Ever felt the weight of life's storms crushing your spirit? Step into "God's Promise Of Peace In Difficult Times" and discover a beacon of hope that penetrates even the densest of life's fogs. We unveil a journey that transcends time, rooted in the tales of Paul and Silas, and extends an invitation to every soul searching for an anchor in these turbulent times.🔹 What you'll uncover:The profound difference between seeking salvation and truly embracing the promise of Jesus.Why Paul and Silas' unyielding faith in the face of adversity isn't just an ancient story, but a guidepost for us today.The art of seeing beyond life's immediate struggles, reframing challenges with the lens of eternal truths.Raw, personal stories that spotlight the irreplaceable solace found only in divine connection.Key insights from Romans 8, revealing a love so strong that no earthly challenge can ever sever its bond.
01Singing in the Dark
Picture the scene. It is midnight. You are in a Roman prison — not the kind with heating and a meal tray, but the inner cell, the worst one. Your back is raw from a public beating. Your feet are locked in wooden stocks. The charges against you were fabricated. And you are singing.
That is where we find Paul and Silas in Acts 16. And the temptation, when reading this story, is to draw a straight line from their worship to their freedom. They sang, the earthquake came, the doors flew open. Worship equals breakthrough. Simple.
But a closer look at the text reveals something much more interesting — and much more useful for anyone who has ever found themselves in a dark place wondering where God has gone.
02The Worship Did Not Open the Doors
It is easy to come away from this passage thinking that Paul and Silas's singing caused the earthquake. That their praise was the catalyst for their miraculous release. But that is not actually what the text says.
"It was clearly a supernatural event because immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's bonds were unfastened. But even after that they were still in prison. They weren't actually freed until the morning."
The earthquake happened. The chains fell off. The doors swung open. And Paul and Silas stayed exactly where they were.
They did not worship in order to get out. They worshipped because worship was their response to difficulty — regardless of whether the circumstances changed. That distinction matters enormously.
03Peace That Does Not Make Sense
What Paul and Silas demonstrated in that prison cell was not positive thinking or a coping mechanism. It was something the Bible calls the peace of God — the kind that, as Philippians 4:7 puts it, "surpasses all understanding."
This is not peace because everything is fine. Everything was emphatically not fine. They had been stripped, beaten, and thrown into prison without trial. This was peace in the middle of chaos. Peace that has no logical explanation.
Paul would later write to the Philippians from another prison cell: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
He was not writing theory. He was writing from experience. The same man who sang at midnight in Philippi was now telling others that the same peace was available to them.
04The Real Miracle Was Not the Earthquake
The earthquake makes for a dramatic story. But the real turning point in Acts 16 is not the shaking ground or the broken chains. It is what happened next.
The jailer woke up, saw the open doors, and assumed every prisoner had escaped. Under Roman law, he would be executed for losing his prisoners. So he drew his sword to take his own life.
And Paul shouted from the darkness: "Do not harm yourself! We are all here."
Every prisoner. Still there. The doors were open. The chains were off. And nobody had left.
That is the detail that breaks the jailer. Not the earthquake — earthquakes happened in that region. Not the open doors — that could be explained. But the fact that beaten, imprisoned men who had every reason to run chose to stay? That was inexplicable.
"The jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?'"
The jailer's question came not from witnessing a miracle of power, but from witnessing a miracle of character. He saw men who had something he did not — a peace and a purpose that transcended their circumstances.
05Worshipping When You Do Not Feel Like It
There is something deeply uncomfortable about the idea of worshipping God in the middle of suffering. It can feel forced, dishonest even. If praise does not come naturally when your life is falling apart, does that mean your faith is weak?
Not at all. The Psalms are full of honest, raw, sometimes angry prayers. David — a man after God's own heart — spent entire psalms asking God where he had gone and why everything was going wrong.
But there is a thread that runs through those psalms. Almost every one that begins in despair ends in trust. Not because the circumstances changed, but because the act of turning towards God — even in complaint — reoriented the writer's perspective.
Paul and Silas were not pretending everything was fine. They were choosing to remember who God was, even when their situation screamed the opposite. And that choice created a witness that no sermon could have matched.
06The Jailer's Household
The story does not end with the jailer's question. That same night, Paul and Silas shared the message of Jesus with the jailer and his entire household. The jailer washed their wounds — a poignant detail, given that he may well have been present when those wounds were inflicted. And then he and his whole family were baptised.
"He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptised at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God."
A man who was minutes away from ending his own life was now hosting a meal and celebrating a new beginning. That transformation did not come through theological argument. It came through watching two men live out their faith in the worst possible circumstances.
07Standing Your Ground
There is one more detail worth noting. When morning came and the magistrates sent word that Paul and Silas could leave, Paul refused to go quietly.
"They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned men who are Roman citizens, and thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly? No. Let them come themselves and take us out."
Paul was not being petty. As Roman citizens, he and Silas had legal rights that had been violated. By insisting the magistrates come in person, Paul was establishing a precedent that would protect the new believers in Philippi after he left. If the authorities had to publicly acknowledge their error, they would think twice before persecuting the fledgling church.
Even in the aftermath of suffering, Paul was thinking about others. His courage was not reckless — it was strategic and selfless.
08What This Means for the Midnight Seasons
Most of us will never be beaten and thrown into a Roman prison. But most of us will face seasons that feel like midnight — the diagnosis, the redundancy, the relationship that falls apart, the grief that will not lift.
The invitation from this passage is not to paste on a smile and pretend everything is fine. It is to discover that worship — honest, sometimes tearful, sometimes angry worship — can reorient us when our circumstances cannot be changed.
And the promise embedded in the text is this: God does not waste our suffering. The jailer and his entire household came to faith not because of a polished presentation, but because two men in agony chose to sing. Their pain became someone else's doorway to hope.
09Something to Consider
When the midnight seasons come — and they will — what would it look like to turn towards God rather than away? Not to earn a miracle or unlock a blessing, but simply because he is still God, even when the cell is dark and the chains are heavy?
And who might be watching from the other side of the wall, waiting to see whether what you believe actually holds up when everything else falls apart?
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 Crow 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 meet online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ you can also subscribe to our podcast called what's 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. crow. or you can reach us uh 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 sln next for more details and now the moment you've been waiting for is here our online church service starts right now well good evening and welcome to crowd Church great to have you here uh my name is Matt beside me is my beautiful amazing and all around just fantastic wife hi everybody my favorite co-host fabulous thank you I'm really glad that you're here to be honest because um um you you won't know but Matt's not been well this weekend since Friday night and uh I was a bit like am I gonna have to have a conversation by myself my conversation is slightly Limited in that you know yeah yeah why yeah talking to yourself is never as much fun no uh in in a honestly but thank you for dragging yourself in yeah sorry I've looked I I and dragging is is a good word I look like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards as they say but it's great to be with you it's great to be at church so thanks for joining us uh and thanks for joining in do say hi in the comments let us know wherever you're watching from in the world always great to hear from you uh always great to see what people are saying in the comments we've got Matt in there we've got Miriam uh evening everyone hope you're doing well uh so yeah do say hi in the comments uh we'd love to hear from you now what have we got coming up today today we've got Peter farington talking to us the legend we've been working our way through the book of Acts so he's continuing with that and after he's done his talk we're going to talk about we're going to talk about the talk and any of your questions or comments you can put them in the comments and hopefully we will pick up on them do you know what I've just realized talk about the talk tat okay yeah we're going to tat ah dear Tat's a good English word uh and it just doesn't really work it doesn't really work in that context it bit a tat uh so yeah we're going to talk about the talk in something we call conversation Street which is a much cooler name than tat uh so yeah do say do stay and join us for that after the talk uh so we've got that coming up one of the things that we do invite you to do as we go and listen to the talk as Peter Chats on uh as we like Sharon said we're carrying on the book of Acts um do write your questions your thoughts your ideas in the comments we would love to hear from you um and hear anything you've got uh oh Ashton's in the comments does anyone here also attend church physically just wondering that yes yes we do we do yeah some well some of us do some of us don't yeah so I was at uh in person church this morning Matt wasn't there because he wasn't feeling well and is I think using all of his energy now on the up because he's not been like this all weekend so saved it up I'm to crash in yeah think afterwards it's just going to be but yeah you you went to uh imperson church so crowd is connected to Frontline Church for those of you who don't know which is a church here in Li Liverpool uh which is an in-person Church many congregations we look after the one that's online which is just great fun and I know some people who are partakers partakers some people attend crowd uh just attend crowd it's their online church for a number of reasons really number one they might not be able to get to an inperson church building number two might not want to go to inperson church uh and number three might actually just be the majority of people just looking at Christianity looking at the journey um and so just wondering what it's all about so wherever you are on the journey it's great that you're with us so great question Ashton hopefully that answers your uh your question uh so yes it's a mixture that's a really unwinded way of saying it's a mixture um but one of the things I love about crowd something you don't see in in person church as we go through the talk you get to write your thoughts questions and comments uh in the chat because we'd like to respond to them um it's it's not that easy iners Church to put your hand up and say excuse me preacher depending on the size of the church I guess yeah yeah and how well you know the preacher I suppose but I have a question or a comment which you can do here so get busy doing that in the comments um I'm gonna play the talk now and then Sharon and I will be back after this see you soon hello crowd so today we are going to be looking at Acts chapter 16 uh we're going to read verses 6 through 40 but before I do that let me just fill you in on what's just happened so Paul and Silas were met by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination and she brought her owners a lot of money from her fortune telling but uh Paul casts the spirit out of her which greatly infuriates the slave girl's owners because now their hope of gain is gone so they took Paul and Silas before the magistrates who then beat them up and threw them into prison so let's have a look at what happens next uh verse six reading from from verse 6 no we're not we're reading from verse 25 sorry about midnight uh this is in prison Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening to them and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's Bonds were unfastened when the Jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open he drew his sword and was about to kill himself supposing that the prisoners had escaped but Paul cried with a loud voice do not harm yourself for we are all here and the Jailer called for lights and rushed in and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas then he brought them out and said sir what must I do to be saved and they said believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved you and your house household and they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house and he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds and he was baptized at once he and all his family then he brought them up into his house and set food before them and he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God but when it was day the magistrates sent the police saying let those men go and the Jailer reported these words to Paul saying the magistrates have sent to let you go therefore come out now and go in peace but Paul said to them they have beaten us publicly uncondemned men who are Roman citizens and thrown us into prison and do they now throw us out secretly no let them come themselves and take us out so the police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard they were Roman citizens so they came and apologized to them and they took them out and asked them to leave the city so they went out of the prison and visited Lydia and when they had seen the brothers they encouraged them and departed now I've heard this story uh quite a few times and I think when you're um too familiar with something it's very easy to actually miss what it's all about right so so for me it's easy for me to come away from reading this story with the idea that uh it was Paul and silas's worship that freed them it was it was their singing that got them out of prison it was their worship that was the The Catalyst for breakthrough but I think when you take a closer look it be it quickly becomes apparent that that wasn't really the case and there's a lot more going on in this story so firstly it was it was clearly a supernatural event because immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's Bonds were unfin but even after that they were still in prison and they weren't actually freed until the morning yes they were taken up to the jailer's house but they hadn't been released and in fact they even refused to leave when they' had been let go they were like you can't just quietly let us out we're Roman citizens and we were unjustly imprisoned after being beaten so you come and publicly release us and we're not actually told why they were released or uh or why it happened when it did so we don't really know how much it had to do with the earthquake so it doesn't appear as though this is all about God breaking them out of prison because they were worshiping him like I don't think it's that it was the case that God was uh there listening thinking Gosh guys these are some banging Tunes this is my dream set list so you know what I'm going to I'm going to break you out of here um and I think if you um think about it from Paul and barnabas' perspective I I wonder what was going on in their minds like I wonder if they had had in mind Peter's miraculous jail escape from just a few years earlier that time an angel had appeared to Peter he struck him on the side and told him to get dressed and follow him um the angel then proceeded to lead him out of the prison right in front of the guards with the gate opening for them of its own accord now it would have been much less chaotic it would have been much smoother if God could have just done that again right I mean he even got Peter home in time for the prayer meeting that that evening um or that night but God isn't a Genie in a Bottle he isn't a vending machine we like to think that God will behave in exactly the same way every single time we're faced with a problem so come on God I'll pop the worship playlist on and you get to work if I do everything in exactly the same way I'll get the desired result or it will all happen the same as last time but this wasn't I mean this wasn't even Paul's last time in prison God didn't break Paul out of prison later on when he's in Rome but we can safely assume that Paul was still worshiping God then so all this really challenges this kind of formulaic idea that if I just sing a little louder my breakthrough is just around the corner and God will do what I want if I just sing the right song and actually I think that this this kind of thinking can be crushing because if things don't work out how we want it to whose fault is it it's yours because you didn't sing loud enough or you didn't sing the right song you didn't do things right now don't get me wrong I'm I'm by no means wanting to downplay the significance of men praising God while imprisoned for serving him I mean it's phenomenal uh in fact I think it's of such significance that I want to delve deeper and figure out how it is why it is that prisoners can sing and praise God whilst in prison because of their very commitment to him it's challenging stuff right like I I very much doubt that anyone listening to this is in prison right now for being a Christian but um is is praise still is praise the first thing on your lips when you stub your toe or when you get a flat tire and you might think oh Peter come on stop it's just not it's just not realistic that's that's different okay but I think if we look at um some of Paul's words we get we get Clues as to how it was that they could sing like we don't know the lyrics of the hymns that that Paul and Silas were singing um but I don't think this is speculation if we look at Paul's words we can be we can be pretty sure about uh what it was that made him sing in Colossians 1: 13-4 these are words that were penned by the way um most likely while he was in prison in Rome um he says this God has rescued us from the Dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the son he loves in whom we have Redemption the Forgiveness of sins he says this in prison God has rescued us from the Dominion of Darkness that's phenomenal you listen to these men preach Paul and Silas and at the Forefront of their minds and always on the lips was the story of how God had freed them from bondage to sin we see this anytime they got a chance to share with people the gospel determined how they walked through suffering and hardship so much so that even here in chapter 16 as they see their shackles falling off their wrists and the doors flying open they seal that not as an opportunity for escape but as an opportunity for witness their confidence and Security in the gospel was so great that it caused them to to pause and to consider what God might be up to and their actions here really demonstrated that they knew a sovereign God they didn't respond by saying well we don't know if we're going to get an opportunity like this again so let's let's get out of here now quick this is our chance let's go go go and and so this isn't a story of how um the power of their songs broke them out prison this is a story of how the power of the Gospel makes prisoners sing and I'm saying this about both the Christian who is suffering persecution hardship or pain and the unbeliever who sees no way out of their bondage to sin you see this really is a tale of two prisoners or two types of prisoners I keep forgetting Silas as well Paul Silas we're always talking about Paul um but this is a tale of two types of prisoner two types of captivity because despite being held in prison unjustly Paul and Silas were truly free men regardless of whether or not God was going to break them out of prison and and free them from their physical shackles they were truly free men even sat there in Chains and they they knew it and they lived like it I want to um uh just share a verse from Isaiah 61 it's a very famous verse um so this is from the Old Testament but Jesus actually quotes this in the New Testament and he claims that this is about himself so Isaiah 61:1 says the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor he has sent me to bind up the Brokenhearted to Proclaim Liberty to the captives and the open in of the prison to those who are bound Jesus came to open prison doors and to free prisoners now I I said that Paul and Silas were truly free men despite being in Chains and the true prisoner in this story is really the Jailer he was in bondage in slavery to sin the Bible um uses this language of um bondage and slavery to sin over and over again um and we are all in bondage to sin without Christ and and sin only has power over us because we love it um we love this thing that destroys us and and destroys uh any chance of relationship with God um and here we see the the Jailer he falls to his knees with a repentant heart and he asks this question what must I do to be saved and it's incredible how simple this answer is Paul and silas's answer believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved and going back to Paul and Silas I think um if we were to hear them sing like that today we would very possibly accuse them of toxic positivity you might have heard this phrase before um and it certainly must have been pretty bewildering U possibly infuriating uh for the other prisoners to hear them singing These hymns in their shackles um but I I don't think these men I don't think Paul and Silas were in denial about the reality of the circumstances they found themselves in we see Paul in in multiple places uh describe the the realities of his sufferings like in um 1 Corinthians 11 he gives us an extensive list of his sufferings for Christ in 2 Corinthians 4 vers 16 to 18 He says we do not lose heart though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by day for this light momentary Affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of Glory beyond all comparison as we look not not to the things that are seen But to the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are transient but the things that are unseen are Eternal what about this in Romans 8 verse 18 for I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed in us so there is a difference there is a very real difference between living in denial and um and we can all be um prone to this this is something we want to avoid John John Harding spoke about this a couple of weeks ago um it's not good to live in in denial but there's a difference between that and then viewing your temporal circumstances through the perspective of Eternal realities Paul and silas's sufferings were dwarfed by the joy of the gospel and it it would in fact fact have been a far greater denial to not recognize and allow their blood bought freedom from sin death and the devil to shape their response to the difficulties they found themselves in so please hear me I'm not not saying that you should live in denial about what you're going through but I do wonder what fear and what anxiety would be dispelled would lose their grip over my heart if I were to truly cling more tightly to the truth of the gospel because it might just be the greatest form of denial to look at the gospel to look at what Christ did for us on the cross when he purchased our freedom and then to say no you have no power here you you have no power in my despair I remember um about two and a half years ago when our little boy was in the neonate Intensive Care Unit with menitis um I I had no words in me at the time to pray anything except for the word father that's as as far as my prayers could get and um during those sleepless days and nights um I listened to a worship song with these lyrics says because it's only from you it's only from you some things come only from you we can gain this whole world doing all we can do but peace love and joy come from you some things come only from you and that was of uh immense Comfort to me at the time a time of um real Agony and it looked like for a few days like things were really touch and go as to whether my son was going to make it but real lasting peace love and joy comes only from God not from our our circumstances matching our preferences but from a God who came to open prison doors and free us from our sin and if we go back to Romans 8 again we see towards the end of that chapter that Paul went on to say this um if God is for us who can be against us he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things who shall bring any charge against God's elect it is God who justifies who is to condemn Christ Jesus is the one who died more than that who was raised who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us who shall separate us from the love of Christ shall tribulation or dest dress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written for your sake we are being killed all the day long we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered no in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our lord that was the foundation of every hope that they had so cling to that same hope today thanks for listening guys well there you go that was Pete's talk loved I just love Pete's talk yeah I like listening to Pete it's just great isn't he you get so many great quotes my favorite one being uh I wrote it down here let me put my glasses on uh the power of the Gospel makes prisoners sing uh which I thought was great so uh we're going to get into that any questions uh any thoughts yourselves do write them in the comments we will get to those including Miriam your questions about the Christmas service we'll get into all of that no doubt hey it's never too early to be planning about Christmas apparently not never too early uh we have to plan from July uh normally uh but anyway you like to don't you I I love Christmas I do love Christmas anyway should we get into Pete's talk first definitely yeah what what stood out then well I've got a few bits um not necessarily in the order that he said them but one of them was the whole thing about toxic positivity which I thought it was good making that link with kind of something in culture and I thought you made a very good point that um there singing wasn't kind of going oh yeah everything's Fab and we're having a great time and denying their situation but it's kind of looking beyond your situation and it reminded me of uh a lot of the Psalms the book of the Bible called Psalms where you've got people who've written songs and there's quite a few songs in there where people are just pouring out their hearts and in some cases um where someone's up against their enemies they are literally saying I really don't my enemies God would you come and kill them be like it's a bit shocking should you be saying that um so I think that the Bible is very much about facing reality yeah as it is but it doesn't leave us there and I think um it just yeah the gospel helps us look beyond our current reality to the bigger picture of yeah who God is and what he's done so yeah that was something that stood out to me yeah it's really and and it's worth actually I mean let's just talk about this now as probably a good point um where you know God go kill my enemies given what's going on in Israel um at the moment uh I did want to say actually that we we talked about this a little bit last week if you watched the live stream um me and CLA glare were hosting and we talked about what was happening in Israel and the truth of the matter was at the time I was really unaware of what was happening uh and it was only when I got back you started to see the news and you thought geez there's a lot going on here um and so yeah do pray because um we can neither condone terrorism but at the same time I'm very aware that uh there are innocent people in the G of strip uh who are getting displaced in all kinds of stuff at the moment so yeah it's the whole thing is complex um and we can have our opinions about it we can have our viewpoints I suppose but the bottom line is I think as Christians we just need to pray pray for the Peace of Jerusalem and pray for Israel and those folks in Gaza at the moment I speaking with a friend of mine I knew you had family over there but yeah just a lot going on just a lot going on so yeah I think in so many countries at the moment that there just seems to be so much going on lots of conflict and lots of people displaced and yeah it's hard it is I mean Ukraine Russia is still going on and there's all kinds of stuff going on around the world is in there um and so I think uh and the Bible's not shy about talking about this stuff very clear that actually all these things are going to happen um and wars and rumors of wars and all that sort of stuff I'm not getting into whether this is the end times because it's not my specialty not going to lie uh uh but I I do think we need to pray and pray for them as a church I do do hold these guys up in prayer um and for all the conflicts that are going on and it I think when you when you're aware of when you're aware of this like like what Peter said you know um as he was talking there is this eternal perspective isn't there this eternal truth this eternal reality that says in spite all of what I see in spite of what's going on around me there is a truth here um a truth in the gospel that we can hold on to and I think actually that's super reassuring isn't it yeah very good sorry I talked over you there a little minute let's go back to what you're talking about uh yeah uh toxic positivity yeah it's not that we can very much I think the Bible encourages us to say how we're feeling about stuff but not to stop there not to get stuck in that I think so we're free to express our emotions but we're also free not to be controlled by our emotions because I think sometimes our emotions they they're not they don't necessarily tell us what's true they tell us how we feel about what's going on yeah um and they you know they're part of Being Human it's great but um I think God does have a bigger picture for us which I think can be encouraging when we are struggling yeah absolutely and there is I we've talked about this a little bit on crowd before this toxic positivity idea um we do see in Christian circles right so especially in the what I would call the word of faith movement um or the the word of faith teaching uh which I you know I I a history with that not an issue um but I do I do remember that out of that there is this ability to deny the reality that we're living in because we don't speak negatively about something as Christians because whatever we confess with our mouth um is going to happen it's almost like I can't say anything negative that to me is an extreme yeah um and that I would call toxic positivity um take that out of the church put it into modern culture and you have positive mental attitudes you have positive thinking um and you know we did a Talk In Crowd Church it must be what 18 months two years ago now um called positive thinking is not enough um and actually there's a lot of science behind this as well now um and so if you're into positive thinking God bless you I think it's good to be positive yeah um but not at the expense of denying what's going on yeah definitely but and there is I just I've caught myself in my head what I was going to say then so let me reverse it uh about big butts um okay there's a why I was going to say there's a big butt here um you can't the the the flip side of that is we get so C upar emotions and so caught up in our reality that we refuse to accept a bigger truth and we become victim to it and we we stay um we stay downtrodden by it and that's one thing you don't see Happening Here in prison right no that's it brings me on to another point that I picked up on where Peter was talking about two types of prisoner in this story and uh so the people who were physically in prison weren't actually the prisoners in this story it was the guy who was keeping them there who was more The Prisoner and that how we can be physically free but actually internally yeah we can be a prisoner and I've definitely experienced that in my life before where I just felt like I was constantly getting pulled back to the past because yeah all this stuff that I'd not dealt with not brought to God I didn't know how to deal with um but actually it's the gospel that Set Me Free from those the good news that actually on the inside made me free so I I think is what these uh this story is another example of how we can be free even if our circumstances on the outside they look like we shouldn't be at all yeah and it actually reminded me of a a quote as I I was just dipping in and out of a book this week by Tim Keller it was to do with work actually so not completely related not is that the every good Endeavor book yeah fabulous book um um and it was just making me think because it on the outside it looked like Paul and Silas were in this Dreadful situation which they were but they were still able to praise God and there's a quote from this book where Tim ker is quoting a philosopher called Nicholas bsto I think I've got very scribbled notes here and he's saying modern culture defines the happy life as a life that's going well full of experiential pleasure well to the Ancients the happy happy life meant the life that is lived well with character courage humility love and Justice and I think we see all those last things in the gospel message that all all those things that come from God himself yeah um and I'm expecting Matt crew to be making jokes about ancients now relating to you and me but anyway just pre well he's putting the comments here we would like to thank our host for not singing this week you're welcome Claire and I sang last week oh uh yeah and it was not good on any kind of level it was not good and I do apologize again um for doing that uh especially if you watched it on catchup um no and I we thought we could well I didn't think at all but we could have you know pretended to act like Paul and Silas and just started singing our hymns out H but we won't do that either so you you'll be spared Matt you'll be pleased to know but yeah it's a great quote um it is a great quote it REM as you were talking it reminded me of the speech by um Dr King that my you know I have a dream that my children would judge by the content of their character um which I think is is quite an EXT you you look at that and you think that I want my daughter to be judged by the content of their character rather than by the color of their skin uh and it was a great speech you know very inspired um but that phrase judged by the content of their character I don't know if we do that today I still don't think we do that do you know what I mean I I think in some respects we do the exact opposite of that uh in a lot of ways um and yeah so that just made me think of of that when you were so I got a question for you have you got an example from your own life where you've been like the prisoner where on the outside it might have looked all great but actually on the inside you're the prisoner yeah I think um before I became a Christian uh would be an obvious what to me would be an obvious answer is maybe not an obvious answer to everybody else um in the sense that um I was 18 um I did well at school I'd taken a year out I was living in the states um I was having a lot of fun um in life and for you know from all windows it looked like life was good but um I think internally I was all kind of wrapped up uh and I didn't really discover what that was all about until a few months later when I became a Christian and even then actually not straight away it took several months for that to sort of unravel um and I think even in my Christian walk I would say that there are prisons for one of a better expression that I found myself in that God has then had me deal with if that makes sense yeah um so one would be things like um uh toxic positivity I think was probably something that I I struggled with in a lot of ways you know um the other thing that Pete said which really resonated with me was this formulaic idea of God that if I do a plus b then I'm going to get see as a result you know and I think I think that was me if I if I give if I type we like to call it tithing in church because this is an old fashioned word h but if I give tithe means to give if I give some of my money well the Bible says that he will give it back to me press down shaking together and running over he shall give to me you know Luke 638 and and so it be that whole thing then became a formula so it's like well if I give 100 quid does that mean God's going to give me a th quid bag and it was it was stupid thinking it was very very stupid thinking because it became this God's a slot machine that I rather than someone who is worthy of My Worship rather than a God who is worthy of my gift I mean I I want to give because I want to give and God blesses me back but that's not the reason for my giving um but I there was all those kind of things you know yeah I think it's very easy to take something that's potentially a good Principle as well and then tip it into the unhelpful because there is that sense in which God says you know give and it will be given to you but he doesn't necessarily specify if you give this amount of money you're going to get that amount of money it's going to come on this day and it's much more to do with relationship and that God is a good father and he wants to give good gifts to his children so he in the overarching scheme of things he's going to provide but it doesn't mean that that's everything's going to be great all the time or that we're not going to go through times where we there's lack because again Paul the guy was talking about today he talks about um how he's learned to be uh what's the word content in lack and when he's got too much which makes you think okay yeah both you can hold both and that doesn't change who God is is so there are times when we just we're like scraping by and there can be times when we have more than enough and when we have more than enough you know that's to overflow to other people out of you know love and appreciation for God but yeah absolutely yeah absolutely it is an interest yeah and this whole idea of the formulas uh with God that's the danger I think of testimony it's a danger of reading books in a lot of ways testimony was designed to encourage so you you tell the story of how God has been faithful and this is very biblical right you tell the story in the Bible you would actually build a memorial you know to remember that story yeah um and you would have a a celebration you would have a feast and you would get together and tell each other stories and remember these things that God had done um because the God who is faithful yesterday is faithful today and he's faithful tomorrow so we know that God's faithful um but we've taken that and translated that down to say well God did it that way in the past therefore he will do it that way again um and so you hear stories of people who do incredible things right and they write it in a book or they come on the podcast like what's the story and they tell you the story um and so there's a danger isn't there that you in your life you go well I'm going to that's amazing what they did the classic one was the guy who came on um not onto the podcast but he told the story of how God told him to give away his house so they gave away their house and lo and behold somebody gave them a house that was bigger and better than the one that they had and there's this sort of really amazing sort of Supernatural story that sort of connects these two things together and so you kind of sit there and go well I want to Big a house therefore I'm going to give away my house and God's going to give me a bigger house and because he did it for them over there therefore he will do it for me and whilst there is some element of encouragement in the way that they told their testimony we've then boiled that down to a formula so people have gone away and given houses away and lo and behold they end up without the bigger house and it causes all kinds of problems yeah because we boil all God down to a formula rather than going like what God what are you saying to me yeah and that's the key isn't it yeah I've definitely done that in the past um I think there was um a certain trip that I felt that uh that God was saying to go on um it was like church related thing yeah years ago and so I was like I'll just go that and God's going to provide the money for it and all the rest of it I didn't actually stop to ask any more details I just made a lot of presumptions and then ended up in debt you're like yeah yeah that was a bit silly so it is very much about relationship isn't it and sometimes we do do our best at listening to God and we sometimes still we get it wrong don't we but no yeah to be fair it's me that gets it wrong more than you though this is why our marriage works so well because I'm married to Sharon who just stops me getting it wrong most of the time which is wonderful um so same question back to you about prisons have you what prisons have you been in oh definitely I have probably talked about mine quite a lot on it before so I don't know whether or about to do it again but yeah even I think as a Christian not understanding how God and his kingdom really worked I'd like heard words like repentance and forgiveness but didn't really understand how to do them there was a lot of head knowledge but not anything that actually got down to my heart so I think just from my own stuff that I got wrong just that sense of bondage like oh God can't be pleased with me because of this this and this and trying to you know just work to please God and then just stuff from the past where I held on to it and not forgiven people just had me in this place of like mental torture um and I sometimes I hear people in the news now just saying I'm never going to forgive them and I'm like on the one hand I can understand it because the stuff that happen has happened that's made it onto the news is so big and you're like yeah that is that's a tough one to forgive but on the other hand I know what the unforgiveness does and I'm like they going to end up in bondage their whole life if they don't let go of it and um and I just had that feeling I think for for years of as if a a kind of Bungee was attached to my back and every time I try move forward it would pull me back because of all this unresolved stuff that that um when you really understand the gospel it deals with all of that it deals with our own shortcomings our own rebellion and our own mess and it also helps us to deal with the stuff that's happened to us yeah and it deals with our sense of who we are because um uh the gospel's not shy on saying actually we are very broken people and we are a mess but at the same time it talks about how loved we are and so yeah it is very freeing yeah absolutely very good so what about you guys uh the toughest prison oh here we go Nicola uh the toughest prison to be in is your own brain and body yeah what do you think to that oh yeah definitely yeah don't know what else to say to that uh yeah no it's true um how long did it take for Sharon to get used to Matt's interruptions I'm quite good at interrupting him as well we're all good it's very back and forth in our relationship and if it gets to badge just goes stop so let's go to Paul and Silas who were in jail one of the things that Pete was talking about here was when the earthquake came and the prison shook they could have escaped but they chose not to which when you look at it on the surface of things is quite an extraordinary thing to happen isn't it yeah I think my first response would have been let's go been like cheers God leg it yeah it's like okay God's open this way AR let's just get out of here now what we've got the chance yeah but there's um and again talking about Freedom I've mentioned this a few times on crowd for me the definition of freedom uh that I really really like that I think is really helpful in the context of Christianity is this a free man or woman has the ability to choose what binds them in other words we are bound to something um it doesn't matter how free we are we are bound to something um and we think that freedom is trying to escape that bondage and in in some cases it might be but real Freedom goes right well I'm I'm going to be bound by something I'm going to be bound by that over there and in the context of the Gospel the thing that we're bound to um is Christ so Paul talks about this he says I am in Chains to Christ I am in bondage to Christ right I'm his bond servant would be language that he would use and what we see here in this prison is Paul acting as a free man is like well yeah I can escape but no I'm just no no I don't think that's I don't think that's the right thing to do he had the ability to choose what bound him and for me I what we see here in this story is real freedom and the ability to choose that whereas again what people was saying if outside of that the one thing that we are all bound to um is sin and sin is destructive in many ways but we like it and it's good and sin is just it's just a Christian well in a lot of ways oh as in it feels good it feels good yeah yeah I mean don't I'm not telling you go I'm like mix messages here see this is Sharon interrupting me um no it's fine but uh but it feels good and and we we do these things don't we and it but it we're bound to it um and so Paul uses this phrase a lot you know how can I escape this bondage uh while it's just this is what we see that we this is the freedom that Christ brings us in a lot of ways and so um yeah free men we can choose what binds us uh and so you have to choose I think in life what binds you uh is it your Devotion to self is it your Devotion to Christ is that what is that what you're bound to um I wish it was black and white in a lot of ways oh Dro my pen um because it's not always I mean it's easy to say I'm I'm devoted to Christ obviously yes I'm a Christian I'm devoted to Christ but the outworking of that is obviously because we're still quite selfish I think as people sometimes um but yeah I just wanted to touch on that what did you think to that anyway the the whole Freedom thing them no them not escaping yeah I did think that was interesting because like I said I think my first thing would have been this is God's provision God's done this miracle let's just scar her let's do scarper yes God's done this miracle let's do scarper yeah I think on you know the whole fight and flight thing my tendency would definitely be on the flight like let's just get out yeah yeah let's just yeah I'm with you I'm with you so anything else on any of that I'm aware of the time yeah I think those were the main things that I kind of picked up on that there were loads I think all the the scriptures that he gave towards the end of saying you know okay why why could these guys sing even though they were in this really tricky situation and just looking at that how God's rescued us from kingdom of darkness and how he's brought us into light and um yeah not been didn't write them all down but yeah that whole bigger picture thing was a good reminder I think yeah absolutely and and and just to say if you are going through something you feel like you're in in some kind of jail right now um and you have subscribed to the theology which says to sing a little louder and the jail doors will open um and maybe they will maybe they won't by your singing it and again just to come back to something that Pete just bought up on that because sometimes we we subscribe to this type of Theology and things don't happen and so then we have to either say well that's my fault because I've not sung loud enough I've not believed hard enough um or we say that's god's fault because I did my bit but God didn't do his bit um and I just think that's very unhelpful places to be and I think you you the the lesson that we learn is whatever situation we're in we can sing because of the Gospel regardless of what then happens um and the other thing to say is if there's a door which looks like a way of Escape like God has just supernaturally gone there's the door open doesn't mean you should always run through it uh which is just very very hard to very hard to hear uh so um but yeah I just wanted to say that uh it's not about you and your efforts it's not about how loud you sing or how um quiet you sing um but it's about the fact that you can sing irrespective of what jail you find yourself in because the ultimate jail you've been freed from um and that is the beauty of the Gospel so let's have a look uh as someone who has an illness that reduces what I can do is in fact let me add this to the comments uh what I can do is very tough but I have the choice to live in this prison or find ways to live a good life with God yeah yeah long-term illness is hard yeah very hard um I I think it partly comes back to that quote that I did before that um like the modern way that we think of a good life is being able to do all this stuff and amazing things but that's not and obviously that's what we'd all want really that's what i' want for you Nia but um yeah even within that I do believe you know you can have a good life um for other people in similar situations yeah yeah yeah you can and it's the hardest thing to do isn't it and with a long-term illness is like God what's your plan here yeah what's your thinking really tough it's very tough you know especially when there's pain involved you go what what's going on here what's your plan what do you want for me to do I don't know but in the midst of this I choose to sing hymns um and be grateful and be thankful uh it's very hard to do but it is ultimately what we have um and I think it changes things very good uh what else is edmm Mo's voice is going yeah happing next week is my voice I'm very sorry Matthew um so what is happening next week is we have who did I say was host we've got Dan and Anna hosting next week and you are speaking Yeah fortunately I recorded it before my voice went so we're good yeah we're going to be carry on next week uh next week I'm looking at Paul Paul carries on his sort of Miss missionary journey and he ends up in Athens oh yes he does uh speaking to a bunch of Athenian guys who have never really heard about Jesus before um usually we see Paul talking to Jews uh who understand uh who the Messiah is they've heard rumors of Jesus and are very curious next week he's talking to an audience that doesn't really have a clue uh about who Jesus is and so there are five things in this message that Paul draws out about being a Christian so five things that happen uh when you become a Christian and we're going to get into those really great talk actually if you want to sneak peek it's on the website already not the talk but the actual there's a big old blog post about what it means to become a Christian how I become a Christian going to take that it was easy because I no I'd already done the article uh so we are look looking at that next week so do come and join us make sure you like And subscribe and all that sort of good stuff and you'll get the notifications when we are live live there's a reminder from Matt crew about the zoom which happens on Wednesdays 8:00 uh UK time uh do join us it's very lowkey we just uh share where each of us are up to and then we just pray for different situations so yeah yeah join us do come and join us if you want to find out more about that just head over to the website www.c crow. church or find us on social media at Crow Church reach out to us and we will send you the zoom link on the website there is also a WhatsApp number which you can reach us on uh if you would like to connect with us on WhatsApp I know a lot of you guys do a lot of questions come through WhatsApp uh which is great going to be sharing Jenny's story next week which I'm really excited about in The Talk um Jenny who got baptized last week um has given us permission to share a bit of her story in the talk next week um and uh Jenny and I connected on WhatsApp that's how we you came across some of the videos uh sent in a message over WhatsApp started asking some questions went back and forth uh we don't me wrong there were other things involved in this whole thing but um yeah it was great great love that so do come and hear Jen story but if you would like to reach hold of us on the WhatsApp you can find the number also on the website www. crowd. church so yes oh clocks change in a fortnite that's good to know so let me just tell you what's happening uh coming up in the next few weeks on bonfire night here in the UK which is November mber the 5th if you're outside of the UK we are going to have a non-li live stream mainly because all the hosts have got plans for bombfire night um and so we're going to do things a little bit differently in a couple weeks uh so November 5th uh which is bonf night um it's very very hard to try to explain bonfire night to anybody outside of the UK yeah it's a bit of a weird one really but it's just an excuse for a get together in some food really yeah if I it's a just a really bizarre story I don't know why we celebrate it but it's just it's one of those things that we it's not really celebration it's just we just get fireworks and we get bonfires going and we have a bit of a laugh so that's what happens in the UK so Bon find out will be an onli live stream basically an onli live stream uh is where we uh we just send something out um but we don't really have live hosts answering questions or comments which is also Miriam coming back to your question about Christmas what will happen on the Christmas service so we've got a Christmas service Christmas Eve and then there's a New Year's Eve service both of those will be non-li live streams everything else will be as normal and Matthew crew to answer your question the last chapter of Acts I think looking at the schedule you understand it could change uh as things currently stand in the schedule is going to be the end of January so we're crawling we're crawling it feels like we're getting towards the end though I've really enjoyed it have you enjoyed it it's [Laughter] yeah wow which bits have you not enjoyed that maybe a bit bigger question s later I'm really intrigued Now ladies and gentlemen I don't know about you okay so yeah fireworks and food boom that's fireworks night bonf night look that's it there we go so let me take that off the screen you see Nicholas coming thank you so much for joining us wherever you are in the world it's been great uh thank you Pete for doing that talk love Pete's talk if you have been watching uh on catchup why not come join us in live streams where you can also join in the comments as we are going on be great to see you there and of course you can still reach us on the via the website via social media or via WhatsApp whether you're watching live or on WhatsApp be great to hear from you you can also email us hash desain uh' be great to hear from you D connect thank you so much for joining us uh anything else from you no just enjoy the rest of your day however much you've got left on where in the world you that's true it's very very much depend on where about you're in the RO but yeah that's it from us thank you so much for joining us God bless you I'll see you well I won't see no I'll be in the talk I will see you next week kind of uh but Dan and Anna will be the host so until then bye for now goodbye all bless you 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 w ww. crowd. church where you can learn more about us as a church more about the Christian faith and also how to connect into our church Community it has been 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
