turns to Pete and Peter answers a question. And then Pete turn, uh, he turns to Peter and he says, Peter, yeah, but who do you say that I am? And he says, oh, you are the Christ. You are the son of the living God. And uh, there's this whole conversation that ends happens. You don't really see all of it in Mark. We're gonna pick out little bits from Mark and little bits from Matthew, um, where he is, where Jesus turns around and goes, blessed are you Simon Barjona. Four. Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father, who is in heaven and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. There is so much in those verses. The [00:56:00] hardest thing for me is knowing what to leave out. Trust me, pray for me that we do this well. But we are gonna get into that portion of scripture. It is an amazing portion of scripture. There is so much in there. Uh, and we are gonna look at that next week, which I'm super, super excited about. So that's gonna be at 4:00 PM here on Facebook Live. So, uh, make sure you sign up for the Facebook notification so you get the little. You know, dings, uh, when we go live. So you never miss what's going on. Thanks for your comments. Thanks for joining in the conversation. Uh, I pray you have a great week, but, um, if you don't come join us in Zoom. Uh, but if you do come join us in Zoom. I still pray. You have a great week. That doesn't make any kind of sense, but do come and join us, uh, and we'll have a conversation. We'll see you in there. Uh, bye for now. God bless you. See you on the other side.
