#21 Discover Your Purpose in Christ

(386) Discover Your Purpose in Christ - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M23L4GMXR4Y

Transcript: (00:03) [Music] 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 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 (00:45) 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 ca (01:31) n be found on our website at www.c.com 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 [Music] details and now the moment you've been waiting for is here our online church service starts right now well good evening welcome to crowd Church my name is Matt beside me is the beautiful Deon Aire we'll with Hello nice to see you hello nice to see you too nice to see you as well how you doing this bright yeah I'm I'm very good much better because you just L me a pair of your specs I can (02:15) actually see anything because I forgot to bring my glasses so uh we are of the age you may notice oh you haven't got yours on yeah when uh yeah yeah eyesight is uh it's failing weekly in fact but um but it is literally lovely to see you um because I can so that's because I can I can see you yes it is I actually don't need them for this this is fine you are a young thing though it's true it's just more I can't read like I have no idea what my watch is telling me um do you do that I I discovered this when I was in the states right um a few (02:52) weeks ago that if it's really bright and sunny outside and I'm not wearing sunglasses I don't need reading glasses I can see perfectly yeah yeah absolutely it's all all about the light yeah okay so glasses basically I need them cuz I'm in the darkness I'm sure there's a sermon in there it's the it's the Gloom of our climate I think that that's the problem that the quality of light the quality of light this far east and north in the in the in the globe is uh yeah sending me BL it has been awful I mean the weather it's just yeah in fact I was (03:24) walking I was walking back from somewhere uh yesterday I think and there was this woman on the phone with with her Hood up and it was drizzling a bit and she was properly Disturbed she was just like I'm so fed up at the rain so whoever she was talking to on the phone like I'll bless you yeah feel like she's carrying the heart of the nation yeah absolutely what she had planned for July I'm not sure but uh yeah she was distraught I haven't got that that far but you know it' be nice to have a bit more Sunshine it would it would be nice to have a little bit more Sunshine yes (03:52) uh well welcome to crowd church we are an online Weather Channel um we took about all things to do with weather and tied into church somehow uh but now seriously warm welcome to you if you are joining us on this bright sunny Sunday afternoon where the Wimbledon final is over the mix doubles apparently or the doubles are still going on is it right yeah according to the BBC uh and you know we have an incredible football match later TOA France is on as well the signning but that that was pretty awesome today as (04:26) well to the friend and of course uh the assassination attempt on Donald Trump talking of sporting events um did you like how a segue yeah that that's an interesting interesting segue I mean you look at that and you just think well what is going on I don't know whether anyone else shares shares that thought but part of you is going maybe that's not that surprising which in itself is a ridiculous statement to make but what is going on um yeah Grim times in I mean it's an election for goodness sake it's the most (05:00) powerful Nation on Earth it's just like come on yeah can we do this nicely it would be it's um it would be good it would be good so but you know prayers with everybody involved because I would not want to sort that out no no I mean it it is really interesting to see what the aftermath will be and he just just yeah just pray for some wisdom and some leadership on all sides actually to just go guys let's just do this properly and maybe dial down some of the rhetoric and have ction that actually uh yeah actually makes sense yeah absolutely (05:33) that would be nice to see uh very warm well and on that note do pray for for the states obviously with what's going on we've got Al Marshall in there he says uh evening you beautiful beautiful men hello you beautiful beautiful men yeah yeah it's good to see our in the comments Matt crew is saying that because the two ancient ones are involved it's why we're were two minutes late yeah right thanks M also nice to see you you beautiful man Matt crew yeah yeah absolutely chat would be well something else without you yeah (06:02) absolutely exactly but yes the reason we were two minutes late is because we just got we were I was too engross reading the news uh and then the sound system wasn't working and we had to fix that so anyway we're here now it's all f are we're here uh what are we talking about tonight so we are talking about uh God's purpose God's purpose indeed very good so yes we have the Beautiful Sharon Edmonson my darling wife uh she is speaking to us tonight from the video room uh so apologies for the video by the way for some reason the color is (06:42) just a little bit off just put that to one side and just enjoy the content of the message because actually it's quite a wonderful message so uh Sharon is going to be talking about purpose and what it means to be his workmanship we're going to be getting into all of that tonight so make sure you write your comments thoughts ideas as we go along and will and I will get into them during conversation Street um but yeah have I missed anything no that's it that's it let let's hear let's here so I'm gon to have to do this actually because I don't think that button's working on my pad so (07:14) technology here is Sharon's talk Willam and I will be back after this see you in the comments do you ever feel like just another number in the crowd wondering if your life is significant have you ever struggled with your self-esteem or that your daily routine and efforts seem meaning mean List in the grand scheme of things these are a couple of the questions that we're going to look at today but first I want to show you this picture this is our friend Simon and he recently had a big birthday my husband Matt wanted to make him something special so he decided to make him a (07:45) drinks cabinet he found this amazingly naturally purple wood called Purple Heart which would not be everyone's choice of color for a cabinet but Simon is someone who likes things that are a bit different or quirky Matt worked out the what dimensions the cabinet would need to be to fit a bottle and a couple of glasses he constructed the cabinet with great care and added some texture to the front and then some beautiful metal fixings to finish it off I'm not sure how well these features are showing up in the photo but Matt and hopefully (08:18) Simon were really pleased with the result a gorgeous cabinet created as a gift for a specific person um purpose and person today's talk is based on the following verse which talks about something that God has created it says this for we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do just as the cabinet was created so are we created we're God's work of art we're his workmanship just as the cabinet was created for a purpose so are we created for a purpose so what does it mean for humans to be God's workmanship what is God's (09:00) purpose for us that's what we're going to answer let's start with how we are God's workmanship in Genesis it says this of the first man then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils and the breath of life and the Man became a living being the Bible tells us that we're created by God on purpose and we're made up of both physical and non-physical elements working in harmony dust is physical the Breath of Life is non-physical these following verses spell it out more clearly may God himself the God of Peace sanctify you (09:38) through and through May your whole Spirit soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ after God had created the world the Bible says that he looked at what he had made and and saw that it was good but after he created people um God saw all that he had made and it was very good so both our physical and non-physical elements were created by God and they were very good they're a gift from God and they give us Clues as to who God created us to be the biblical view of who we are (10:15) contrasts with other views for example many naturalists would say that we are purely physical material beings that we don't have a soul and that when we die we cease to exist we're here by accident for no purpose another view is that humans are of both body and spirit but that the Physical Realm is bad and the spirit realm is good the biblical view to this is different as Nancy piery says in her book love thy body respect for the person is inseparable from respect for the body both the physical and non-physical aspects of who we are were created good by God according to the biblical point of view as Pete fingon (10:55) mentioned in his talk a few weeks ago others believe that we are whatever we Define ourselves to be in our Western Society there can be a lot of pressure today for us to create ourselves there are so many messages that shout out that we can be anything we want to be and do anything that we want to do that may feel exciting to some but it can be pretty overwhelming to others I mean sometimes I have trouble choosing which tea bags to buy in the supermarket do I want this brand or that one do I want 80 bags or 120 are they biodegradable or do (11:28) they contain plastic it can be exhausting in the news there are some extreme examples of people trying to create themselves for example I saw one newspaper article recently that had the title a girl in our school has decided she identifies as a cat I don't know what you think about that maybe this is just a child playing a game of pretend or maybe it's a young girl who's struggling with her body and who she is and she's not the only one many of us want to change our bodies our personalities or our gifting this can be an insecure way to live because it's often based on our changing (12:04) emotions whims or even cultural expectations what we believe about something always has an effect on how we behave towards that thing if we believe something's of Great Value we treat it well if we don't think um something is valuable we don't treat it well Matt is hoping that Simon will look after the drinks cabinet and use it for the purpose for which he made it because he loves Simon and he spent time to create him a special gift how do you feel about yourself right now how do you feel about your body are you happy with her or do you wish you look like someone else a (12:42) few years ago I had a friend who I thought always look good and she always wore dark colors so I started to wear dark colors too I looked awful in them dark colors don't suit me it was when I started to live within the reality of the body that God had given me my shape and my skin and hair tone that I found clothes that work better for me now this is a trivial example because in a big scheme of things it doesn't really matter what colors I wear but hopefully you get my point how do you feel about the non-physical aspects of you are are you happy with who you are or do you look at others and wish you were (13:20) different I reckon that everyone at some time in their life has felt or still feels insecure about who they are it can some sometimes be hard not to compare ourselves and our lives with that of others but comparing ourselves has a tendency to make us dissatisfied with a lot feeling like a failure or jealous of what other people have um but I mean there is a reason that one of the Ten Commandments is don't cover coveting doesn't make us happy comparison can make us dissatisfied or it can make us proud um that we're better than others have you (13:57) ever been around someone who thinks there Superior to you how do you feel around them or maybe you feel Superior to others because of the way you look or the job that you have the qualif qualifications you've obtained or your relationship status have you ever been around someone who has a very poor opinion of themselves or do you have a poor opinion of yourself seeing yourself as less than other people when we really understand a Biblical view of who we are it helps to prevent us from becoming proud but it also helps helps prevent us from having too low an opinion of (14:32) ourselves the Bible says do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather think of yourself with sober judge judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you a more helpful alternative to Pride or dissatisfaction would be to be grateful for what we have and to use our strength on behalf of others I have another question for you how much would you say you're worth we can sometimes determine how much something's worth by how much someone's willing to pay for it how (15:06) would you feel if I told you that the biggest price possible has already been paid for you what is this price Roman says if God is for us who can be against us he did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also along with him graciously give us all things the price paid for us is God himself and not because of anything we've done to deserve it it was paid because God loves us and because he made us nothing is worth more than God and yet we're told he came to Earth as a human and died to pay for our sin that's (15:45) our Rebellion against God so that we could have a relationship with him a relationship based on love I don't have time to go into all of that right now but you can go to crowd. church and go to the article how I become a Christian or on the same site we've got um an alpha online and it will explain it more fully there so no matter who you are you are of immense value the value is not based on how you look your social standing how high you up you are in the social pecking order or anything you've done you're a value purely because (16:23) you're God's work of art and he loves you the Bible shows us that God doesn't intend for us to create ourselves but to discover who he created us to be so if you're confused about who you are right now may I suggest asking your creator for the answer to that question you may be thinking hang on a minute if we're created by God and God said his his creation's good why is the world such a mess the Bible tells us that the world was created good but it's become corrupted because of sin we're meant to rule on God's behalf but we've turned (16:58) away from him the the Bible says that all have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God and all are Justified freely by his grace through the Redemption that came by Christ Jesus when we compare ourselves to other people we can look at the bad in others and think that we're good people but when we're in the presence of the Holy Almighty creator of the universe we see how far we' Fallen the whole of a creation is affected by our sin and doesn't work completely how it was intended so now we suffer sometimes this is because of our own sin sometimes it's (17:36) because of the sin of others and sometimes it's just because the world we live in has become cursed just as the verses above say there is good news Jesus came to reconnect us with God and to give us life so we've started looking at what it means to be God's workmans but what's his purpose for us in our society when we talk about purpose it can be in terms of finding your own purpose finding what makes you happy find finding what gives you a good life it's all about us but God's purpose for us is much bigger than that it's part of a much bigger plan each part of our body (18:15) is created for a purpose for example our eyes are created with the purpose of seeing our ears are created for the purpose of hearing but as we saw earlier we're not just phys physical but we're non-physical too God created each of us as a whole person with a purpose he's a general purpose for all of us and a specific purpose for each of us within that let's look at our general purpose after God had created people he said this let us make Mankind in our image in our likeness so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky over the livestock and (18:54) all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground so God created Mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them male and female he created them God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increas in number fill the Earth and subdue it rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground our general purpose is to be in relationship with God and to rule on Earth on God's behalf following his ways reconnecting people with him we submit (19:26) to him and carry out his work to the modern it that might sound a bit oppressive but it's really not many years ago I used to work as an occupational therapist and for a while I worked as in one of the hospitals in Liverpool and I'd go around the different Wards to see different patients I began to noticed that each Ward had a very different feel some were lovely to work on the staff were helpful and kind other um others were not pleasant places at all there was a lot of bitchiness and the staff weren't very (19:58) helpful now there may have been a number of reasons for this but one of the things I noticed was the difference that the person in charge made on the culture if someone kind was in charge that had a direct impact on the culture it's the same with us and God the Bible says that everything good comes from God whose love and that his ways bring life and freedom when we're living so that God is flowing through us we bring God's culture of love life and wholeness to each area that we're in involv with Proverbs says when the righteous Thrive (20:33) the people rejoice when the wicked rule the people grown following God's way has a positive impact on society it brings wholeness God has something to say about every area of life for example after my husband Matt became a Christian but before we knew each other he knew that he wanted to get married someday and to have a good marriage his parents had divorced when he was about nine so he had not got a um a not experienced a good marriage at home so he decided to study God's word and see what God had to say about the subject he wanted to know (21:08) how to be a good husband he also spent time around couples in church who did have good marriages so that he could learn from them and I'm very glad that he did because he's an excellent husband as a result God's general purpose for those who are married is that they have good marriages what about our specific purpose I mentioned in comparison earlier I recently caught myself comparing myself with the many successful people I know wondering if I'm missing it somehow I don't think I'm alone in comparing myself it's a trap that we all fall into from um time to (21:45) time if we're not careful for years I've been at an age where doctors look like they're about 12 if you know or if you're over 40 you'll know what I mean but recently I discovered that people who are running whole countries are younger than me and much of what I do on a daily basis is is focused on um individuals or small groups rather than the seemingly bigger more important things as I talked to God about it I was reminded of something that Jesus said he said what do you think if a man owns a 100 sheep and one of them wanders away will he not leave the 99 on the hills and go to look for that one that (22:24) wandered off and if he finds it truly I tell you he's happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that did not wand off it was a great reminder that although God is interested in the big world affairs he's also in interested in each individual he's interested in you and me I prayed some more and I said God I know that you don't need to do this but would you just confirm that this is you speaking to me well this doesn't usually happen to me but a few days later we were down in London and we went to a friend's church and we got chatting to a lady there who we never met before (23:00) and she asked uh to pray for us and when she prayed over me she referenced the verses that I just mentioned about going after the one out of all the things that she could have referenced it was those verses I was so encouraged I was also reminded of these verses which follow on from the ones I read before about not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought they say for just as each of has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function so in Christ we though many form one body and each member belongs to (23:38) all the others we have different gifts according to the grace given to each of us if your gift is prophesying then prophesy in accordance with your faith if it's serving then serve if it's teaching then teach if it's to encourage then give encouragement if it's giving then give generously if it's to lead do it diligently if it's to show Mercy do it cheerfully basically when we give our lives to God through Jesus it's like we become part of his body here on Earth we become in Christ where he's the head the (24:10) one in charge and together his people make up the rest of the body and just as our physical bodies are made up of different parts with different functions so each person in Christ's body has a different function and purpose that fits with the bigger purpose God has a purpose for your life we're all given gifts to develop and use for the benefit of others in service of God as well as the benefit of ourselves when we look at it from this per perspective other people's gifts and talents are not something to be jealous about rather (24:44) there's something to be enjoyed and our gifts and talents are not just for our own benefit but for the benefit of others our gifts as something entrusted to us to develop God told this Parable or Jesus told this parable again it will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them to one he gave five bags of gold to another two bags and to another one bag each according to his ability so basically if you think that life isn't fair you agree with what the Bible says we're all given different talents and abilities and it's dependent on our ability to handle them (25:22) then he went on his journey the man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gave five bags more so also the one with the two bags of gold gained two more but the B the man who had received one bag went off dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money two of the men developed their gifts they put them to work they increased what they had been given the third one didn't do anything with what he had been given other than to bury it after a long time the master of those (25:54) servants returned to and settled accounts with them the man who had received five bags of gold bought the other five Master he said you entrusted me with five bags of gold see I've gained five more his master rep replied well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful with a few things I will put you in charge of many things come and share your Master's happiness the man with two bags of gold also came Master he said you entrusted me with two bags of gold see I've gained two more his master replied well done good and (26:27) faithful servant you've been faithful with a few things I'll put you in charge of many things come and share your Master's happiness the second servant wasn't reprimanded for not doing as much as the first or not making as big an impact he was judged solely on what he did with what he had I think this is very encouraging so it doesn't matter if you're the leader of a country or a big organization if or if you're sweeping the streets and don't have anyone working under you let's not compare what we have with that of other people let's look at what we've been given and make (27:02) sure that we do something with it the first two men were then given more because they did something with what they were given then the man who had received one bag of gold came Master he said I knew that you were a hard man harvesting where you've not swn and Gathering where you've not scattered seed so I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground see here is what belongs to you it was fear that sto stop the third man from using what he hadd got I wonder stop what stops us from using what we've got his master replied you Wicked lazy (27:38) servant so you knew that I harvest where I've not sewn and gather where I've not scattered seed well then you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest so take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags for whoever has will be given more and they will have an abundance whoever does not have even what they will have will be taken from them and throw that worthless servant outside into the darkness where there'll be weeping and nashing of teeth now there are some parts of this (28:10) Parable which I realize are difficult for our modern ears and hard to understand because of the cultural the cultural background is so different to our own so if you'd like to dig deeper into this and you'd like to know more I can recommend a great book by Kenneth E Bailey called Jesus through midle least denies it's not an easy read but it's really interesting so how do we find what God's specific purpose for us is I have a few suggestions though they are by no means comprehensive the first step is to give (28:44) our lives to him to submit to him and become part of his family part of his body our purpose is primarily about relationship the next thing would be to study God's word to find out his general purpose for each area of our lives and to ask him to give us understanding in each area for example if you're married find out what it says about being married if you're single find out what it says about that what does the Bible say about managing money what does it say about your work in terms of specific purpose I think it's a case of using what you have (29:20) in your hand now and asking God to lead and direct you I think sometimes God only shows us The Next Step rather than the whole picture because if he showed us everything we'd be off on our own running ahead whereas he wants to walk and talk with us on a daily basis so in summary the Bible shows us that we have great Worth to God that we're his workmanship his work of art and that he's a purpose for us we don't need to create ourselves when we don't need to create our purpose we need God's help to do discover who he's made us to be this is good news (30:00) this is good news indeed very subtle very quick transition there you totally on it something like that uh very very totally on it so welcome back so thoughts on that let us know in the comments below and let us know what your thought of Sharon's talk um all based around the scripture Ephesians 2:10 forever we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works prepared beforehand that we should walk in them depend on which translation you read I don't know what trans transtion I've just quoted but it's one of them lovely cabinet by the (30:32) way well done on the craftsmanship and the being an excellent husband what love it when Sharon talks I come off really well very good maybe we should get Kate to come do a talk no I couldn't possibly live up to the excellent that Sharon's just delivered yeah neither can I to be fair yeah no great great talk loads in that loads in that but the the whole the concept of workmanship I love and and it's great to have had that that cabinet and and to have seen you actually making it um before you sent it out and and craftsmanship is a wonderful description (31:16) of how God makes us it it's not something that's off a production line it's not something that's kind of um you know done to the minimum spec for the kind of Max maximum profit it's craftsmanship something craftsmanship it's Unique it's bespoke it's a wonderful description of who we are in Christ and go and God's real love for what he's made in each one of us each one unique it's uh yeah it's a beautiful concept yeah I love that I love that I love I love the whole when're not on a production line thing uh and you just have to look at humanity and everyone is (31:52) every one of us is unique yeah uh in our own in our own special way yeah is it true we've all got unique fingerprints is that actually accurate yeah yeah yeah I'm just asking you because you're a scientist and I'm saying hopefully but no no it's it's true which is why they you know that that was what was used for pre-dna for for all all the the crime stuff yeah they're unique which is incredible incredible and DNA is unique indeed yeah very unique very unique unique's unique you can't be very unique sorry yeah unique it's uni uniquely (32:32) unique so I'm learning about science and language today ladies and gentlemen uh it's always good it's always good so yeah the the this word workmanship um craftsmanship or craftsmanship if from the south um is it does imply that actually God took his time now that cabinet that I made for Simon which I absolutely adored by the way first thing I'd ever made out of purple heart you know the the purple Tim yeah first time I'd heard of purple heart it looks amazing yeah yeah it is great great Timbo and it's actually the color that you saw in the photo that purple that's the color of the wood I didn't make it that color that's the (33:12) actual color that it is which is why I chose that word for Simon because if you know Simon that's Simon and so um so yeah it's one of those but when I made that cabinet how long do you think it took me to make it weeks I thought yeah I counted it was 40 hours 40 hours yeah 40 hour it's over 40 hours of time and labor went into that most of which was [Laughter] sanding was that to make all the all the joints fit together the way you hadn't cut them properly or just uh just the Finish oh I got the joints bang on first time obviously um but the thing about it (33:51) was that cabinet and I think Shan Drew this out quite nicely it took a long time to make yeah and the value in the cabinet is not just in the woods the value is in the time that I took to make that does that make sense and this is why I love that analogy so as sh used it I thought well you know you go and show off my sh my workmanship why not uh but actually made me think you know when God created us we kind of just get the impression it's like there it is but that's not what workmanship is right no (34:22) no no absolutely and so when I was when I was young and and and maybe had a bit of pocket money in my pocket and my parents birthday would come around and I'd say what do you want from the birthday I felt already grown up like getting them a present and uh and my parents I don't know whether anyone else's parents ever said this but they used to say oh no make me a card or something like that and I was like present is it but now now I'm a parent I kind of get that it's like actually something that somebody has made effort to create for you is so much more valuable than an expensive gift (34:56) that you've just bought from somewhere else you know uh and and it's it's that it's the time you put in the love you've put in the thought you've put in to the the color of the wood and all the rest that is just that's an immense gift that means so much more and and that is exactly God's workmanship in each of our hearts yeah excuse me one second we keep bit of hey fever going on here okay I'll Phill um sorry about that yeah and as Sharon said that that's that's quite a difficult concept and I think many of us struggle with that on a day-to-day basis (35:28) um um really feeling that sense of God's value on us yeah and and and his craftsmanship um it's it's hard to keep hold of how how do you keep hold of that dayto day Matt how do you remind yourself of that that nature that you you have in God it's a really powerful question isn't it because I think I think like you say it's a very easy thing to forget you know when you look in the mirror you're looking at God's workmanship I I remember a story um an oldtime preacher um excuse me while I wipe my is a bit of hay fever going on L but there was an oldtime preacher who was on a plane who told this story about sitting (36:12) next to somebody and that person said to them you know what I sure wish I knew what God looked like and the preacher unbuckles his seat Bel stands up and goes he looks like me because I'm CED In His Image and I thought well theologically I mean you know uh but I I loved I love the childlikeness of that yeah do you know what I mean that that initial response to say actually I'm creating In His Image I am his workmanship I think is so easy to forget yeah um Dave Conley and I used to have this this running joke I might have said this before on the live stream and if I have I'm G say it again because I can (36:58) but we used to have this running thing where in fact we still do every now and again where I'd see Dave and Dave say how you going I'd go well Dave I've got to be doing all right because I'm God's favorite and they will go no you're not and I'll go yes I he go no you can't be God's favorite because I'm God's favorite and I go no you're not cuz I am so seeing Dave that that that that's the way you remind yourself of of God's perfect craftsmanship ofself yeah just all this dodgy theology which of course we're not you know we don't usually teach on crowd but (37:29) no I think it's even just getting around people that are constantly reminding you that you are his workmanship um that are constantly constantly bringing that out um reminding yourself you know um edifying yourself in the scriptures building yourself up remembering that praying that through and then just getting into situations reminding yourself actually I am his workmanship here yeah um it it I don't think it all changes overnight but I think it eventually does change but yeah it's it's you you keep reminding yourself I (38:04) was I was in church this morning and uh the reading and the preach was um Psalm 8 and Psalm 8 talks about the magnificence of God and how yeah how Mighty the creation is and you know it's poetry it talks about some amazing things and then it says but even with all that you are mindful of man of people and you've made them just a little bit lower than the Angels why is that and uh and the the message was all about um you know just despite that amazingness the uniqueness of people and when you when you've got eyes to see the uniqueness of everyone that you you meet (38:44) on a daily basis that is wonderful and I remember I may have said this on the live stream once but or in a talk but um I remember at University having this um lecture from a I think it was an astronomer who was a Christian and he showed these that the whole lecture it just amazingly constructed because it was kind of talking about the solar system and the universe and God's God as Creator and all this and he had all these you know these amazing photos of the kind of the Galaxy sort stuff you see from Hubble telescope and uh and all the planets with their different colors (39:14) and and the rings around Saturn you know real highdea photos and and it was just amazing and he was kind of talking about all the wonders of all the planets and how they're configured and all the r and then the final slide of the whole talk was a photo of his lecture room of his students yeah and having seen all that enormity and wonder and the Scale of the Universe actually when he just showed this photo of I mean students there was nothing special about them they were kind of leaning on the desk and some of them were smiling and some of them weren't even looking at the camera but (39:44) you look at the kind of intri intricacy of those unique people and it just kind of hit you the the complexity of people and the amazingness of personality and heart and and story and history and potential and future and it it just I've never forgotten it it just really it's like yeah keep your Pluto and your Saturns but in an individual person that is incredible miraculous and you know we need to remember that we need to have that perspective about how incredible people are and you know that's that's challenged by many people that you know probably on a daily basis but it's the (40:23) truth and and God is truly truly a Workman when it comes to uh yeah people yeah yeah absolutely love that love that it's I remember um reading I think it was it would have been in some concordance probably strong something like that where I was looking at this verse you are his workmanship um that word workmanship can also be translated poetry and I just I love that you know God wrote a poem and I'm it kind of thing I am God's poem you know what I mean that's brilliant just all this sort of language workmanship craftsmanship (41:02) poetry whatever sort of makes sense for you to get a an understanding of who the time that God spent to create you to plan you he knew you before the foundation of the world you you are here created in Christ Jesus you are his workmanship and I think it's like you say it's the most extraordinary thing and if God span the whole eons of space and time and thought 2024 Matt and will they need to sit in a studio somewhere talking about this it just it just blows my mind in so many ways you know I meaning you kind of think well some people you do question go God did you know what you were doing (41:46) when you created them I I do have questions indeed indeed but on the whole I think he did all right and it's um it's just really fascinating isn't it and and understanding your worth in the eyes of God so there's this really interesting thing with humility that um I I sort of come across every now and again you know that humility is Sharon read the verse actually not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to um but you ought to think of yourself to some degree in Through The Eyes Of God that makes sense so humility I think is seeing yourself Through The Eyes Of God (42:27) so humility is not saying I'm worthless or I am it used to be I'm such a worm such a sinner and all that sort of stuff humility is saying regardless of how I feel about who I am God's workmanship is who I am yeah just see what I mean yeah and subjecting yourself to that not getting hay or proud or arrogant but just in a celebratory kind of way I am God's workmanship he has made me this way and I think that's super super powerful which is why I think then Sharon took it I love she then took it on to talk about (43:03) her clothing and I remember when all this happened in our house I did not concur with Sharon Sharon's discovery about which closed suited or didn't suit her well you are the excellent husband so well you know yeah I might be slightly biased but I'm like you know I did that thing where babe you you look wear a bin bag you're going to look great right so it's not the answer that I was supposed to give so so I remember this but Sharon's I remember because we were I I run a beauty company at the time right you remember this I run an online beauty (43:40) company and we talked long and hard about what is beauty what are the standards of beauty especially when you think about the beauty industry and what the beauty industry is portraying as beautiful um and I remember thinking about that and and Sharon just said you know I Beauty is to celebrating who has God Made You Who God made you to be right to be beautiful is just to celebrate that and she was like so this is my skin color this is my skin tone this is my body type I have to celebrate that and not try and become something (44:11) that I'm not because I see it on the cover of magazine yeah yeah absolutely no that's that's brilliant and when when you meet somebody that's that's obviously not being themselves whatever they look like whatever they wear how however much money they've got there's something a little bit and you meet someone truly authentic who's absolutely being themselves and and they may look you know nothing um photogenic about them no shamanda clothes but there's something about them and who they are that I mean yeah for me that's absolutely Beauty it's it's somebody (44:48) totally At Home In Their Skin yeah rather than trying to be something um yeah I get that and I think it's especially important maybe not was supposed to talk about I'm hijack it anyway cuz but you and I both have daughters the same age Y and I am very aware that my 17-year-old daughter sees three or 4 thousand images a day at least all projecting on her some kind of expectation yeah what she should dress like what she should look like what she should do what she should listen to how she should act and I I find it very very hard as a (45:25) dad to look at that and so of course as a dad you you want to combat that you want to protect them I don't know if they always listen to their dads I don't no no let's get let's let's just say no um but I almost felt like you know I needed to almost write letters to my daughter just to say actually if you don't listen to me listen to your heavenly father yeah yeah that's good and I think it's so powerful because I would hate it if I mean she's my daughter obviously I there's the acceptance thing but if she felt like (45:57) she to be something than she's she isn't I would find that hard I have a real I have a real hard time with things like botox sorry to be controversial and and there's no criticism or condemnation if you've had fillers and all that sort of stuff but I I ju I just don't I don't get it I I I remember we um there was a guy who I went boy with the story I got when I was in the beauty industry I was very careful what we did and did not get involved with the other thing that I did did actually made a heck of a difference (46:29) to the salon as I said to all the therapists let's go and get cuz we had a beauty salon let's get every photograph that's up in our Salon of of women especially let's put them on the table and let's lay them all out and we did that and I'm like right let's keep all the images that are not photoshopped in some way mhm so they all went in the bin right because they were all photoshopped they all weren't real M and um so we we took those down and we put up photographs from um Time Magazine who just photographed people from all over (47:02) the world J me said like the ladies from Africa with a really long necks the rings around them do you know what client said when we did this oh well they didn't even realize that we done it but they just said just feels a lot less oppressive it's just a lot lighter in this space all brilliant and just like fantastic and all we did was just change the images from something that was Unreal yeah incredible yeah that is that is incredible is incredible it's kind of linked it's a bit of a jump but I'm really glad that (47:31) Sharon talked about uh that verse about the body the body of Christ and each one having a different purpose a diff different set of gifts of personalities because that that Parable I don't know whether you're the same with this m but that that parable about the talents I think it can actually be oppressive a little bit like the salon it it can feel like oh the responsibility is entirely on me and and Sharon wasn't saying that actually and and she was kind of linking it saying actually it's about what you already have it's not about trying to attain something different which is absolutely great and and I agree with (48:06) but sometimes that Parable can be used as a kind of this is what God's given you so you know if you don't use it you're going to be chucked out in the darkness and nashing of teeth I think as the end of the parable it's pretty extreme and and it can kind of you pay attention if you work for me cause cause this anxiety as individuals to say I've got this huge responsibility to use everything that's God God's given me it's a it's it's the Spider-Man thing isn't it it's like to whom is given much power power has much responsibility and there's something very true about that but actually in the context of the body (48:43) it becomes entirely different that as communities we have stuff that we can contribute and I think that becomes a whole different set of responsibilities because what it's talking about is if you've got something if and and and I think I Think Jesus is talking about um about Insight particularly um in the context of that Parable as well if you've got something then share it don't just sit on it um share it and it's not so that things go well with you it's because actually we're in the context of the body yeah we're made in the context (49:17) of this community of wonderful beautiful unique people as we've talked about and when we begin to share what we have um the beauty just UPS a level yeah and and where we don't see that what we have is good or different or unique and we don't share it everyone else is worse off so I I think those two the power BL the talents together with the body of Christ I think is a really important link of those those two concepts yeah no I totally agree it's um I always say that purpose and what the talents that God has given you what is your purpose again Sharon touched on this for me it's like (49:56) a two coin right so in Britain you take any coins assuming there's some left I've not seen any for a little while this has all tapped my iPhone now but you remember the days years ago when we had coins oh yes days a long days um and on the back of every coin when I was a kid you had the Queen's head I'm assuming Charles is yeah's he's getting in there I think yeah yeah I've seen him on 5 note I haven't seen one a Coen it um but you've got the Queen's head and that is the com thing of every single coin there's there's a and purpose is like that there are things which are (50:32) common to every believer right every person um the uniqueness of that coin is not found with the head on the back that just tells you to whom you belong uh the uniqueness of that coin is found on it with its shape its color who's on the front the J mean the number and all that sort of stuff now that doesn't mean that you're better than that person over there it just means that's who God has made you to be that's really good and and that's what's unique and that's a unique aspect of you your calling you taking your place you standing up and (51:01) going yes God has given me these things I'm going to celebrate that look at who God has made me to me going back to Beauty celebration of what God has giving you build on that rather than try and do something way over whenever I tried to do something off piece shall we say it usually goes wrong outside of your Excellence or competence maybe yeah yeah outside of my competence is is a much better and it's a very Teeny Time uh skiing a very narrow piece yes a very very narrow piece but it's when I've done stuff like that when I've stepped outside of that (51:41) to try and accelerate or try and do something that maybe God's not necessarily involved with that's when it can go wrong not all the time I get it and not everything that has gone wrong is because I've stepped off God's call you're going to run into trouble irrespective whether you're in God's will or not right yeah the way the way it is um but I I do think it's it's one of those things you learn with age isn't it actually you start to understand who God has made you yeah and it's interesting Paul starts (52:13) every single letter by saying I am an apostle or I'm a bonder servant of Christ he understood who God had made him to be and he he sort of he understood his mission and the the longer he walked with Christ the clearer that mission became and I think it's true in our Christian walk actually the longer we walk with Christ the clearer that mission BEC yeah yeah I think that's right and and our prayer really is that if you're listening to this that and you're feeling that kind of pressure of achievement of you know running a country by the (52:45) time you're Sharon's young age or you know that some of the examples she gave um that this would just lift off some of that pressure and actually exploring the beauty of who God's made you and and and knowing yeah knowing who you are knowing what you do have that that should be a releasing thing yeah um and you know our prayer is that you've got community that you can explore that with as well it's great to be able to come to others and say I don't think I've got this particular strength or but I think I'm pretty good here or maybe just asking us saying what do you think my strengths are which is a fantastic question I use (53:19) often with teams at work because because we don't talk about each other's strengths we and definitely not to each other so actually asking somebody what do you think is my strength or where you know the the kind of unique beauty of who I am maybe it's a diff harder question but it's worth asking because you'll be surprised and you'll I think always be encouraged yeah absolutely and usually my experience when I've asked questions like that is Sharon knows everything she's so I'll come back to her and I say babe I did this personality test and I did this you know whatever and it's come out and said this (53:55) and she's going yeah I've been saying that last four years why did you why did you need to go and pay hundreds of pounds to figure that out so you you know you listen to your spouse it's my top tip really great still learning all of this but actually the the Bible talks about itself as a mirror and bringing all of this back the more you study scripture the more you start to understand who you are who God has created you to be right and the more that gets down into your soul the more that affects and changes your life we're talking about identity we're talking about wholeness and I (54:31) think if you if you see yourself through the mirror through the lens of scripture Through The Eyes Of God that's such a wonderful foundation on which to build yeah yeah no absolutely uh I agree and there's some fantastic examples in scripture of people exploring who who they are and making mistakes and getting it wrong and and God still using them and uh as well as all the uh the kind of the scriptures about our identity in Christ which we've been looking at um there are actually some fantastic case studies as well in (55:06) Scripture that that we can be encouraged by um and again really encourage you to explore that with others with others that have a different perspective that others maybe have different experience or different um history uh with God's word or or a longer walk with God or even a shorter walk with God explore the these things uh with others because that's where yeah that that's where the strength uh really comes and and God will be refining what you know uh of him and what he says about you and but you know scripture is always a great place uh to start and probably you don't want (55:43) to stray too far from it you kind of keep coming back at it with all those different perspectives and uh and ideas um and keep measuring them up against what does God say and I it's astonishing how rich uh the Bible is and how rich God's word is when when we approach it uh with Open Hearts and and yeah and prayerfully saying God help help me understand help me see uh what you're saying about who I am help me see purpose in your word and when we do that it's incredibly Rich scripture yeah absolutely so the challenge this week ladies and gentlemen put that scripture on your mirror Ephesians 2:10 for you (56:21) are his workmanship great in Christ Jesus for good works which he prepared beforehand that you should walk in Good Works says that in the scripture you know not crazy works good um I just want to you know point out what the Greek doesn't say this I'm talking to me more than anything if I'm honest with you um but just remind yourself of that and if you really want to go for it when someone says to you how you doing today just turn around and say I've got to be doing all right because I am God's workmanship God took his time when he made me and just see what the response is for people let let us know because i' (56:52) yeah I'd be fascinated to know what sort of response you get yeah just you know do that why not it's going to be fun uh but I think we'll end it there I'm just aware of time so thank you so much for joining us uh next week I have no idea who's hosting because I think I'm speaking Yeah I can't help me I'm afraid you don't know I was looking at it earlier in fact but it's completely gone from me but there will be somebody hosting and uh and Matt will be speaking Yeah yeah absolutely and it won't be as good as shanon's obviously but you know we'll be here we're talking about what it means to we've been talking the last (57:24) five weeks about what it means to be created in Christ um so this scripture about our our identity in him next week we're going to start looking at this idea that Christ is in us a hope of glory so Christ lives in us so we're going to be talking about that next week so make sure you like subscribe and do all that good stuff come join us uh for our live stream next week if you can we broadcast 6 PM UK time which is usually uh 1 p.m Eastern Standard Time depending on the clock changes which aren't going to happen for (57:53) a little while so I think I'm fairly safe uh but do join us we are Live on YouTube we are live on Facebook and we are now live on Instagram so um yeah come join us wherever you can otherwise if you're listening to this or watching this on catchup uh you're awesome absolute Legend thanks for thanks for getting involved do email us any prayer requests that you have we do get a lot through every week so do send us through your prayer request we'd love to pray for you um about anything that you're going through or just you just want somebody to stand with you in prayer um (58:24) or if you're sort of new to the Christian Faith or you're contemplating the Christian faith and you want to know more about what that means um or you want someone to stand with you in prayer because you feel like now's the right time we would love to do that as well so just get in touch with us www.c crowd. (58:38) Church all the information is on our website just head over there and we would love to hear from you uh but will anything else closing from you bu just Matt did all that without an UE it's just like it's so so in his heart so uh yeah no always always a pleasure um to host with you Matt and uh yeah I've got nothing to add you are God's workmanship enjoy it and explore it enjoy it and I love that it almost Rhymes you are God's workmanship enjoy it and explore it uh but make sure you do that come join us next week that's it (59:12) from me that's it from will thank you so much for joining us have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world we'll see you next time bye for now thank you so much for joining us here on crowd church now if you are watching on YouTube 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 (59:48) 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.c crow. 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