Ever felt like you're drifting through life, searching for something more? You're not alone. In a world that's more connected than ever, it's easy to feel isolated, misunderstood, or just plain lost. But what if we told you there's a tribe waiting for you—a community where you're not just another face in the crowd?Join us as we uncover the untapped power of community and the Holy Spirit in your life.
01When Church Feels Like an Optional Extra
Most people, if they are honest, have wondered at some point whether church is really worth it. The alarm goes off on a Sunday morning and the sofa looks far more appealing than getting dressed and heading out the door. Even for those who have been part of a church for years, there are seasons where it all feels a bit pointless.
But what if the whole idea of church was never really about what we get out of it?
In Acts 13, we find a snapshot of one of the earliest Christian communities — the church at Antioch. This was the first group of believers to actually be called Christians. And what stands out about them is not their theology or their building or their programmes. It is who they were together.
02A Room Full of People Who Had Nothing in Common
The church at Antioch was strikingly diverse. Among the leaders were Barnabas, a Cypriot Jew from a priestly family. Simeon, called Niger — the Greek word for black — likely of sub-Saharan African origin. Lucius from Cyrene, modern-day Libya. Manaen, who had grown up alongside King Herod. And Saul, a highly educated Pharisee from Turkey who had been raised in Jerusalem.
These were not people who would naturally have ended up in the same room. Different backgrounds, different cultures, different social standing. And yet there they were, worshipping together, serving together, and making decisions together.
"The diversity of cultural backgrounds in this early church is striking," as the talk put it. "God doesn't want us to stay in an isolated village with the same views as our neighbour, rarely exposed to any different way of thinking. The church was supposed to be diverse from the beginning."
There is something worth sitting with in that observation. In an age of algorithms that feed us content matching our existing views, the church remains one of the few places where we are regularly alongside people who think differently, live differently, and see the world from a completely different angle. That is not a flaw. It is the design.
03More Than the Sum of Its Parts
The Antioch church was not just diverse in background. It was diverse in gifting. Teachers, prophets, administrators, hospitality types — all contributing something different. And when Saul and Barnabas were called to go on their mission journey, it was not their own idea. It came from the community around them, as they worshipped and prayed together.
"They had prophets and wise companions helping them understand what their part in God's mission might be. They were surrounded by others all focused on worshipping God and listening for God's word and call. That's something you don't get when you're walking a solitary journey."
There is a practical side to this too. Saul and Barnabas needed resources to travel. They needed a boat, food, money, and possibly introductions at their destination. The church provided all of that. Being part of a community made the seemingly impossible become achievable.
04The Power of People Who Show Up
When the church sent Saul and Barnabas off, they did not just wave goodbye and wish them luck. They laid hands on them — a physical act of conferring authority and ownership. They were saying: you represent us, we are with you, we are praying for you, and we will be here when you come back.
"The difference between being waved off by a group of family and friends or just quietly going unnoticed through departures," the speaker noted. It is a picture that resonates far beyond first-century mission trips. Anyone who has ever started something new — a business, a course, a recovery programme, a move to a new city — knows the difference between doing it alone and doing it with people behind you.
05Following the Nudge
The talk shared a personal story that brought the text to life. A group from Frontline Church had been walking the route of the Crusaders, apologising for atrocities committed in Christ's name nine hundred years earlier. After completing their planned section in Turkey, they had three days spare before their flight home. Two people independently felt they should go to Cyprus — no plan, no contacts.
"You could say sent by the Holy Spirit. We literally got off the boat and started talking to whoever we met. But within two days we'd had meetings with the speaker of the parliament and the president."
That is not a typical Tuesday for most of us. But the pattern underneath it is worth noticing. When people position themselves in community, in worship, and in prayer, things happen that no amount of strategic planning could have engineered.
The Holy Spirit's guidance, as described in Acts, is usually not dramatic. "Generally the Holy Spirit's leading is a gentle nudge in my experience. An impression given in prayer, a set of circumstances arising when we're in a place of knowing God and seeking to listen to his counsel."
06When Things Get Uncomfortable
Acts 13 does contain one dramatic moment. A sorcerer named Bar-Jesus (also called Elymas) tried to turn a Roman official away from the faith, and Paul — filled with the Holy Spirit — called him out and struck him temporarily blind.
It is an uncomfortable passage. But there are a few things worth noting. First, Paul did not do this out of personal frustration or revenge. The text is clear it came from the Holy Spirit. Second, the blindness was temporary — a warning, not a punishment. And third, there was purpose in it. The Roman proconsul, Sergius Paulus, was already drawn to the supernatural. God knew that a demonstration of power might be the key that would unlock faith in his heart.
"In the end," as the talk concluded, "the Holy Spirit will use whatever means to bring people to freedom and faith. Even temporary blindness. But most usually the Holy Spirit will be prompting and nudging our steps as we set ourselves on a path to know God better."
07It Is Not About What You Get
One of the most challenging ideas from the discussion that followed was this: church works best when we stop approaching it as consumers. The purpose of gathering is not primarily about what we receive — though encouragement, teaching, and connection are all real gifts. The deeper purpose is about what we bring.
"One of the key purposes of church is to encourage one another," the host reflected. "When people struggle with church, if we're honest with ourselves, we're not going and encouraging other people. And we have become discouraged."
The word "encourage" literally means to put courage into someone. To help them feel brave enough to face their week, their parenting, their grief, their doubts. That shifts the question from "what did I get out of church today?" to "who did I put courage into today?"
08Where Is Your Tribe?
Community is not always easy. It involves imperfect people trying to do life together, which means disappointment is inevitable. There will be seasons where church feels frustrating, where the people around us let us down, where we would rather withdraw.
But isolation, as the discussion highlighted, is where people get stuck. "It's the outside of your own perspective that you need. Other people to come around you and say, have you thought about it like this?"
That is true in faith. It is true in business. It is true in marriage and parenting and creative work. We are simply not wired to figure everything out on our own.
09Something Worth Considering
The first challenge from this passage is simple but not small: where is your tribe? Where is your community? And are you investing in it — not just showing up to receive, but showing up to give courage to the people around you?
Because the story of the early church suggests that God has more for us in community than we would ever experience without it. The mission, the direction, the support, the perspective — it all flows from people who choose to be in the room together, even when the room is messy.
What would it look like this week to show up somewhere — not for what you might get, but for who you might encourage?
Topics in this talk
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welcome to this week's crowd church service we are a digital Church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps us live a more meaningful life we are a community a space to explore the Christian faith and a place where you can contribute and grow our service will last about an hour and in a few seconds we will start with a time of worship after which you will meet our hosts for our service who will introduce today's talk after the talk we head into conversation Street where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the comments throughout the live stream I want to invite you to connect with us here at crowd church and there are a few ways that you can do just that firstly you can engage with crowd from any device during our live stream and if you're up for it why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together you see church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others and one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also Join one of our midweek groups where we need online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ you can also subscribe to our podcast called watch the story where we Deep dive into stories of faith and courage from Everyday People more information about all of these things that I've mentioned can be found on our website at www.crowd.church or you can reach us on social media at crowd Church if you're new to crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to take are well why not head over to our website crowd.church forward slash next for more details and now the moment you've been waiting for is here our online church service starts right now wow good afternoon and welcome to crowd church we are back live live live yes we are with a Vengeance or just with Sunshine and Lollipops I suppose but uh Anna how are you doing you doing all right yeah good thank you I mean it's actually the sun shining today we're literally just like laughing before we came on there slightly blinded by the sunshine outside so I open my window yeah you know absolutely I'm sorry I'm just gonna it is getting a bit stuffy in here but yeah we actually have Sunshine uh which is uh quite extraordinary really so yes welcome to crab Church uh we're not a weather reporting service we are just amazed at the weather uh it's like you said I mean we were talking before we hit the go live button uh that now the kids are going back to school tomorrow at least here in the UK they are you were saying that the weather sort of seems to have turned yeah basically what happens on the British summer sorry for anyone who's joining us from elsewhere but what happens is that the kids break up in mid-july and it just rains for six weeks and then we go back in early September and then we get Sunshine again yeah absolutely okay but anyway definitely never I guess yeah absolutely and we can see the sunshine just reflecting off every surface in your room right now it's yeah yeah absolutely absolutely so a warm welcome to you for those of you who are new to the live stream my name is Matt beside me is Anna we're kind of like uh The Ant and DEC uh I suppose of crowd church I'm not sure uh but it's great that you're with us uh for the duration of the live stream we are back we are going through our teaching series on Ax which is back in the new testament's first book after The Gospels it is a book which talks about the life of the early church and up until the start of August we had been working our way quite merrily through it we took a little break during August where we did the non-live live streams uh which is where we we kind of live stream a recorded video for one of a better expression and people weren't involved on the live streams uh because we're just all having a break uh which was just wonderful and lovely but it's good to be back and I've just realized I'm not let me just pull up the comments because I can't see who's commenting it's how we've had a little break totally not a set of attack that's not what they call comments are I'm getting blinded by sunshine in my life no yeah you can tell we've had a few weeks off so apologies people yeah you can a little bit a little bit we are getting back into it and to be fair I was saying to Anna again before we hit the record button I've got a new computer here so I've never actually live streamed from this computer and so I was slightly nervous with all the tech uh trying to get all that working uh but yes good Paula welcome great to see you uh in the comments Matt's in the comments um where's the new studio I think you're gonna have to explain why we're not in the new studio and also explain what the new studio is for those who don't know uh and is in the comments also great to see you Andy uh thanks for joining us go ahead the new studio situation yes so the new studio situation is a more professional outfit for us all and it matters set us up um it's my fault that we're not in it today because I've got uh the end well I've got my parents staying and I said I can be bothered to go there you know can I water fight into fight in 15 minutes ago in my garden so yeah yeah this is absolutely my fault people today were if it all goes wrong but yeah which we're normally going to be brought passing from and it's super high tech and means that we can broadcast in person together it does it does maybe it will be there next time maybe you'll still be having the world fights I don't know yeah let's hope the heat rate lasts that long this time and you never know you never know so without further Ado shall we get into today not good enough Anna according to Matt it says in the comments uh I know you can't get the stuff can you yeah yeah I was gonna say I'm writing of his pet I don't think we are yeah but anyway no no uh but no it's awesome well as you said we're back to the old school method of doing this where you're at your place I'm at mine uh but next week we'll hopefully be back in the studio saying that I don't actually know what's going on next week so I'm not even sure I've got my head around this week uh so there you go right without further Ado we're gonna get into the talk yeah yeah because we're just gonna spend the whole day uh we're gonna get into today's talk by the legendary doctor will start with ladies and gentlemen yes uh can I get a round of applause I would play The Round of Applause thing but I don't know where it's gone hang on uh there we go there we go big round of applause coming up uh in this unit for that but he doesn't need too much um but yeah we've got the wheels Dr Wilson was talking to us about the book of Acts after that Anna and I will be back for conversation street so stick around for that make sure you uh write any questions thoughts Etc in the comments as we go along because we're going to be talking about those in conversation Street after the talk it'll all make sense in just a few minutes uh but without further Ado let me press this button here here is Will what's the point of church there's probably a whole talk Series in itself in itself but this week's installment of ax has some interesting insights another question behind this might be what's the point in me being part of a church perhaps you'd never consider being part of a church perhaps you see Faith as essentially an individual practice a short answer to what's the point of church might be mission whose mission it's very natural to view the world from our perspective perhaps with us in the center but the book of Acts is definitely a narrative with the Holy Spirit at the center how would our individual Journey look different with the Holy Spirit at the center before we dive into today's reading a quote I love about the church and Mission and this is from Chris Wright a theologian and writer and he says it's not so much the case that God has a mission for his church in the world as the God as a church for his mission in the world mission was not made for the church the was made for God's mission so today's talk is about the church the mission and the Holy Spirit and our passage is acts 13 verses 1 to 12 which I will now read now in the Church of Antioch there were prophets and teachers Barnabas Simeon called Niger Lucius of cyreni Manning who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch and saw while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting the holy spirit said apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them so after they'd fasted and prayed they placed their hands on them and sent them off the two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit went down to seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus when they arrived at salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues John was with them as their helper they traveled through the whole island until they came to Pathos there they met a Jewish Sorcerer And false prophet named bar Jesus who was an attendant to the pro-consul sergius paulus the proconsul an intelligent man sent the Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God but alimas the sorcerer for that is what his name means opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from their faith then Saul who is also called Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked straight at Animas and said you are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right you're full of all kinds of Deceit and trickery will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord hand of the Lord is against you you're going to be blind for a Time not even able to see the light of the Sun immediately mist and darkness came over him and he groped about seeking someone to lead him by the hand when the proconsul saw what had happened he believed so he was amazed teaching about the Lord now the early part of this chapter gives a tantalizingly brief snapshot or a snapshot of a community I believe as an Antioch which is a town right at the southern tip of turkey close to its border with Syria and this community was the first one to be called Christians as you may remember from earlier chapters perhaps also the first to be recognized as a distinct Church so thinking about our question what's the point of church let's look at some of the characteristics of this church that go beyond our individual experience what are the strengths of following Jesus as part of a church and not just as individuals there are three things I noticed In this passage the first is diverse perspective as I said it's entirely normal to view the world from our singular perspective we'll do it but the diversity of cultural backgrounds in this early church is striking of the few that are named there is someone from Cyrene which is modern day Libya could have been Arabic or a Berber Simeon called Niger which is the Greek for black who likely has origins in sub-Saharan Africa Barnabas who is a cypriot Jew and Saul originally from Turkey but more or less raised in Jerusalem but it's not just cultural diversity there's a guy who is a childhood friend of the king Barnabas again who is Alando landowner from a family of priests and presumably a whole cross-section of society in between including Saul who became the Apostle Paul who is a very learned trained by rabbi so what's the big deal with diverse perspective it's clearly something important to God as we see the growth of the church throughout the Known World Through The Narrative of Acts there's all sorts of people involved in this whole narrative and here in this first church where they first call Christians the ones they named are immediately diverse God doesn't want us to stay in an isolated village with the same views as our neighbor rarely exposed to any different way of thinking the church was supposed to be diverse from the beginning and if we're isolated outside of community we just don't get that breadth of experience and perspective as an aside it's really interesting that for all it's blowing open of access to diverse views the internet and the increasing use of algorithms to help you search for Content seems to be risking rapidly returning us to that pre-globalized state of a village community because we effectively hang out with those holding the same views we're shown the same views on social media but being part of the church is an excellent opportunity to get exposure to different perspectives and that may not be immediately obvious but it's harder than just living according to our own opinion I'm sure this early church had plenty of spats but there's something about doing things with and living alongside and loving those with different views that grows not just our character but also the richness of whatever we are doing and I'm sure most of us can think of times when we've had to work with people who have completely different ideas and yet as we explore those we end up coming up with something far better the second strength of the church is increased ability and these diverse individuals were gathered which implies they reach contributing something they're described here as meeting together and worshiping and there's no sense that this was a one-off or occasional scenario the whole was greater than the parts a range of gifts or abilities are mentioned teachers and profits here but much more extensive lists in other parts of the New Testament and in the letters that Paul wrote to the new churches personally I thank God for complete the finishes for Visionaries for musicians and for Tech gurus but my personal favorite gift called out in the Bible is out of hospitality because that just seems fun to me but to think it's actually also a gift that can be used for others benefits pretty cool you notice in these verses that Saul and barnabas's idea to go on their Mission journey it wasn't their idea they had profits and wise companions helping them understand what their part in God's Mission might be they were surrounded by others all focused on worshiping God and listening for God's word and call that's something you don't get when you're walking a solitary Journey as well as different gifts the sheer volume of people involved to make some things possible that seem really daunting as an individual here it describes the church sending Saul and Barnabas out that must mean contributing to their needs they traveled across the sea to Cyprus in the middle of the med this would have taken some resource finance and food is a minimum there might be people in the church who knew a guy with a boat or who could have arranged introductions at the destination or maybe just contributed a bit of money or a bit of know-how the final thing I noticed about the church was encouragement the church laid hands on them and sent them out they weren't going so low it wasn't a case of well yeah this is your mission good luck see you later no it was a wider group standing with them they were really owning the mission committed to whatever it might involve even if they weren't physically joining Saul and Barnabas laying hands on someone was a sign of conferring Authority on them it's like the church was sending them out as ambassadors you are part of us and you are representing us we are with you we're not just waving you off to your self-determined fate and but more than all the Practical health and knowledge there is a crowded people back home rooting for them and praying for them ready to welcome them back maybe to look out for family members while they were gone must have been a huge relief and benefit so embarking on anything is part of a community is so much more encouraging and reassuring than striking out on our own the difference between being waved off by a group of family and friends or just quietly going unnoticed through departures as just about just another anyone so there are good reasons to be part of a church as we personally journey in our faith God values relationship and likes to involve Us in doing things together with others at heart I don't think we're most of us wired to do things solo even if that feels easier sometimes so the first challenge of this week's scripture is where is your tribe where is your community how are you investing in them because God has more for you in community than you would experience without it before we look at the ways the Holy Spirit Works let's look at the mission it really doesn't seem much of a plan there's no timeline no apparent budget no success criteria laid down the church it says fasted and prayed Place their hands on them and send them off all a bit speculative on the face of it did anyone have any idea of what they were being set apart for well the very next verse is the crucial one the two of them sent on their way by the Holy Spirit went down to seleucia now please this is their journey I don't know where they'll come out we'll be Mirror Image but look here's a Mediterranean we've got turkey we've got Syria we've got Israel we've got Egypt down here and this is Lebanon squeezed in this is where Antioch is and I came down to support seleucia they sailed across to Cyprus can't draw the line there which is I can't remember the name of the town where was it Salamis and then they basically traveled over the whole island until the final bit of scripture which is here in paphos which was like the main city of the island I mean that takes about a day now on a boat so yeah significant Journey anyway rereading this reminded me of a very similar journey I went on with a very similar vague mandate so a little story a group of us from Frontline Church were taking part in something called the reconciliation walk and this was in the late 90s and it coincided with the 900th anniversary of the Crusades and specifically the Crusades um retaking Jerusalem it's this is Richard the lionheart Saladin if you know any of our history Etc at Robin Hood as well Kevin Costner got involved apparently um now much about the Crusades was pretty awful it was basically and summarizing um a bunch of land hungry mercenaries who were trumping across Europe and turkey sent by what you could really call as religious despots to retake Jerusalem by force from the infidel and with this came the promise of instant salvation if you died on the way it was hardly christ-like and the whole Crusades were associated with abundant atrocities and a massive source of hurt and a hatred of Christians by Jews and Muslims down the centuries even today so our mission was to re-walk the roots of the Crusaders apologizing for all that was done in Christ's name and praying blessing on the land 900 years after the event another bit of the route was from iskendrum which is a Turkish city and on the coast of the Mediterranean and involved you may have seen on the news in the recent Turkish earthquake walking down down to Antioch which is now antakia again Southern turkey and it was an amazing time and we were blown away by how current the need was for some humility from Christians and how much the mullers particularly that we met valued the apology that we made but after we've done our section we still have three days left before our flight home we worshiped and prayed together um and two of us independently felt that we should go to Cyprus the Turkish signed us that's where we were based in Turkey so if we went no plan no contacts you could say sent by the Holy Spirit we literally got off the boat and started talking to whoever we met but within two days we'd had meetings with the speaker of the parliament and the president Ralph danktash the local press were there taking our photo and we then had half an hour privately with him and an opportunity to pray for him it was quite an experience for me seeing how day by day following where the Holy Spirit was leading could open up opportunities I could never even begin to have engineered none of us could and we see the same Happening Here with Saul and Barnabas getting off the boat and speaking about Jesus across the island a mission on God's heart that he just needed some willing volunteers to to execute they too end up talking with the highest Authority in the land but my final points are really about the Holy Spirit and how he works as you read through acts you see so many different ways the Holy Spirit operates there's all points to Holy Spirit being a person one of the three characters of God and not a force a force tends to operate in a single predictable manner cause and effect but what we see in Acts is a whole range of different responses in different settings with different people Holy Spirit adapts it's unpredictable we see elsewhere in Acts people misunderstanding this seeing power and trying to buy it off the disciples like the spirit with some kind of magic spell or using God's name as an incantation with no real underlying relationship or understanding one instance of this is in Acts 19 in Ephesus where the result is that those using God's name like this get beaten up by the demon-possessed man they're trying to heal he says I know Jesus but who are you the holy spirit is God and a person you can relate to pray to Worship in the same way as you would Jesus and in these few verses we see two extremes of how he works gentle guidance on the one hand and dramatic power the first point to note is that if you want to hear from God or be directed by the Holy Spirit get in the right place the church was gathered worshiping praying it was out of that ongoing dwelling in God's presence of the Holy Spirit directed them to send Saul and Barnabas to Cyprus in the first place all the way along their Journey the Holy Spirit Led them the text is careful to note they were sent and empowered by the holy spirit this was clearly then their experience as narrated to Luke who was writing the acts narrative generally the holy spirit's leading is a gentle nudge in my experience an impression given in prayer a set of circumstances arising when we're in a place of knowing god and seeking to listen to his counsel this seems to be the way Sylvan Barnabas are LED but then at the Other Extreme we have the dramatic and rather troubling story of bar Jesus also known as elimas he'd come across Saul and Barnabas on their travels he was a Jew he had understood their teaching about Messiah perhaps witnessed the power of the holy spirit in healings decided they might be a way he could increase his influence with the political power sergius paulus but it didn't go according to plan perhaps the soul and Barnabas explained the gospels of sergius freedom and salvation through Jesus alone animals could see his influence there might be threatened might be slipping away as sergius began to listen to what Saul and Barnabas were talking about so he turned against the apostles and he began to backtrack sergius until Saul called him out and basically strikes him blind this to me all feels a bit uncomfortable Holy Spirit who saves frees heals directs encourages striking a man blind a couple of our final Reflections on that this story challenges me to never underestimate God's power it's not mine to control or to instruct this passage is clear to state that Saul did not strike any Mass blind out of his own frustration or spite but that this was from the Holy Spirit there's a story in the gospels where some of Jesus's disciples asked Jesus do you want us to cool down fire from heaven on this town that had basically insulted Jesus and Jesus just loves them to you just don't get it that sort of Spite and revenge has no place in God's Kingdom so you'll also notice then that God is gracious here any masses blindness was temporary it says you'll be struck blind for a time it was a warning to him but it wasn't a final sentence it wasn't out of any kind of Revenge of the fact that he was opposing Saul and Barnabas and finally God has a purpose what was the plan here we don't know what happened to any Mass but I'm pretty sure that just like Saul after he was temporarily struck Blind by his encounter with the Holy Spirit that he would now have taken a load more notice of what sword and Barnes would have been had been teaching the thing I really noticed is sergius the pro console was clearly already drawn to the supernatural Romans generally were quite superstitious and he already had an association with any Mass the sorcerer perhaps God knew that such a demonstration of Supernatural power was going to be the key that would unlock faith in his heart the reading finishes with he was amazed by what he heard and saw in the end the holy spirit will use whatever means to bring people to freedom and faith even temporary blindness or the witness of a supernatural occurrence but most usually the holy spirit will be prompting and nudging our steps as we set ourselves on a path to know God better so the church the mission and the Holy Spirit it's a powerful combination and an adventure for sure so I hope this encourages you to get involved however coming up we have conversation street but before we get into that here's a clip from our podcast what's the story which you can subscribe to on all of your favorite podcast apps I think grief is it's such a tricky thing to process isn't it and it takes time and it can make you feel so emotional and can really change your perspective please is not like okay my man passed away I agreed and now it's all fine but it is not like it is which suddenly you want to cry and then cry yeah it's fine just allow yourself as well as emotions as long as you don't stuck in days you've got to give those emotions for a reason I always say so and I think that's okay to feel whatever you're doing because this is well the way to heal foreign welcome back welcome back to conversation streets oh yes we're going to get into Dr Will's talk we're going to be chatting about that so I do get writing your questions your comments uh in the comments below the video uh wherever you're watching if you're watching on YouTube I think we might even be on Facebook again I'm not entirely sure because I'm not sure how the tech was set up uh I should probably check that really um but yeah it's great that you're here great you're with us and uh first that was obviously you doing that interview there about grief quick recap on that podcast because that's out now on the what's the story uh podcast Channel yeah I mean I recorded that right at the start of summer so it's hard to remember but it was an amazing conversation with this lady Katie who I met online and um she talked a little bit about losing a parent and um she also talked about um her experiences of being in a really serious road traffic accident and oh well and like the trauma after it and having to deal with that and its impact on her life which is kind of ongoing but she's an amazing woman with an amazing story so yeah definitely recommend people watch that one and also tune in for other episodes as well because there's a lot of awesome stories on what's the story uh is is as I say it's unbelievable it's a wrong thing to say because it's obviously not unbelievable because it's believable as in this happened yeah but some of the stories and stuff that have come out on what's the story have been insanely good and genuinely loved it um and it's you know you host some of the episodes I host some of the episodes Sadaf is going to start hosting some of the episodes as well so I know she's been busy recording some stories um and so yeah it's great and actually the podcast um if you're not familiar with it what's the story where Ted to once the storypodcast.com tell you all about it it's a podcast we do where we just interview people and talk to them about their story their walk with God and what what kind of impact that's had um and in hopefully quite a chilled out way uh hopefully it's quite enjoyable um but we have this Gathering a lot of traction that podcast now so we're now getting lots and lots of people saying can we come on to the podcast we've got a great story so which is great um yeah and so yeah do do connect with that do uh do download that do something yeah it's actually one of the um things I most enjoy doing it's like just holding space for people more and share a little bit about who they are about their Journey of Faith it's just I don't know about you map but it's just so interesting to hear and have a bit more time and space too yeah it is just really hear different people's experiences and some of the things they've been through and what's formed them and what's formed their faith and I I just find every conversation I have with someone just so inspiring so yeah I listen to everyone checks it out yeah totally I'm like every conversation is great so yeah do check it out what's the storypodcast.com okay I should probably get a little thing to put on the screen that says what's the storypodcast.com whenever we talk about just flashes up uh let's get into Will's talk Miss Anna and let's chat about that um well it's just he's just one of the coolest people that I know and he just sits there and he's just like so chilled out so laid back I'm just gonna ask a question what's the point of church and then he just unpicks it for the next 20 minutes uh which is just really fascinating some of the Insight that he bought wasn't it yeah he's he's works for public health England or he has done and he's a scientist I mean he's a very smart guy um but yeah he was saying there's a lot about the Bible too um no I just I find it I find it fascinating and even though I was getting his Arts girls there and they're coming like that but you know what we can't be good at everything yeah yeah still a to Nate didn't he and it's almost like where do you begin but I I love so much of what you said about how church is about community and you know it's about being alongside other people who can encourage you in your faith that kind of thing and yeah for me that's just one of them we think about being part of church who you know we talk about it all the time here on crowd church it's not Church isn't a building and obviously we don't believe it's just a building because we're doing Church online right now yeah um for my own homes so you know church is about people it's about connecting with people of God really um and supporting each other as we grow together and and that's that's the core of it really and I think that's kind of what he said um and his final point and yeah I just that really sticks with me and I think yeah for me more than anything else point of church like that's why I keep going that's why I you know I I started going to church as as a kid you know I didn't get a choice when I was little and the reason I've continued to pursue it as an adult is you know for that sense of community um needing other people around me to encourage me in my faith more than anything else probably yeah so true and in fact uh Paula wrote that in the comments let me see if I can look at this let me see if I can make that oh no I just sorry Paula it's a new computer I'm just going to edit this on the Fly and try and make that text bigger he says how do I do that so let's look at this see if I can do there we go there we go so churches most definitely the people are not a building last weekend I attended the cf-23 uh which was a Christian Conference cool I've not heard of that one but I hope it was good uh I haven't been torn in 10 years I've missed so much the Gathering of the church uh and yes it's that kind of thing isn't it I I think we all agree that church is not the building but it is the community aspect of it coupled with the mission aspect of it which I know um will also talked about let me uh um well let's talk about the community aspect of it first then we'll jump into the mission aspect of it and uh the building and encouraging of others but seeing God at work in us and others Paula says here uh yes I know it's all about Jesus but it's about others too uh says Miriam let me add that to the little there we go I'm getting used to this add to the broadcasting oh yes I am a technical genius uh I should really shouldn't say that because that's just gonna come back and hold me yeah I know how to push a button on the screen uh Miriam you're right it's uh it is about others it's about the community aspect of it and in fact we were talking about this in church this morning uh in our in-person gathering and John Harding was talking about this wasn't he how um as things uh as Paul has put in the comments well done Matt thank you yes big cheers hang on hang on for let's do this yes well done for pushing the buttons oh bless me so yeah I mean it's interesting uh John was talking about uh deconstructing your faith um which is is a topic in its own right and I I think John should definitely share that talk with us here on crowd um but he talks about one of the Hallmarks of people who deconstruct their faith is one of the first things that he'd do is remove themselves from a community that can help them process and deal with the questions and doubts that they have um and and answer those questions and there's something about staying connected and isolating yourself isn't there which is super super important yeah that's right I I think yeah I mean I I think it's really interesting because he talked a lot about how quite often you know like having questions and doubts is a normal part of the Christian War yeah which I think it is like we all have times Seasons hard things happen in our lives and you know it's normal and it's healthy to say Where's God in this you know why isn't God answering my prayers and the way I expect all these questions are normal and healthy to ask and um it's unhealthy not to ask them really but I think if it's hard to process them unless you've got other people to bounce those ideas off who can kind of give you perspective and I know I've needed that in times when I've been through your things it's like you need other friends to say you know that's how you feel Anna but like this is pointing back to the truth and actually it needs sometimes there's definite periods of life where you're like I need other people to stand with me and pray with me and encourage me and then there's other times where I've been able to do that for other people and yeah on both sides of that fence it's it's such a blessing and I think yeah you're right isolating yourself is tends to be when people get stuck because it's the outside of your own perspective and it sort of needs other people to come around you and say ah but have you thought about it like this or have you looked at it from this perspective or you know like I think we can be so glinted and so narrower in our interview um and that's why we do need other people and I don't think that's just true of church I think it's true of lots of things in life you know like you know you and I both work in marketing fields that and it's the same thing isn't it sometimes you can't think your way out of a solution and someone else goes oh I've got this creative idea and you're like oh I've never thought of that before yeah yeah let's do that and so you see a lot of walks of life that we need were built to not do life alone and I think we'll actually head back to me in the talk need other people around us um to really kind of push us and challenge us and help us to see things in different ways yeah I totally agree here's a question for you listening to your talk uh I know because I I don't know if we've ever had this conversation but maybe we did in the what's the story podcast but have you ever been tempted to isolate yourself to withdraw from the church community I find that hard to go to church or even Seasons you know where I haven't gone every single week and I I think that's okay but I never totally withdraw myself from being in relationship with other Christians and talking to them and meeting up with them one-to-one and in small group sort of settings I know like I you know I've talked about this before on crowd church but myself and my husband went through a whole season of multiple miscarriages um and it was really hard to go to church every week afterwards because church can be quite high energy or certainly our church anyway it's quite high energy it's quite celebratory when you when you're in the worship and praise sort of sort of section of it and you know when you're not feeling in that space I think it'd be really hard to be around like peoples that are Christians you're like actually I'm just not feeling this right now and so it's okay to have seasons where you you know need space from that kind of expression of church and I think I have taken short breaks from it at different times but yeah I've never taken breaks from being in friendship and relationship with other believers um and that's that's really important I think yeah totally I I agree it's um it is temp I remember years ago I was I've mentioned this before on crowd that I I felt quite annoyed with church um and I think I think we've all if you've been around church for a while there are times when you're going to feel really annoyed with it and I I can't remember because it's made up of like people like you and I just or is there any people right so it's always they're letting you down yeah exactly it's all imperfect people trying to run a perfect organization is is Never Gonna it's never gonna bode well right um and so it's an interesting one isn't it because I was angry at something I I genuinely cannot remember why I was annoyed um that's the that's the irony of all of this you know um and I I do I leave do I stay what do I do and I I remember praying about it and saying God that I just wasn't happy and then God reminded me really um clearly and actually the verse was put on the in the comments let me add it to where's my mouse gone let me add this to the broadcast uh so this was put in the comments do not neglect to meet together as in the as is the habit of some but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day Drawing Near this was fascinating to me because I'm we're starting to swirl over a little bit into the mission of the church um but it's very clear In this passage that for me one of the key purposes of church is to encourage one another so yes it's for me to get encouraged yes it's for me to connect with God In Worship it's for me to grow through the teaching it's for me to grow through the connections in the community and these are all great things and wonderful things but churches is predominantly about me going with the purpose to encourage those who are in that church building does that make sense and it's um it's a really interesting thing that I was missing and I I think when people struggle with church when struggle people struggle with the community If we're honest with ourselves we're not going and encouraging other people and we have become discouraged and therefore we are not encouraging um and I would it's one of the things I love about the comments and conversation Street you know people can just encourage the socks off one another uh in the comments and um and I love that you know I I love the fact that Community is about encouraging one another about um encouraging just means to to help people feel couraged Courageous Courageous to do life courageous to do um you know work parenting uh Sarah's in the comments I met the uh uh the little baby today the cutest cutest thing uh yes and um but it's it's about isn't it it's about bringing that encouragement to other people it's not just about what you get um Community is never about just take take communities about often what you give and that encouragement to other people around you um and that's what one of the reasons I love going to church I'm I saw our house been on the Church live stream before our Marshall absolute Legend probably one of the most encouraging people I know hmm Jermaine is is always high-fiving you hugging you and just telling you you're awesome and it's just great like that so uh that's my challenge go to church and encourage people it's an awesome thing to do right let's look in the comments what's people been talking about in the comments uh Matt says he can't go to in-person church due to health reasons that's another reason why we love online church we know not everybody can get to an in-person Church um and uh you're more than welcome here Craig great to see you obviously I tell the people in Billings to stop saying that they're not special because they are to me they push me away but not thinking that they're by not thinking they're amazing so I'm glad it's sorted uh Miriam me too uh Paul has put here a new gift I found was prophecy okay so we're talking in the context of church I shared uh in a small number only to be said by another in a bigger context not knowing what God spoke to me which is cool yeah people need to be about others not just God God God all the time that's a really interesting comment I'm gonna put that on the screen Miriam uh I know what you mean when you say that um uh but Anna do you want to see what's your impression what's your thoughts John explained this really well and I think I know what Mary is getting at but I I think John Harding's the front line and he was talking about kind of how we some people like tend to have quite a consumeristic Outlook but on faith you know like the future what we can get like I you know I go to church to get like stuff out some input from God for my week to strengthen me to help me to you know give me the encouragement I need for all of my week and do what I need to do in my life and there's nothing wrong with that but that's just not the whole picture is it that's not that as you say part of church is also about Mission and so it you know it's a very self-centered you know like and because that that's if you're if your faith is all about a good church or a meet with other believers just for what I can get out of it or because that helps me and my faith or me and my life what happens when your life's not easy you know what I mean it's like well God's not helping me therefore it's not working or it becomes very simplistic if it's just a like very transactional that I go to church it's like it's like praying just to receive stuff from God isn't it but actually the purpose of prayer is to connect with God and to build a relationship with God not to always get what you want from God it's not like a transactional thing and I think we can easily approach any area of faith in a very transactional way because we live in a very consumer-facest kind of transactional sort of world like we're used to being consumers and yeah approaching life in that way and I think yeah for me like the the whole thing of like um you know it's not just about God so it's not about just like Faith isn't just about a line up between you and God and yeah it's a TV thing it's also about affecting the world around you and you know it doesn't it doesn't work unless it's about base it's like up to God and out to others and I think it's a bit lopsided I mean Jesus said didn't he and like when he was asked what's the most important command and he said love God and love others but it wasn't what like the other it was like the two together it's like these important commands it's like if you could sum up all the law yeah the Old Testament in one Jesus says in the New Testament love God I love people around you and love the world so it's yeah to me it's like never been one or the other it has to be made together yeah and yeah no totally very good point good point Miriam I'm well explained Anna let's talk uh in the last few minutes uh just touching back on something that will talk about about the mission of the church so we we're part of a church it's better to be in the church rather than isolated it's better to be with a community of people and churches and just a church building and and we we understand that but it to be plugged into the community of believers let's talk about the mission of the um uh and I love how we'll use that quote at the start how the church isn't given uh what was it that something about it the church isn't given a mission from God the the mission of the church is the mission of God or something like I'm just butchered well quite sorry well um but it's how would you summarize the mission of the church oh it's a heart it's a hard um it's a whole question I suppose in essence it's about it's about reflecting God and his message to the world isn't it it's about being you know um it's about being God's Representatives here on Earth sort of like reflecting who God is to those that don't know him in essence I think that's Crooks how would you explain about that yeah back at you I totally uh I think what you said there and I was it was right you know in a lot of sense that I think the mission of the church if I was going to use Christian terminology would be to build and establish the kingdom of God here on Earth but I appreciate that's very action-orientated language and if you don't know church that's very bizarre Christian speech but I think the purp I think the mission of church is to reflect the nature and character of God and Christ and the gospel of Christ the good news you know that he came that he died that he rose from the dead um to the communities and the world around us and I think uh I think we're a safe haven I think we're a community I think there's a whole there's a whole raft of things that I can throw under the title of the mission of the church but yes I think uh Andy summarized it here you know Christians are ambassadors of God's love uh which is very true actually and the church should be that not love as in Hollywood it's version of love but actually as in the love of God uh to people here on Earth and I think very very true what fascinated me though in world's talk when he was talking about this was he referenced that part in Acts 13 where um what was the Chap's name I wrote it down because I know uh Ali Mass was blinded like this is not something right that you know it's not I I don't know but I've never used this as a sort of a how do I share the gospel kind of thing well you know um God might make you blind I don't know now granted he was opposing Paul and he was a sort of you know trying to convince somebody else that the gospel was not real and God got a little bit you know involved in that situation but it's not your standard protocol for demonstrating the love of God um to to people but somehow it worked right yeah have you got any thoughts on this that's my that's my silence yeah I mean I I kind of feel like it's context isn't it like obviously in that scenario and that situation for that person it it did work you know I wouldn't Advocate that kind of right like wholesale for people you know what I mean but it's God knew that person's heart in that situation so I think he worked in a way you know like he he did challenge people and get in their face sometimes don't they like like I always think of that one way says to Richmond you know go and sell all your you know who asked him how do I how do I find the kingdom of God he said go away sell all your riches and then come back and talk to me about it I'm paraphrasing but yeah you know that wouldn't be what you'd tell everyone to do but clearly God knew his heart yeah and that he needed to deal with the hold that money had on his life before he could really understand who God was um so yeah I think it's it's a lot to do with like individuals and yeah kind of the message they need from God but yeah I I think one of the interesting things about being being you know we're talking about the the whole idea of being God's Representatives on Earth and kind of showing people what God is like I think that's what the church does when it's at its best you know when the church is not as best as do Mission like it's feeding people with food banks or it's you know kind of helping the homeless or it's reaching out to refugees and Asylum Seekers there's a whole number of things that a church does really well but I also think when the church is unhealthy or individuals in the church aren't healthy it can do the opposite and that's where that's where it can be hard isn't it people have bad experiences of church or Christians and some some instances because they're not really representing God's love in that situation and I suppose yeah we just want the same crowd church if that's ever been your experience and we're sorry yes that's not what the people be about it it's 100 about loving people yeah totally which is why it was super powerful what we were sharing about the Crusades and several hundred years later just walking through those lands and apologizing to those people it sounds a bit odd I suppose that what a world called the reconciliation boards could sound a bit odd um but it opens some remarkable doors didn't it I mean he met the President of Cyprus was it and was talking to him about it um and the ability of the church to own up to the church's mistakes and go actually I'm that's wrong and we are sorry and we are going to do something about that the church I think in a lot of ways should be the first organization in the world to do that but historically it's hidden behind its power and its closed doors and its secrecy which is never always that helpful um so like you say a super sorry if that's been your experience but um that's what happens when broken people uh you know run something like the so what we got in the comments here okay so Paula says seeing Jesus oh hang on I can do this or use it uh seeing Jesus in his uh is a witness and they get to know God through how we reflect Jesus and Elijah that's totally true um so as Christians uh I'm gonna use that word Andy use Ambassador we are ambassadors we do demonstrate and reflect Christ two people around us um and we're not always great at it uh but we are always doing it and it's what it's one of those things isn't it we just need to be aware of uh I think and and as part of our mission listen I'm aware of time and um I feel like we should probably draw this conversation to a close so thank you ladies and gentlemen for your comments uh and stories and just general conversation uh about church or place in church and my encouragement to all of us is to see yourself as part of a tribe A Community uh and a church whether it's like crowd online and you're always welcome here um or whether it's an in-person Church wherever that may be do become part of that Community it is life-changing and an extraordinary thing and it's just part of the goodness of God uh for us so get involved and contribute and go to encourage people would be my advice right Mac crew is in the comments I'm gonna add this to the the book because this is the kind of comment that Matt sent me all the time promote the zoom what's happening next week uh it's it's great it keeps us on the ball so let's tell everybody what's happening next week Anna I would ask you but I know for a fact you don't know I don't know because you haven't told me that that's one of those things we didn't talk about yes next week we have the legendary Pete Farrington I'm just pulling up his details here who is carrying on the conversation acts 13 13 through 52 uh Pete is going to be sharing and if you're a regular crowd uh people be a familiar face to you the man is an absolute Legend um and so looking forward to what PSA had a great meal with him and his wife albiolo just before we went away at the star summer which was awesome what a legend that man is um so great to see Pete do come join us for that uh on the live stream if you haven't done so already head over to the website which is on your screens www.crowd.church if you're listening to the audio or you can head over to social media at crowdchurch you can find out more information about us there but sign up to the email if you haven't done so already and we just email you and let you know when we're going live at all that sort of good stuff yes that's what's coming up next week uh promote the zoom sorry Matt yeah I still need to do that so every every week uh well it's not August uh every week uh we get together on a Wednesday night on Zoom calls uh 8pm here in the UK at 3 P.M eastern time if you're in the States but if you would like to join in the community where we just catch up uh pray for one another uh talk to one of those lots of questions you're more than welcome whether you're a regular church or whether you're new to the Christian faith or whether you're not even sure you're a Christian at all you are more than welcome to come and join us we would love to see you there that's going to be on Wednesday if you'd like to know more information about that again head over to the websites www.crowd.church for more information reach out to us and we will of course send you the zoom link now one of the things Anna we have talked about doing which we'll probably start doing in the next few weeks ladies and gentlemen is you will notice we didn't do worship tonight and there's a reason we didn't do worship tonight we did chat a little bit longer than we normally would do uh is we are going to start doing a zoom call after the church service so we we normally start at six finish at seven so we're going to start to try and finish about quarter Seven Ten seven somewhere around there we are going to then head over to zoom for those of you who join us on the live stream that want to come and just catch up a bit like you do at church you know with we haven't got the tea or the biscuits so that's the only thing you might bring your own tea and biscuits and just catch it with people no agenda just come and say how's it can meet people it's always nice to put names to faces and stuff like that so we're going to start doing that in the next few weeks stay tuned for more information about that and anything else from you in closing no just have a great week everyone be blessed stay connected and yeah we'll see you again soon indeed we shall we shall see you next week Anna thank you so much for joining me uh thanks for taking time out from your parents and your water fight uh are you gonna go back to water fighting now no that is very definitely over now I told them to shut up say otherwise you would all be hearing something in here like all crowd Church search you know nobody needs that so yeah yeah thank you nobody needs that absolutely so here we go let me add this to uh we are messing ourselves in peace tool this week oh no that was the one I meant to put on sorry Matt uh thanks for joining us tonight everyone thanks for being part of the crowd church family echoed by all of us thank you for joining us that thank you so much for joining us here on crowd church now if you are watching on YouTube make sure you hit the Subscribe Button as well as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live and of course if you are listening to the podcast uh the live stream podcast make sure you also hit the follow button Now by Smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform it helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life so if you haven't done so already be sure to check out our website www.crowd.church where you can learn more about Earth as a church more about the Christian faith and also how to connect into our church Community it has being awesome to connect with you and you are awesome it's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time that's it from us God bless you bye
