#22 Christ in Me

Matt Edmundson: [00:00:00] 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 that.

Just that. Firstly, you can engage with crowd from any device during our live stream. And if you're up for it, why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together? You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others. And one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also join our community.

One of our mid week groups where we meet online together to catch up and discover more about the [00:01:00] 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 is available on our website, whatsthestory.

com. All these things that I've mentioned can be found on our website at www. crowd. church or you can reach us on social media at crowdchurch.

If you're new to crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to take are, Well, why not head over to our website, crowd. church forward slash next, for more details.

And now, the moment you've been waiting for is here. Our online church service starts right now.

Dan Orange: Welcome to Crowd Church. Um, I'm today [00:02:00] joined. I have a little reveal because I'm joined by lovely Sharon Edmundson. Hi Sharon. Hi

Sharon Edmundson: everyone. Good evening.

Dan Orange: What have you been up to today, Sharon?

Sharon Edmundson: Well, I was at church this morning. Um, and then this afternoon, because I help church youth on a Friday, we had a volunteer social today, which was very nice.

And then, yeah, this afternoon, I've actually been listening to the talk for today, because as if you've watched before, you know, I like to listen to it before, like now, just to give me a chance to mull over it a little bit. So, yeah, what about you?

Dan Orange: So I have, I was at church as well, and my wife was at the same thing.

She was? Yes, so she was getting nice food and I was having, we had leftover pizza for last night, but still, leftover pizza is pretty good. We definitely

Sharon Edmundson: beat you on the food. Yes.

Dan Orange: Did some washing. Watch some TV, chilled, and then back here,

Sharon Edmundson: lovely,

Dan Orange: it's a good afternoon,

Sharon Edmundson: oh, so what's uh, yeah, what have we got going on today,

Dan Orange: [00:03:00] so today we have Matt doing the first part of Christ in Me, so we've had the, it's all around Matt Edmundson, The Wholeness Series and being in Christ, being part of Christ.

And Matt is doing the first part today. We've got Anna next week doing the second part. Yeah.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah. I just wanted to say, actually, just remind me, obviously we're, um, we're called Crowd Church. We are all Christians, but you're welcome here, whether you are a Christian, whether you're a different faith or whether you have no faith or whether you're just searching, trying to work out, you know.

Is there a God even? Yes.

Dan Orange: Yeah, definitely. Cause that's what, that's why we do this. We want to, we want to tell people about our faith to hopefully explain some of the things to hear different people's stories. Um, but yeah, here for, like you said, people without faith, people, um, searching or just [00:04:00] intrigued.

Yeah. So always sort of, uh, questions, comments, so please just put your reactions in there. I'm sorry, my screen keeps just dying in front of me. So I'm looking at a black, a black thing.

Sharon Edmundson: So hopefully you can see

Dan Orange: Dan. Yes. Yeah, I think the camera is still working. There's just nothing in front of me. Yeah,

Sharon Edmundson: so do put your comments in.

I see we've got a few people already. We've got Matt Crew, Andy, Matt Edmundson, my husband, who apparently says, my daughter says hi as well. Hello, everybody.

Dan Orange: Hello, Zoe. Hello, Matt. Hello, Andy, Matt. Yeah, a few Matt's. I think probably, should we have, should we listen to the talk? Let's do it. Let's do it. And, um, the camera's just because my thumb's twitching.

Let's listen to the talk and yes, like we said, any questions, um, put them in your comments and we'll come back afterwards to talk about them. Here we go. That didn't work.[00:05:00]

Matt Edmundson: Have you ever seen the movie The Lion King? There's this really interesting scene where Simba is struggling to understand who he is and what his place in life is. And so he meets Rafiki, the monkey that tells him that his father is not dead, but is actually alive. And so Simba chases him, For a few seconds as Rafiki heads off into the dense jungle and then Simba stops all of a sudden, looks down at the water's edge.

Rafiki: That's not my father, it's just my reflection. You

see,

Matt Edmundson: he lives

Rafiki: in you.

Matt Edmundson: Now if you're like me, you love [00:06:00] The Lion King, it's a great movie. And at first Simba, when he bows down to seize his reflection, doesn't he? So what do you see when you see your reflection? What do you see when you look in the mirror? Maybe a better question. Who do Do you know what I mean, Matt Crew, Diocese, Prayer, Conversation Street, Holcombe, Origin, Origins, Liverpool, Frontline Church, Jesus Christ, eCommerce Podcast, EP, Aurion Studio, Anna Kettle, Dan Orange, John Harding, Do you know what I mean, Matt Crew, Diocese, Now, in the Bible, Paul, in one of his letters to the Galatian Church, wrote this, he said, I have been crucified with Christ.

It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved [00:07:00] me and gave himself for me. This is such a powerful and life changing verse in so many ways, but especially as we are looking at this whole topic of identity and becoming whole.

I have been crucified with Christ, he said. Now this wasn't a physical crucifixion, he didn't, he wasn't actually on the cross with Christ physically, but spiritually, metaphorically, which we're going to dig into. I have been crucified with Christ. Uh, it's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.

Amazing words. You are in Christ and he lives in you. And it's the most extraordinary truth. And something that we're going to spend the rest of our time looking at. Now I don't know where you are on your Christian walk, you may have been a Christian for a while, you may have been a Christian a short time, you may have not even yet decided to follow Christ, maybe you're still exploring the Christian faith.[00:08:00]

But wherever you are on that journey, I am pretty sure that each of us have struggled or wrestled with the question or the idea of God's presence, right, God being with us. Even the disciples, those who walked and talked with Jesus, at times questioned and struggled to understand what it all meant and his whole presence thing.

God, where are you, is the cry of many of our hearts, mine included, on occasion, right? But the truth is, for the Christ follower, he is always there, because he lives in you. Now sometimes I may lock God away, I might not visit him for a while, but he is always near, he is always there. Living in me, living in you.

God's presence is always with us, even when we don't feel him. He lives [00:09:00] in you. Jesus put it this way in John's Gospel. He said, I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever. The spirit of truth. Now the world cannot see him because it neither sees him nor knows him.

But you know him, for he lives with you, and will be with you. Jesus is talking about what will happen after his death and resurrection, and that for the Christian, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth will come and live with us and live in us. Inners. And Jesus carries on to explain. He said, I will not leave you as orphans.

I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me because I live. You also will live. And on that day, you will realize that I am in my father and you are in me. And I [00:10:00] am in you. You. You are in me and I am in you because He lives in me. We live. It sounds a lot like what Paul wrote, wasn't it?

It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Now this is astounding in so many ways. If Jesus is the Son of God, and if the account of what we read in the Bible is really true, and the words we read are in fact the words of God, this is utterly remarkable. And just in case We aren't sure. Jesus goes on to say, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.

My father will love him and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Jesus is telling us that the entirety of the Godhead, the Trinity, in all its [00:11:00] glory and power and majesty, in all its greatness and splendor, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have intentionally chosen to come down and make their home in the heart of every believer. As I said, it is utterly remarkable.

So why? Why would Christ even want to do this? Well, to answer that question, I think it's important that we understand how God lived amongst his people throughout history. How did God do this whole presence thing? Well, if we go back to the time of Moses, we see something called the Tabernacle, which was a portable tent that the Israelites, the people of God, took with them.

It was a holy place where God's presence would be manifest, right? Now the Tabernacle was 500 or so years. And then around 1000 BC Solomon built a [00:12:00] permanent temple in Jerusalem which replaced the tabernacle. And this temple, well let's just say it was impressive to say the least, it was mesmerizing and grand and beautiful and it stood for 371 years at the center of Jewish history.

worship until it was destroyed by the Babylonian Empire. Why was it destroyed? Well, if you read the Bible, it's because ancient Israel had continued in disobedience, idolatry, immorality, and social injustice. They had literally got to a place where they, where they knew more than God, obviously, and so God withdrew his presence and the temple was ultimately destroyed.

And let me tell you, when God withdraws his presence, uh, you are quickly gonna feel it. And so the people of God, the ancient Israelites, the people at the time, realized the error of their ways. They began to cry out to God. So about 70 years later, around 516 [00:13:00] BC, if you're following the dates, then the Jewish exiles returned from Babylon.

And the second temple was built. Now, the second temple, uh, was one that stood for around 586 years. It was a temple that was around at the time of Christ, but it was ultimately destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. The second temple laid in ruins. Why? Why this time was it destroyed? Well, actually, the world didn't need it anymore.

Because the Bible tells us that the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. The Word, Jesus, Jesus came and made His dwelling among us. He didn't make His dwelling in the temple, He made it among us. Now the Greek word for dwelling here is the same word, Tabernacle. So Jesus tabernacled amongst his [00:14:00] people which is astounding.

The presence of God was not in a building, it was in Jesus! Now I appreciate I'm using this word astounding a lot, but it is astounding. It really is, because the implications of this are really massively far reaching, right. And then Jesus, uh, dies, is crucified, but raises from the dead, and then he ascends to heaven.

And Jesus talked about this when the spirit of truth is going to come, the Holy Spirit came to earth. And now something quite miraculous happened. Each believer, each Christian, becomes the temple, the place where God's presence dwells and tabernacles wither. We learn this in a letter Paul wrote to the Corinthian Church.

He said, You yourselves are God's temple, and that God's spirit dwells in your midst. You yourself are the temple of God. You have the [00:15:00] indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit as a born again church. So God's presence moved from the tabernacle to the temple, to Christ, and finally to us, the new temple of God.

The Holy Spirit lives in me, and he lives in you if you're a Christ follower. And I think that is something to positively shout about. I think that's a reason to worship right there. That's all the reason we need. So why, why did God go through all of that? Why would Christ make his home in me? Why would he, his whole plan be for me to become a temple of the Holy Spirit?

Well, there are a number of reasons that we could talk about. There are a number of answers to give, but for now, let's just pick one. Simply. He just wanted [00:16:00] to. He wants to be at home with you. Jesus put it this way in the book of revelations. He said, I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I will come right in and sit down to supper with you.

Now we use this verse to talk about, you know, if you're, if you're not yet a Christ follower, You know, let him in sort of thing, but he wants to come right in and sit down and supper with you. He wants to be close to you. He just does. And that's why it's mind blowing. The God of the universe, the Lord who created the heavens and the earth, and the God who split the Red Sea, and who died and rose again, wants to sit down and supper with you.

So what does being this Temple of the Holy Spirit actually look like? Well, [00:17:00] if I may, let me illustrate that by taking you to the gym. Just bear with me. Okay, so welcome to the gym. You can see we've got weights behind us here. You can see we've got a weights bench, we've got barbells. We've got all kinds of crazy equipment in the gym.

One piece of equipment we have, these. Gloves. These are the gloves that I wear when I lift weights. Their purpose is to help me lift weights, to help me grip the bar, and also because I've got, you know, old man hands, I need a bit of extra padding on my hands because the weights hurt when I, anyway, I won't bore you.

But we know what the purpose of the gloves is, so let's try a little experiment. So the first thing I want to do is encourage this glove to fulfil its purpose. Come on glove, you can do this. We believe in you. Live your best life. Go for it. Lift the weights. Come on, you can do it. You know you can. Come on![00:18:00]

Well, that didn't work, did it? Maybe, along with the encouragement and the positive reinforcement which I like to give my, uh, my gloves, maybe I just need to show it what to do. I wonder if that'll work. Okay gloves, so let me show you. All you gotta do is take your fingers like that. And then just wrap them around the bar.

Look, just like that. Easy, easy. All you've got to do is take your, just wrap, hmm. Didn't work either, did it? Tried encouragement, tried training, maybe fellowship. Maybe fellowship is the way to get this glove to meet its purpose. Okay glove, let me introduce you to the other glove. Collectively together, surely, now, You can, you know, spur one each other on, lift the bar, come on, yeah, no, maybe, [00:19:00] maybe what that glove needs to do is just recommit to the process, you know, become a little bit more dedicated, become more committed to This idea of being a glove.

Now, a crazy analogy, I appreciate you know as well as I do, I can spend all day in the gym talking to this glove, but until there's a bigger life force inside it, until my hand is in there, it's never really going to do what it's supposed to do. You see where I'm going with this, right? It's the same with us.

Unless there's a bigger life force alive and active in us, I don't know if we ever really accomplish the purpose and the call that we have, the mission that we have in our lives. Unless there is something bigger, a God who is bigger, a Christ who is bigger taking his place in our heart, I wonder if we're always going to struggle.[00:20:00]

And it might not be that we need more encouragement. It might not be that we need more training. It might not be that we need more fellowship. It might not even be that we need to recommit our lives. Maybe, just maybe, we just need to let the God inside us do his thing and live in us and through us, just like Paul said.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Welcome back. So, the Christian life works. God's plan for wholeness works. Living a supernatural life. works, but we can only do so when Christ lives his life in us and through us by the Holy Spirit.

If we don't allow Christ to take his rightful [00:21:00] place, to fill that God shaped hole, which is literally inside each one of us, we can become a little like God. My glove with no hand. We never really achieve our purpose. We never really do what we're here to do. So to be whole, where nothing is missing and nothing is broken, is to be a man or a woman where Christ takes his rightful place in our hearts and where we crucify those things that seek to take his place.

There's that word again. I have been crucified with Christ, metaphorically, spiritually. So what does that mean? What things might we need to crucify? I mean, crucify, man, it all sounds a little bit graphic, doesn't it? A bit unnecessary, maybe. But actually, no, I don't think it is. And I wonder if we've become I wonder if we'd become, well, just a little bit soft, really, when it all comes, comes down to talking about these things, these things that take the [00:22:00] place of God in our hearts.

Paul put it another way when, uh, in the same letter to the Galatian Church, as if he was pressing home this issue, so he writes, I have been crucified with Christ, and then he goes on to say. And those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Tell you what, that doesn't sound very passive, does it?

Doesn't even sound very PC. It's not even very palatable, I don't think, to modern sensibilities. But the Holy Spirit lives in you. Holy. He is holy. And I find this deeply, deeply challenging because it's easy to forget that, I think. It's, it's easy to wander away from the holiness of God and wander to the sin which so easily corrupts us.

And it's not exactly easy to crucify the flesh. It [00:23:00] even sounds painful. So let me ask you again, what things do you have to crucify? What is taking the place of Christ in your heart? Now, I'm going to pick on men because I am a man and I can talk directly to you. And I think an obvious one for men may be something like porn or lust.

Right? This is what Crucifying the desires of our flesh has often been equated to these are things that we may have to crucify. I mean if you are watching porn that definitely is something that needs crucifying, right? But less obvious ones, well they maybe include politics. Which is an interesting statement to make, especially in the time we are living in, where politics and ideology now shape our theology.

And I think that is utterly wrong. That's not to say you shouldn't get involved in politics as a Christian. I think we actually need Christians in all of the political parties. People who will [00:24:00] stand up for the truth of the gospel. But what we don't need any more of are Christians who are shaped by political ideology and then find scriptures to preach that ideology to others and fall out with them when they don't listen.

I just wonder, men, if it's time to crucify that. I wonder if that is taking the place of Christ in our heart. What do we need to crucify? Insecurity, Unbelief, Greed, Anger, Slander, Jealousy, Envy. The Bible has got a fairly extensive list for us to think about, including, I'm gonna pick on another sacred cow here, Drunkenness, which is a bit of an ouch moment in modern culture.

Again, let me just be clear, it is not wrong to have a drink. I think it is something we need to crucify when drink has. If you're not yet a Christ follower, the first stage for you is not to stop [00:25:00] going to the pub. It just isn't. It's to let Christ into your heart. He's knocking at the door, let him in. It's not like I think there's a checklist of things you need to stop before you can become a Christian, before you can become a Christ follower.

You come just as you are, but you will notice that as you give your life to Christ, as he's, he's going to come into your heart, he's going to start to clean house, but he's going to do that over time, and he's going to work with you on that. No problem. Just allow that to happen, and don't worry about it.

But if you're like me, And you are a Christ follower already and have been for some time. I wonder if we have to get a little bit hard on some of these things that have taken the place of Christ in our heart. I wonder if it's time not to tolerate them. I'm not saying we don't tolerate other people. I'm just saying we don't tolerate the things in our own heart.

We often [00:26:00] wonder why we don't see the presence of God or the manifestation of God. And I wonder if we've become maybe a little bit too like the ancient Israelites and tolerate sin just a little bit too much. Sin just being that thing which is missing the mark. It's just, it's not what God wants for us.

They lost their temple when they did that. And the glory of God stopped being manifest in their presence. But we are chasing wholeness. We want to get to a place where nothing is missing and nothing is broken. And to do that, I think we have to crucify the flesh. Why? So that Christ can live forever. In me, that's the fundamental reason we do this.

Not because God's a killjoy, not because of, you know, a bunch of old fashioned rules that don't make sense for today. We crucify these things so that Christ can live in me and [00:27:00] through me. Every time I make that decision, it, it always makes more sense to me. So I'm going to ask you again, to the Christ followers out there, what do you need to crucify?

Now I appreciate that all got a little bit heavy, didn't it? You know what though? I'm okay with that, every now and again. Now as I crucify those things in my life that take the place of Christ, I create room for the Holy Spirit to dwell and live. It can be painful, but I think it can also be wonderful at the same time, and oh so worth it, let me tell you.

Now a few weeks ago I asked you to put the verse Uh, about being more than a conqueror on your mirror. If you've not watched that talk, go back. At, at some point and watch it. Great talk . It was actually a good talk, not because I did it by the way. I just, I just love that portion of scripture, you know, where Jesus talks about being more than a conqueror.

Um, but on this, [00:28:00] if you did that on your mirror, what I want you to do is put this scripture next to it, the one from Galatians. Galatians 2. 20, which says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Why do I want you to put that on the mirror? So when you look in the mirror, see Jesus in you. Let that revelation happen. Which John G Lake called the revelation of this age. Let that sink in because I think Well, my experience is it's easy to forget So, to quote Mufasa from The Lion King, back to that, remember, remember who you are, remember who lives in you, remember that he is always with you, remember he is your life force and [00:29:00] that apart from him you can do nothing.

So crucify those things that fill the hole, uh, inside you that Jesus should fill. Create space for him and learn what it means to supper with him because Christ lives in you.

Dan Orange: Wow. I enjoyed that talk. Yeah, that was great, wasn't it? Yeah.

Sharon Edmundson: I don't think I've heard a talk before with a quote from Mufasa. No,

Dan Orange: I think, um, I think Matt's aim is to get as many sort of 80s, not quite 80s references, but iconic films into, into his talks.

Sharon Edmundson: He definitely likes the 80s and his iconic films. Yeah.

Dan Orange: I don't think he's used Back to the Future yet. No, not yet. No, Great Scott. I think that's going to come soon.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah. Before we get into that, I'd just like to remind Kind of pick up on something. So for those who don't know, Matt, the speaker is my husband and Obviously, I know that he goes to the gym a lot [00:30:00] and he often comes in complaining about sore muscles.

What I didn't know is that he's in there talking to his gloves. That is a complete revelation for me. But I mean, the Bible records an instance where Jesus talked to a tree, so I guess he's in good company. Anyway. We can get to more serious things now, if you like.

Dan Orange: Well, me and Matt are of a similar age and my wife says exactly the same thing.

I go to the gym and come back and just complain about different things aching.

Rafiki: It's a daily occurrence. I'm

Dan Orange: actually like, I thought this was meant to be good for you.

Anyway.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah. What things kind of stood out for you on that?

Dan Orange: Yeah. I love that talk. I really did. Um, and as, as a Christian and being around church and talking about church, reading his word, we often say, you know, accept Christ into your life, Christ in me. Um, but it's a big [00:31:00] deal, isn't it? Yeah. It is a big deal.

Um, and I think perhaps that, that just. Got me how, how big I think it is that God is in us, God is holy. What do we allow in our lives aren't holy, that make that space for God, if you like.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah, I think it is a really interesting concept of us being in God and Him in us, and I've got a quote from a book that I want to read, but I need to give some background first.

So, um, anyone who has been around me will have heard me recommend this book because it's just really interesting. It's called Imagine the God of Heaven, and it's written by a guy who's Um, research for the last few decades, his research into near death experiences. So bear with me on this. You might be immediately kind of rolling eyes.

It's a load of rubbish. [00:32:00] Um, before you dismiss it, I would recommend you actually get the book and read it and look at what his research is. Because apparently there's actually lots of scientific research into this area, which he kind of includes. And he includes lots of stories and he weaves it in with scripture.

So it's really interesting. But there's an example of a Christian woman. So the examples in the book are from all around the world. They're from people of all different faiths, um, and no faith. So it's not just pick on Christians. But this is an example from a Christian who had this near death experience and said that she had this encounter.

So like I say, don't just dismiss it. Look into it first before you dismiss it. But, um, there's a quote from the book, which is It's reasonably long, but I think it, it picks up on this idea. So she says, Jesus and I were individuals, yes, I could still see him and feel the warmth of his hand clasped in mine, but all around us, there was only one thing.[00:33:00]

I knew that one thing was God. The simplest way I can describe this realization is to state that there is no corner, no place, no space. God does not occupy. He contains everything and everything is contained in him. He's in us. We are in him. What I experienced is difficult to translate into words. I'm reminded of John 14, 20.

On that day you will know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. Yes, Jesus was in the Father and he was in me and I was in him. I wish I could explain this better but I simply can't. He was one and he was himself but he was in me too. There was a part of him in me. There really aren't any words to describe this awareness.

Jesus had smiled at me, he's been so pleased I'd recognized God's immensity. Believe me, God's immensity will bring you to your knees. Our human brains can't grasp him without tripping the circuit breaker. Um, [00:34:00] and it is quite long, but I think that kind of gets the fact that it is a, it's a difficult concept to understand.

Yeah. But it also brings out, I think, the immensity and the awesomeness of God that we just. Don't grasp, because we just, we see little bits here, but God's so big. Um, yeah, kind of went off on one there. No, no,

Dan Orange: I love that. I love that. That's yeah.

Rafiki: Yeah.

Dan Orange: Isn't that amazing? Just that. When Matt was talking, I, um, had a quick read through, um, Genesis and then he, when it, it's the story of the creation and creating.

man and woman in his own image. It's, it was right from, right from day zero, right from that point, we were created to be part of God. That's part of his family. Yeah. Reflecting him and then him in us, us [00:35:00] in him. It's, it's not, um, it's not something we have to strive to twist to work. And I think that perhaps brings me on a bit to a point that Matt brought up that, um, we can twist things the wrong way.

So he talked about perhaps politics and bringing, changing our theology. So what we think about God to match what we think is the latest or the politic, the views we want to bring across rather than letting God speak to us. to influence our lives and our politics and our views. And I think that, that for me is really spoken to me at this time with so much stuff going on.

What do I, what do I think? What does God think about it? And how can I bring that to life? That view.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah, I've heard a few times where [00:36:00] people give the impression that the culture that we live in is the neutral view. And if you have a view different to that, then you're slightly weird or you're off base.

But actually, I don't really believe there is a neutral view, because every view has its beliefs about different aspects of life. So it's trying to work out which of those. Different worldviews is actually true and then letting those, like you say, obviously as Christians we believe that what the Bible says about who God is, that that is true, he is the truth and that we let him speak to us about the way he's created the world to work and allow that to then affect the world.

Yeah, it was very interesting.

Dan Orange: And it's not that God doesn't, He's interested in the world. Again, going back to Genesis, the next verse is he created them in his image and he created them to look after the world, you know, which is pretty up to date thinking, isn't it? [00:37:00] Um, so it is, and it's having that standard to live by and to, to, to rest in.

And I think it's less stressful. For me, it's less stressful. I don't have to worry. I don't have to worry what the latest thoughts are. I don't have to worry what the latest politics are because I know that I can rest in God who hasn't changed and work out what he's trying to say and do. through me.

Don't have to worry which one is this latest one, the right latest thought, the right thought to be following.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah, which also fits in with what Matt was saying, I joke about the gloves but I did like, I actually thought it was a really good illustration of allowing God into our lives and his spirit in the work through us.

And as he was speaking, it reminded me of a story from last night. Actually, we were with some friends who, um, live and work in North Africa. And they were telling us about a [00:38:00] project that they've got there in one of the towns and it's to do with farming and. It's a lot of sustainable farming and this kind of stuff.

And, um, the, the town, like the officials of the town have asked to work with them to do this project. And I was like, hang on a minute. Why are the town asking for your help in this? You're not farmers. That is not their background. And, um, they said partly there is the sense that, um, they know the people that need the help and they know some experts in the field, so they're kind Connecting the two, but actually they said one of the main key things in this is that they spend a lot of time in prayer and when they're praying, God gives them direction.

They just get the sense of what they should be doing next and they follow the next step and then God opens up these doors and makes these connections. And so it's like God in them is doing all the work, making the connections, opening the doors. [00:39:00] And I just thought it was great. a good example of how God in us does stuff that actually we can't really do on our own.

Yes. Yeah. They're not farmers. And you wouldn't, you wouldn't normally go to someone without that. No, without their skills, yeah. But what they're doing is transforming that area and having a massive impact. So it's really cool. I like that.

Dan Orange: I do that. Yeah, that's great.

Sharon Edmundson: What other bits of you were you picking out of the talk?

Dan Orange: So I. I also wrote down, and it's, it's a verse that, again, as a Christian we hear, for me I hear a lot, but if you're, if you're not around Christ's things, or his, his word, or, um, haven't been, you know, investigating much, this knocking on the door phrase, that God knocks on the door of our heart, because he, he wants to come and he wants to be part of it.

And he wants to sup with us. He [00:40:00] wants to, and isn't that a great phrase to sup with us? It's like, if you have a friend, if someone's knocking on your door, like Amazon, you know, they come and they just come to give you a parcel and that's it. They've got, either they're there for a split second, they'll take your photo or take your photo of the parcel.

Um, but if you have someone around for food, you want to get to know that person. That's why you do it. Um, yeah, great. And yeah, I love that. Yeah.

Sharon Edmundson: And I think, um, Food, I think is powerful in any culture, but especially the cultures where, um, to who the, these passages are written, food is very much about extending friendship and welcoming people into your family.

So it is quite, I think it would possibly to the original people have had much more powerful message as well than we potentially get from it. Yeah,

Dan Orange: possibly that, yeah, in the West here with. Yeah, we're not great at it, are we? We've got, I've got friends who in fact sat next to me, the Edmundsons, they would always invite [00:41:00] me around and friends around.

Um, but often we're not that good at just inviting people into our house and have food and it is just a, it's an intimate time and it's time to ask questions. It's time to get to know someone. Yeah. Um, yeah. Yeah, it is. I'm just working through my little notes. Yeah. I just wanted to say that. Matt said, you don't have to be, you don't have to have everything right.

You don't have to have your heart right. You, in fact, you can't get your heart right to allow God in. God's got to come in and then he'll get your heart right. Um, and if he is knocking, oh man, um, if he is knocking, then just let him in, just open that door and say, I want to know more about this. I want you to.

Take out the, like the rubbish, you want to make space for you, but open that, he's knocking, just, yeah, just open that door.

Sharon Edmundson: I [00:42:00] don't think it's just a one off thing either. It's not like, you know, um, you go from not being a Christ follower to opening the door and then let him in here. It's like a daily thing.

Yeah. And I had a, um, quite a powerful experience of this recently. Because I think through the Christian life there are kind of, there are the highs and there are lows, there are the very, um, for me anyway, there's the very intense experience of God and then there's just the, I just have to take this by faith because I can't really feel anything by now, right at this minute, but a few weeks ago I was praying through something and it was like a, A message, a word that somebody had given to me.

They were like, I think God's saying this to you. And I started praying it through. And as I did this, I just had this amazing sense of God's presence. But at the same time, this conviction of some sin in my life, and it wasn't like a telling me off kind of a [00:43:00] scenario. It was just this awareness of when you're in this kind of.

Presence of this holy, amazing God is just like, oh my gosh, like the things in my heart that are actually not right. And um, so yeah, I started praying that through and there was lots of sobbing and lots of snot and all sorts of stuff. And then, um, um, just after it was, I had this sense that, okay, everything's dealt with and then this sense of peace.

And then I just. Started laughing because it's got like the joy of God as well. So it was a very bizarre experience and I can't say that they're every day, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's an ongoing that letting God into our lives and letting him cleanse and work through us and speak to us.

Dan Orange: Yeah, and it's a, it's a realization that just in fact, just through that talk with Matt saying, you're like, yeah, God designed me for this and he's more, there's more of him that I want to know.

And there's things in my, in my [00:44:00] life that are filling spaces that he could be filling. And that was, that's what I think the biggest thing that's spoken to me today. Those, those things, they might not be, they might not be wrong things, but they're taking space. So, I'm going to get personal, seeing as you

Sharon Edmundson: mentioned that.

So, um, are you willing to share what you think is taking that space?

Dan Orange: I think. A big thing for me, perhaps it's just TV. Um, we got quite a lot, a lot of things going on at home. Um, just with just our family and time. Time is sort of in the day is very busy and in the evening, it's the way we wind down. We'll just me and Lisa, we'll have a little bit of time.

We'll just watch series together. And again, there's nothing wrong with that. But there's times when that. Winding down would be so much more effective if it was just me and [00:45:00] Lisa having a chat. And sometimes we'll easily let the TV or that series take space when something else more profitable could be hap could be happening.

And, and it's, it's great as a relaxation, but it's, it's taking, I just thought, yeah, that's taking space. That could, something else could be taking space. Yeah. Yeah.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah. I think for me it's. Um, that it was actually this scenario that, um, when I, Matt says on here, snot and tears or sobbing and snot, great combination.

Yeah. Um, so during that time it was, I think this sense of all, looking at all these things that I'd put above God and again, they weren't bad things. It's just more, um, I think for me, I like to feel like I'm achieving something and getting things done. So I can quite often be like, oh. God, once I've just done this little job, then I'll spend time with you.

And it's like, well, once I've just done this, and it's like, actually, I do really want to spend time with God, [00:46:00] but I let myself get distracted. And I think that's part of, you know, we are in, the Bible says that we're in a spiritual battle as well. So we have these two elements, one trying to pull us away from God, and obviously God saying, yeah, come, let's walk together.

Let's eat together. Let's

Dan Orange: Is it a bit like, um, a lot of, a lot of people have just gone through lots of exams and you've got to do revision and for some people their house is the tidiest, at least their desk is the tidiest ever been when you're doing revision because you don't want to do revision, but it is essential.

If you don't do it, you're not going to get anywhere. But all these other distractions can, can take over.

Sharon Edmundson: A certain person, a person in our house usually. Um, was revising for exams and decided to procrastinate that by tidying their room. Um, and then decided they didn't actually like tidying their room either.

And that actually propelled them back into the revision. Yeah. Yeah. We can distract ourselves quite a [00:47:00] bit. Yeah, you can. Miriam's put on here, I love this song, Yet not I, but through Christ in me. Yeah, I can vaguely remember what that is. But I think just the line that you've put there. Yeah, it says a lot, doesn't it?

Yeah, it does. Not just me, but Christ. Yeah.

Dan Orange: Yeah, we can't, um, we can't do it on our own, but Christ, it's not just in us, in a sense of him wanting more of us, but he's, he could use us more then as well.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah. Seeing what other notes I've got here.

I think that might have actually been most of my points.

Dan Orange: I think we've, um,

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah,

Dan Orange: yeah, we've done that quite well, haven't we? I hope so. We've got, well, if, if there are, if you've got any more questions, then obviously this is live now, but still just, I don't think you can put comments on here, but if I press this button, look at that.

Oh, look at that, well done. [00:48:00] Just, there's a WhatsApp. There, there's emails, contact form, just send questions in, uh, if you've got any, anything, not even to do with this talk, then, um, we'd love to hear from you, if you've got any prayer requests, then we all, who are involved with Crowd, um, get prayer requests through, so what we're, whatever we're doing in the day, we'll get things coming up on our phone and we can, we can pray with you, and we'd love that, because God is, God is about personal prayer.

Relationship and personal details. Um, he's not just, he's not a blanket God, is he? He wants to deal with the situations that you've got going on. Yeah. Um, next week.

Sharon Edmundson: Yes.

Dan Orange: Yeah.

Sharon Edmundson: Uh, so next week, we've got the second part of Christ in Me. Um, and it will be Anna speaking and hosting. We've got Matt and Sadaf.

Dan Orange: Yes.

Yeah. So next week, Matt and Sadaf and Anna speaking. Um, [00:49:00]

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah, anything else from you? No,

Dan Orange: nothing else from me. I think it's been great.

Sharon Edmundson: Yeah, well I hope you'll have a great week. Thank you for joining us either in the live version or the online version in the week and hope to see you again next week.

Dan Orange: Goodbye.

Matt Edmundson: 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, 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 [00:50:00] to check out our website, www. 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. Bye for now.