Ever felt like giving up on faith? The Apostle Paul did too. In Acts 18, we find him exhausted, criticised, and ready to walk away—until God steps in with a vision that changes everything. Dave Connolly unpacks what it means to be encouraged by God when circumstances don't change but something inside us does. Practical, honest, and surprisingly hopeful.
01Talk notes
Have you ever felt like giving up? Not just having a bad day, but genuinely wondering if you can keep going with this whole faith thing?
This week at Crowd Church, Dave Connolly took us into Acts 18 and looked at the Apostle Paul—the guy who wrote half the New Testament, performed miracles, and planted churches across the Roman Empire—and why he got so discouraged that he basically told his own people to get lost. If Paul struggled, maybe there's hope for the rest of us.
02When Trying Hard Leaves You Empty
As Paul winds down his second missionary journey, he arrives in Corinth after a rough time in Athens. He's exhausted. He's faced constant hostility. And in verse 6, we see him snap.
Dave put it like this: Paul "shook his robe and told them 'your blood is on your own heads. I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'"
This wasn't calm, collected Paul. This was a man at the end of his rope.
"Have you ever become discouraged while you're trying to serve God or even just trying to live the Christian life? I mean that can be tough in itself."
Here you can see the negative attitudes of others. The criticism. The lack of appreciation. Plain old exhaustion. These things don't just disappear because you're doing what God asked you to do.
03God Sees, and God Speaks
Here's where the story turns. Luke, who wrote Acts, doesn't hide Paul's discouragement from us. But he also shows us something remarkable—God noticed, and God stepped in.
In verses 9-10, God speaks to Paul in a vision:
"Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. For I am with you and no one is going to attack you or harm you because I have many people in that city."
Notice what God doesn't do. He doesn't fix all of Paul's circumstances. The hostile people are still there. The exhaustion is real. Instead, God does something different—he strengthens Paul from the inside.
Dave highlighted several things God promises here:
- Good Christian friends for the journey
- Encouragement to continue his calling
- Assurance that God himself would control what was happening
- The promise of safety under God's watchful eye
"The Lord ministering to Paul through that vision was a tender moment for that weary apostle. It was exactly what he needed."
04What Discouragement Actually Looks Like
During Conversation Street, we explored what this means for ordinary life. Sharon shared honestly about a time when her internal reality was completely different from what she read in the Bible.
"I really nearly was at the point of giving up," she admitted. "I basically gave God his last chance to actually sort stuff out."
Matt reflected on how discouragement often comes from unmet expectations—when God doesn't seem to be doing what we think he should be doing. Reading Christian biographies can sometimes make it worse, he noted. Those books tend to highlight the victories and skip over the boring bits that make up 99% of actual life.
The gap between what we expect and what we experience? That's where discouragement breeds.
05Encouraging Yourself in God
So how do we deal with it? The conversation turned practical.
Sharon described her approach: "First and foremost, you encourage yourself in God." This means continuing to pray, read the Bible, and journal even when you don't feel like it. Pouring out your heart honestly to God rather than pretending everything's fine.
"You keep going knowing that actually just because I'm feeling discouraged doesn't mean that life is bad."
She also mentioned something that might not sound particularly spiritual—doing things that fill your tank. Reading a book. Meeting with a friend. Going for a walk in nature. We're not just spirit; we're body and soul too, and God cares for all parts of us.
Matt added that God puts people around us to encourage us. Sometimes it's friends with the right word at the right time. Sometimes it's a worship song that shows up on your playlist. Sometimes it's random people who say something that sparks hope.
"One of the chief things that you're supposed to do when you go to church... is encourage one another."
06Conversation Street
"How do you deal with discouragement?"
The discussion explored multiple approaches. Sharon spoke about journaling to process thoughts and inviting God into difficult situations. She also mentioned the importance of talking to trusted people—sometimes just to vent, other times to get practical help.
Matt introduced the idea of angels as ministering spirits, referencing Hebrews. While we might not always recognise angelic help, the Bible suggests we have supernatural encouragement available beyond what we can see.
"What does 'encourage yourself in God' actually mean?"
The word "encourage" itself became the focus. It's made up of "en" (meaning within, or God within) and "courage." To encourage someone is to stir up the gift of God that's already inside them.
Matt then walked through Romans 8, where Paul—the same discouraged apostle—writes with remarkable confidence: "I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
This is the same man who despaired of life itself. He'd found something that changed his perspective—not by changing his circumstances, but by changing his understanding of who God is and who he was in God.
07More Than Conquerors
What's remarkable is how Paul went from being discouraged in Corinth to writing those triumphant words. Dave pointed out that Paul continued his ministry after God's vision, speaking to Jews and Gentiles alike and experiencing many successes.
"Paul receives the needed passion and power from God and he continues in that calling that God has placed on him."
The external difficulties didn't disappear. But Paul had what he needed to face them—a fresh encounter with Jesus Christ, replacing fear with courage and loneliness with the knowledge of God's presence.
08Your Next Step This Week
Here are practical ways to encourage yourself when discouragement hits:
Study what God says about your struggle. Pick a topic—fear, anxiety, hope—and find five or six verses about it. Write them out, make notes, really dig in.
Take verses like medicine. Sharon suggested finding three verses that really speak to your situation and reading them three times a day. Think about them. Speak them out. Act as if they're true.
Tell someone how you're actually doing. Not the polished version. The real version. Let others encourage you.
Do something that fills your tank. A walk, a coffee with a friend, a good book. God made you body, soul, and spirit—all of it matters.
Remember, you're not passive in this. Don't just sit and wait for encouragement to arrive. Stir yourself up in the things of God.
09A Question Worth Asking
Dave left us with an invitation:
"If you are feeling disappointed, disillusioned, fearful, isolated—the same God who strengthened Paul wants to strengthen you. Will you take a moment right now to invite him into your situation?"
The God who met Paul in Corinth is the same God who meets us in our kitchens, our commutes, and our 3am anxieties. He doesn't promise to remove every difficulty. But he promises something better—his presence in the middle of it, and the courage to keep going.
Because here's what Paul discovered: in all these things—tribulation, distress, persecution, whatever you're facing—we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
Not because we're strong. Because he is.
Topics in this talk
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(523) God Is Bringing You Out - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIuPuJOuUMs
Transcript: (00:00) [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 our service will last about an hour and in a few seconds we will start with a time of worship after which you will meet our hosts for our Serv who will introduce today's talk after the talk we head into conversation Street where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the (00:41) comments throughout the live stream I want to invite you to connect with us here at crowd church and there are a few ways that you can do just that firstly you can engage with Crow from any device during our live stream and if you're up for it why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together you see church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others and one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also Join one of our midweek groups where we meet online together to (01:17) catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ you can also subscribe to our podcast called what's the story where we Deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people more information about all of these things that I've mentioned can be found on our website at www.c crow. (01:43) or you can reach us uh on social media at crowd church if you're new to crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to take are well why not head over to our website crowd. church sln next for more details and now the moment you've been waiting for is here our online church service starts right now well good evening and welcome to crowd online Church my name is Matt Edmondson beside me is my beautiful wife hi everybody hello good evening let me put my headphone I'll be able to hear what's going on there we go how are we all doing (02:25) today uh it's great to see you H hi Matt hi Jenny welcome to the the live if you're joining us and you are on YouTube because it's not working on my phone at the moment um then do say hi in the comments I just need to get it working so I can see what you guys are putting uh glad it's not just me and Jenny yes absolutely uh welcome to I can see it's now working fantastic uh make sure you say hi in the comments be great to see you uh great to get to meet you see you is probably the wrong phrase isn't it probably yeah yeah and do comment throughout the live stream because we do (02:57) try to pick up on your comments as we go we do very much so uh so yes we you yes uh Dan orange is in the house welcome Dan in fact I can do this I can say uh I just want to check make sure this is working so Dan you'll be my guinea pig there we go evening it's working evening D oh how we doing hope you've all got your cup of tea because you know the clock's gone back an hour hasn't it so it's um it's one of those where did did you notice the clock had gone back uh no I didn't it was I was at church this morning and someone mentioned the clocks and I was like oh (03:33) was that last night because of being you know the whole smartphone thing did it all for me it did apart from the cooker yeah which kind of threw me a bit at lunch time and they went oh yeah the clocks have changed so I think my car's going to be wrong for the next six months but unless I drive it and change it yeah yeah which is normally what happens I normally change it like a month before it needs to be changed back but at least I'm consistent so anyway what what's going on today babe we've got a talk by Dave Connelly Pastor Dave who is continuing in our Series in (04:07) Acts after that we are going to be talking about the talk and picking up on any of your comments so if you've got thoughts on what he's saying or you can relate to certain bits just throw that in and we will um talk about that uh I think that's it isn't it that's all good that's all good that sounds that sounds great I was about to like think them more no don't let me stop you don't let me interrupt that would be wrong on so many levels uh so every week a tech issue yeah and the other thing that's going on this week Matt just to highlight we do have (04:38) occasional Tech issues here on crowd um is the camera this front camera here is zoomed in and I don't normally we've got a bit more space and so today we haven't I feel like I need to do this just to stay in shot so that's why the top of my head is missing it's not because of bad camera framing just not figured out the whole why it zoomed in thing I just I genuinely have no idea idea just wanted to do what it's going to do so it is what it is so yes right should we play Dave's talk let's do it let's play Dave's talk and then shanon and I will be back for conversation (05:11) Street as Dave's talking it's quite a short talk today um what was it eight minutes eight or nine minutes something like that so we're going to have a bit more of a conversation street so um do get ready with your thoughts and your comments and throw them in uh on the YouTube and then Sharon and I'll be back shortly so let me press this button here we'll see you in a sec today we're going to be looking at acts 18: 1 to 28 and I'd like just to encourage you to take the time to read these verses through for yourself I only (05:46) have a short time to reference part of the story today as Paul is winding down his second missionary journey he establishes a great work in the city of Corinth the writer of the book of Acts is Luke and in chapter 18 he shares with us some very personal experiences of Paul from which we can relate and learn and take some real Comfort have you ever become discouraged while you're trying to serve God or even just trying to live the Christian Life I mean that can be tough in itself we even get discouraged at times we we all have our struggles regardless of who we (06:33) are and here we read the great Apostle Paul even he had struggles Paul most likely encountered the negative attitude of people criticism and the lack of appreciation the feeling of being unproductive and just plain old exhaustion and weariness these were likely some of the same things that caused Paul to become weary and lash out at the Jews we read in verse six but when they resisted and Blas he shook his robe and told them your blood is on your own heads I am innocent from now on I will go to the Gentiles the lack of reception in Athens causes Paul to travel 55 miles from (07:26) Athens to Corinth here he observes idolatry and the continued hostility from the Jews his own people Paul clearly became discouraged as he began his work here in Corinth observe the verses in 9 through to 17 how do you deal with discouragement do you go and do some retail therapy do you like to get alone do you like to go and eat do you like to go aside and pray or go aside and hide how do you deal with your times of discouragement Luke does not hide Paul's discouragement from us he lays it out there for us all to see but Luke also (08:18) takes great care to allow us to see that God recognized Paul's discouragement and God intervenes with Paul we read in verses 9 to 10 this one night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision do not be afraid keep on speaking do not be silent for I am with you and no one is going to attack you or harm you because I have many people in that City if you read back a few verses you will see that Paul's discouragements has come even after God has moved and people have received Christ as their savior what more could Paul possibly ask for God promised good Christian friends (09:13) for him he encourages him to continue in his calling and assures him that God himself will control what is happening around him and watch over him that God himself would keep him safe the Lord ministering to Paul through that Vision was a tender moment for that weary Apostle it was exactly what he needed Paul was afraid and tempted not to speak in the light of the conflict around him Paul needed some fresh encouragement and a fresh Encounter With Jesus Christ what Paul received was a deeper love to replace a great fear a gift of courage to replace (10:09) caution an abiding presence in alarming circumstances an unlimited help against ultimate hurs a freedom from loneliness and fellowship with Christ and other believers Paul needed a fresh encounter with the love and passion of Jesus and that's exactly what he received in Matthew 28:2 Jesus Promised his disciples he would always be with them and here he was making the same promise to Paul in these verses there are many lessons for each of us to learn we need to recognize that not none of us are immune from discouragement discouragement can come (11:04) in the midst of great success we need to be honest about confessing Our discouragements Father God always has his eyes on our circumstances he is with us regardless of our circumstance he will not Place more on us than we can stand he often uses other people to strengthen us He commands us to continue the good work he is doing through us he will work through others to make the way for us to do his work as we will see in the remainder of this chapter and the remainder of Acts Paul receives the needed passion and (11:54) power from God and he continues in that calling that God has placed on him Paul continues to talk to the Jews and to the Gentiles and he experiences many successes as he continues in his ministry my friends I want us to understand as we read these verses that Jesus is perfectly faithful to Paul and we can see that Paul is right back on track if you are feeling disappointed disillusioned fearful isolated the same God who strengthened Paul wants to strengthen you will you take a moment right now to invite him into your (12:49) situation cry out to him and allow him to speak words of strength words of peace and mercy words that will strengthen you the phas saying God who met with Paul longs to meet with you even now God bless you so welcome back welcome back to the studio where we're going to do conversation Street if you are watching live for some reason YouTube is struggling a little minute uh with some I know a few people are struggling with buff and looking at the comments uh I don't know why that is I have to be honest with you because I know that the signal going up is bleeding quick I (13:36) think is the technical definition okay so hopefully YouTube will sort themselves out we're just going to keep chatting anyway because you know why would we not so um yeah let's crack on so Dave started with a question which was have you ever become discouraged while trying to serve God so I'm going to throw that one have I ever become discouraged while I was trying to serve God no never don't believe you got that cheeky look on you yeah yeah yeah I I think it's probably fair to say that just about everybody has (14:08) probably been discouraged by trying to serve God aren't we and um it's one of those things isn't it discouragement it's you normally get discouraged when things don't happen the way you think they're going to happen yeah where there's some kind of unmet expectation and whatever that is right and so I think when you serve when you're serving God and you you feel sort of discouraged it's one of those where it you're discouraged because it kind of feels like God's not doing what you expect him to do what you think he should be doing at that point in time he's not doing right yeah definitely (14:48) have you got a specific example from your life oh yeah take you on the spot yeah yeah no it's fine just throw have you thought about this uh a little bit yeah okay okay well you tell your answer and then that gives me a chance to think oh okay I think I tend to remember the like the bigger things so and they tend to be the ones I've talked about a lot so just go very briefly um but yeah there was definitely a time in my life where I was so discouraged because I would read about how life is meant to be or how I (15:22) thought life meant to be in the Bible and then the reality my internal reality was completely different yeah and it's just like I cannot live like this and in that situation it was because I didn't re like I'd not got that revelation of what Jesus had done specifically I had a lot of head knowledge but it had not gone further than that so um yeah and I really nearly was at the point of giving up and um they basically gave God his his last chance to actually sort stuff out and um he definitely took me serious on on that one but I think like you said there have been other situations where I've not (16:00) been at the point of giving up my faith but just been so discouraged because um you know like you pray for people and expect all these Miracles and expect all the other stuff to happen and it's like okay it's not happening yeah and yeah there the difference between expectations and reality can be discouraging can it it really can and you and you just don't know you don't always know how to deal with that um and I think especially when it comes to Christian things one of the things that I as bizarrely has (16:34) discouraged me as odd as this sounds um especially you know I'm I'm hearing what I'm about to say in my head um but one of the things that has discouraged me in the past is when I've read Christian biographies yeah I I know where this is going so you read the stories of people in not just in the Bible but you read uh 21st century people stories don't you um or even Maybe not maybe 20th century so people like Smith Wigglesworth or John G Lake and you read their stories and these are are guys where the miraculous just sort of seem to follow them wherever they go you know it's just (17:15) incred some of the stuff that's come out of them is is just incredible and you read them and you go yeah but I've I'm I've still got this flu J me or or whatever it is and I think sometimes I've read Christian books like that and whenever people write Christian books I I get what they're trying to do they're trying to be encouraging and by trying to be encouraging they only ever talk about the high points um and of course life is 99% boring uh and very unhelpful and so it's one of those things where I think when I compare my (17:56) life with what's written in those stories you can get a little bit dis discouraged does that make sense yeah totally I think I've been in the same situation where you've kind of got these two things going on on the one hand it is encouraging to hear of like God doing stuff and just kind of going yeah that's amazing but on the other hand it's like you say it's like but why is all this not happening in in my life but then actually sometimes when I'm like recounting stuff from the past in my life before we met and since and you (18:26) kind of do that potted version you can kind of go yeah and God did this and God did that yeah but actually because those like amazing times can sometimes be quite far apart um yeah not sure I'm going with that yeah it's it's funny isn't it I so I think um what is funnily enough one of the the things that are supposed to encourage us can often discourage Us in the wrong context so when you're friends going through something in life um and you think oh I've got a testimony because we like testimonies don't we I've got a (19:06) testimony of of God's faithfulness in that situation sometimes sharing that can actually be discouraging to that person you're sharing it to because that's maybe not what they want to hear right then and there so there's that sensitivity aspect isn't it so the thing that you're that is designed to encourage can discourage if we're not careful and that's the tension I think we we face in all of this isn't it it's yeah you need wisdom don't you in situations like that you do I think for Paul though I don't think he was reading (19:35) Christian books at the time I don't think it I don't think that was his issue that was causing him to get discouraged um I think he just it was just hard work trying to do what God had called him to do and I think that's what was discouraging him yeah um and I think that's another form of discouragement isn't it it's it's not here's here's the Apostle Paul getting discouraged um and he wrote things like we are crushed but we are not perp uh but we are not broken and do I mean it's that kind of we've got all these things and we've we've (20:08) despaired even of life itself I mean talk about feeling discouraged where you where you've despaired of just life itself I've never experienced that no he did have a lot going on in life didn't he like with um shipwrecks and beatings and being left for dead and all sorts Y which yeah I've definitely not experienced yeah yeah he definitely gone through more than what we have gone through that's well so Shan and I have gone through um but even in the midst of that even of despairing even of of life itself finding life just like why am I here God (20:45) will you please take me now you know those kind of prayers I don't want to be around anymore um that's where Paul find himself uh and yet in the midst of that God still had a plan and he still used him and I think and Paul wrote this really interesting phrase didn't he I can't remember where it was now he said and I'm going to quote the King James because I really like the King James version which is the oldfashioned Bible translation if you don't know the King James version says I a betwix now I am betwix between two things betwix I think (21:17) is such a good word I think we should bring it back and use it more you do that I am betwixt between two things uh a desire to go which frankly is better for me and the desire to stay which is frankly better for you uh so I'm going to stay and I think Paul in the midst of all of this realized that God had a plan and that was to not necessarily bless him but to bless other people through him to bring God's kingdom through his life and that whilst it sounds great and we talk about the call of God don't we in following God's plans and purposes can actually be a hard road and it (21:53) actually can be full of discouragement just because you're doing what God's told you to do doesn't mean the birds are going to sing the Sunshine's going to be brilliant and you're going to feel on top of the world all the time yeah Dave asked another question which was how do you deal with discouragement so I'm going to fling that your way as well you've got all the questions first tonight hav't you before we do that and I'm not I'm not denying your question I'm just going to check over here um oh for the comments yeah I'm just kind of (22:21) going through this uh I think people are still struggling with the buffering now buffering again where are we up to on this yeah we're a little bit behind I'm not quite sure what's going on I'm really sorry white but I'm just going to write in the comments um because the comments are coming up fine which is bizarre they're coming up in time uh sorry about the buffering guys I can't actually read them from here I need do you want to borrow these H sorry about the buffering guys um so what sorry what was the question (22:53) before I got sidetracked um how do you deal with discouragement I think first and foremost for me you encourage yourself in God now sounds very very high futin in a lot of ways doesn't it like how do you encourage yourself in God um I mean we could talk about that for hours I suppose in a lot of ways um but fundamentally I think you do certain things right um and you you make yourself do them uh things like I still pray I still read my Bible I still Journal I pour out my heart to God in terms of how I'm feeling because God can (23:36) deal with that I don't deny it um and I keep going knowing that actually just because I'm feeling discouraged doesn't mean that life is bad if that makes sense so I think you go back to what's basic and you you do that well um and you you you keep going with that and you encourage yourself in in God and I think F fundamentally that's going back to that place where you can hear God where God can minister to you um not necessarily where God solves everything uh but where you you come away with a sort of renewed hope (24:14) that God is with me in this yeah so I guess that's a point with this that um God is encouraging Paul but that doesn't actually change his outside or his external situation he's still in the same situation what it does do is it strengthens him on the inside and just helps I think possibly help shift his perspective on situation and I think that's sometimes what that encouragement does um I was like when I heard Dave's talks I listened to it earlier as well I'm like he's Nick my talk for a few weeks Pi she's telling me in the car on the way down encouragements bit like do I talk about that now yeah just go for (24:53) it anyway okay have I have I stolen some of the points that you were going to raise yeah a little bit but never mind that's fine you can just rehash it it's like this this could be just like pre-prep for the for the talk um yeah it can be pre prep so what do you do to encourage yourself in God first and foremost let's talk about that okay the in God bit would be the similar things to you like um I do like journaling for when I'm in those situations I don't Journal as a matter of course every day because I get really bored with it I tend to do it more when I feel like I've heard (25:28) something from God or like somebody else has said something that's really stuck with me or you know kind of the high and the lows really yeah um and I use a journal to help me process stuff so to pour out my thoughts and then just to invite God into the situation that would be one another would be talking to you and just going okay tell me something encouraging which I think is generally what I do yeah yeah um um you normally say fix it um sometimes yeah sometimes it's a case of I just want to tell you everything and I don't need to do anything other (26:06) times I'm like okay tell me tell me something now that's yeah tell me what I need to do tell me how to fix this now so it depends on the situation and that's interesting because you you've brought up another point there so you first and foremost I think you have to encourage yourself in in God right um and the second thing is I believe that God puts people around you to encourage you yeah right um whether this is Friends whether this is just random people who just say the odd thing to you and it just Sparks something in your (26:36) head yeah um that happens quite a bit and it it could be family it could be a Church sermon it could be a worship song I Think God sort of has these sort of happy accidents if you like where people come across you come across people that you know that encourage you in in in many ways and the Bible there are verses which talks about well tells us encourage one another in the Lord so you know to actively do that and look for situations where we can encourage people yeah we do it's interesting one of the (27:08) key things that the Bible talks about where church is concerned we mentioned this a few weeks ago on C was I with you was I with somebody I can't remember now um but one of the chief things that you're supposed to do when you go to church one of the chief reasons to go to church is not just to sing hymns which is good not just a Breaking of bread which is good not just the devotion of yourself to the apostles teaching which is good but the Bible talks a lot about uh encouraging one another so when you go to church your prayer should be like God how do I encourage the people give (27:39) me a word for one or two of the people in church how do I encourage them and so at the end of every if I go to an inperson church service one of the things I love to do at the end is just go around just talk to everybody but the key thing in the back of my head how do I encourage this person that I'm talking to right now um because I think it's really really important and you just don't know that what you say to that person or even just giving them a high five when they're feeling a bit rubbish and say you know keep going just makes all the difference in the world right yeah another thing (28:10) which I can do to help encourage myself which doesn't sound quite spiritual is doing stuff that kind of fills me tank fills me tank so you know just that's a very Julie connley expression you might have to explain that okay so if you can kind of imagine that you've got an energy tank um and you've we've only got so much energy to give out to things and when that energy is gone it's like it's quite easy to get discouraged I think in those situations when your energy is gone so filling your tanks about just doing (28:44) those things that bring you life and renew you and renew your energy so of course being with God big one but there are other things um so for me it might be reading or meeting with with a friend or going for walk out in nature or just doing something that I enjoy and it does remind me of a passage from the Old Testament and I can't remember the guy's name it's possibly Elijah or Elisha an an Old Testament Prophet who' just done loads of very tiring stuff for God seen lots of Victories and amazing stuff but (29:19) got to the point where he was just depressed and didn't want to go on yeah and I think possibly that was because he was absolutely exhausted so it had an amazing time in in one sense it it was a difficult situation too and um what God does is come alongside him sends um sends him food and sends him drink and tells him to rest and you keep sorry you keep talking are you leave I'm no I'm going to go press one of the switches up here you it yeah and so um there obviously there are things that sound much more spiritual that we can do but also we're not just Spirit we are also body and (29:58) we're soul and all of those things work together in unity we're not meant to be kind of like split apart as a person so it's like God cares for all parts of us yep um yeah so I think things like that although they don't necessarily sound spiritual can be just as spiritual yes they can be sorry uh to uh interrupt there I've just reset the ethernet so hopefully I have no idea what that yeah yeah okay so I'm hoping that this is going to solve the um the buffering issue that seem people seem to be experiencing let me just close (30:40) that okay so sorry about that folks let me just double check okay oop da what I've just done but I definitely don't want to do that so um we talked about encouraging ourselves y encouraging other people um were you going in any particular direction no I it was it was good I thought there was a theme there where you encourage yourself in the Lord um and you encourage you know God puts people around you to encourage you um there is one thing that one one other thing that sort of Springs to my mind that actually um would be an interesting thing to talk (31:26) about um although it might sound a little bit odd is that he gives angels to encourage us what do you think about that sounds [Laughter] great yeah I mean I would love to actually see a real angel um I don't know that I have that I'm aware of but maybe maybe I haven't maybe you have so I think because like in this passage I'm just trying to look at it now I've got it written down here um so God is speaking to Paul in a vision so we've talked about encouraging ourselves being encouraging other people or being encouraged by other people but this passage goes a step further and (32:10) it's talking about God himself encouraging Paul and in this particular instance in the passage it's in a like a spectacular way like a vision um so that would kind of the Angels would fit in with those kind of spectacular ways wouldn't they yeah they would um yeah they really which I can't um obviously I'm totally up for totally believe in and um it's like Paul I don't think we can say to God God I want you to encourage me and I want you to do that by an Angel or with a vision it's like we don't get to choose how God encourages well you can try yeah doesn't (32:47) always go down but then this comes back to the unmet expectations doesn't it yeah um and so yeah hopefully guys let me know if the buffering issue has now been solved sorry to keep interrupting uh it seems to be picking itself up a little bit now um hopefully that's fixed it hopefully it is fixed technical issues every week every wow you've done a sterling job of of holding the for there baby uh Sterling job so what were you thinking about angels it's just it's an interesting thing that the book of Hebrews talks (33:28) about how Angels or ministering Spirits have been sent forth to minister to those who are HS of Salvation which you would classify as Christians and you can read in the Bible that there are times when angels have um the angels have sort of they've done stuff haven't they which has either protected somebody or encourage somebody sometimes they bring the word of the Lord I mean you think about Mary you know got Christmas coming up an angel appears to her and tells her that she's going to be pregnant I mean angels are pretty pretty rad really and they do some funky stuff but I can't say (34:05) it's like I've ever gten shook the hands of an a maybe I have I don't know I just maybe I just hav realized it because um the the Bible talks about how we unwittingly entertain Angels so obviously we can meet them and not know about it and so I think there is a supernatural aspect of this which says God is an encourager I can encourage myself in the Lord I can do things that will encourage me but also at the same time God will do Supernatural things to encourage me one of which is we have there are angels that will be sent forth on occasions to (34:46) help us you know um and so which is is quite it's quite extraordinary really if you're someone who's new to Faith or seeking you might be like they're talking about angels this is a load of fairy stories what are you going on about but I I think and a lot of these things do the supernatural it's like if God actually exists none of these things are a big deal at all because yeah if if we believe that there is something outside of the physical that we experience physically then yeah angels are are not a big deal no not at (35:25) all and so very good Point very very good point uh so hopefully I'm just checking my phone and we seem to be back now which is good uh we seem to be moving which is always a beautiful thing so just not just texting your mates then I'm meet in the pub later no not at all um and so yeah it's it's uh it seems to be back on track although Miriam says she's still struggling with it but just try refreshing it just hit the refresh but I I don't know I just don't know sometimes live streaming is funny isn't it but we'll carry on regardless because we (36:01) know that even after the live stream this will go up so um and obviously if you're listening to the audio podcast you're going buffering issues what are they talking about we've not got any buffering issues um I'm just sat in the car listening to you rabit on Matthew um but it's it's it's uh encouragement encouragement so encouragement to encourage right is made up of two words it's like you're reading my mind I know I'm assuming you're not carry on it's spooky isn't it when that happens someone's like we're married almost yeah almost so the the word to encourage somebody is made up of two words Neen (36:38) and courage now the the word en means within the God within so it's a Greek word I think it's a Greek word which means a God within so to encourage somebody is to stir that gift of God that is within somebody right so and this is one of the most interesting ways I think to encourage yourself is to remember that God Lives within you and he is with you um regardless of what's going on in life um and it was Paul that wrote this wasn't it he said um uh let me in fact I will pull it up I will quote the actual Bible because it's in Romans chapter 8 um let me pull up the (37:18) Bible on my phone have you all got the Bible app on your phone or do you prefer do you like the Bible app or do you prefer like pen and paper still the actual book I like a bit of both I think yeah Bible apps convenient isn't it it's very convenient so Paul talks about how there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus now this is encouraging this is interesting because Paul is encouraging you he is saying there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus uh and just fast forward in a (37:49) little bit uh he says for to where are we okay let me get the right verse here therefore brethren in fact let me get a different this is the King James version it's not going to help you he says this for I consider uh the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us right so Paul's talking about the manifestation of God's glory either in as it while we're here on Earth or when we get to heaven right uh for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons for the creation was subject (38:33) to and he goes on and on and on and on about this uh where's the bit I'm looking for here we go we know that all things work together for good to those who love God Romans 8:28 to those who are called according to his purpose for whom he fornew he predestined to be conformed into the image of his son that he who predestined he also called right if he called you he also Justified you and if he justified you he also glorified you there's some very big words in this right um so what shall we say to these things if God is for us who (39:12) can be against us he who did not spare his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not with him also freely give us all things and say again I love that it's great isn't it it's it's and he he goes on he goes who shall separate us from the love of Christ right shall tribul tribulation tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or Peril or sword as it is written for your sake we are killed all day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter yet in all these things right in all these things so in uh tribulation in distress in (39:56) persecution in famine in nakedness in Peril and when you're in battle with the sword when you feel like you're like a sheep led to the slaughter in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us for I am persuaded and this is interesting isn't it how did Paul get persuaded of this right uh I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing just to be totally clear shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our (40:34) lord amazing verses they're great aren't they and so this is the same Paul that was discouraged in Athens that was discouraged in Corinth um and as he's getting towards the end of his life he sort of figures these out doesn't he he's going well hang on a minute I've I've been like that I've suffered I've been persecuted I've been in such Dire Straits yet in all these things I I am more than a conqueror which is really interesting language yeah and I I like the thought that when we talk about encourage we're talking about giving courage to be able to face the stuff that's going on yeah and that is kind of (41:10) giving a bigger picture of why why can we be why can we have that courage and it's like looking to what God has for us and that nothing can separate us from that love and I think that is something that we we all need especially like you look at the news these days oh I mean the news is always seems to be bad the stuff that is reported but at the moment I don't know it just seems to be like a constant barrage of stuff and I think it's easy to get afraid and to think what you know what on Earth is going on and uh it's like um we need courage the (41:49) people who are in those awful situations need the courage of God to face what they're going through and yeah I think they're really really encouraging words yeah they are super encouraging words and I love that the courage of God it's the courage of God within you it's not we've said this before on on crowd and it's worth saying again it's not you mustering up courage it's not like it's not like I have to I can go to the Audi and buy it or if I if I close my eyes hard enough and and and it's going to it's going to make things happen is it it's not it's not about how (42:25) cool you are or how you are how weak you are it's it's all about him and so we encourage ourselves in God not in our own ability because if that ability disappears you've not really got much whereas God's ability is infinite and permanent isn't it and so I think we can encourage ourselves in him because in him nothing can separate me from his love I mean that that's an encouragement right there um and in in regardless of whatever I face I'm more than a conqueror uh through Christ who who loves me and you just kind of like well that's pretty rad that's pretty (43:06) radical and I think it's super encouraging because that's the encouragement of God that's in you yeah which says doesn't matter what you face God's with you God's for you that you can't be separated from the love of God um and you can be encouraged by that I think there are things you can do to help yourself feel encouraged um yeah we talked a bit about that which we've talked about but it's but there there are times when we need more than we are we need something yeah external to ourselves we well we always need God (43:40) but sometimes we just need more of that than yeah we do more of him yeah we need something that's going to help us or someone that's going to help us um just wondering if there's any comments to pick up on I can't read them from here so you can't you can't I tell you what I'll pick up my phone because it's going to be a lot easier to read um yeah I can see them all like the comments scrolling through but I can't read them so let's have a look they're still buffering for some folks Matt says anyone else looking (44:15) forward to watching this back later in the hope that it doesn't buffer all the way through everybody's going yes sorry Mt yeah sorry about the buff ring genuinely it's working fine for me I just want to point that out I don't understand why but there you go um we seem to have got it working now I think I understand what the first problem might have been I think it might have been a Wi-Fi issue but hopefully we're back up and running now we'll wait and see um but yes if this is still causing grief we will of course upload it separately um if it's not uploaded properly so the good news is we'll (44:48) record everything here so we've got an actual copy of it um time is it we've been chatting away so so let me tell should we tell people what's coming up next have you got anything more to you want to say about this cuz I'm aware that we're going to steal your preach if we carry on I think it's gone it's either going to be a repeat or have to change Tex we'll see just have to change just repeat it it'll it'll be whatever you talk about will be great but it always is um so yes one of the ways that I used to encourage myself a (45:20) lot when I was um uh young in my Christian faith um is I would in fact I still do this if you want encouragement around a certain topic right so let's say it is fear and you are feeling afraid whether it's because of all the wars that are going on you know you've got Israel Gaza you've got Ukraine Russia there's all kinds of stuff going on so let's say right you have an issue of fear how would I encourage myself in that to deal with that fear so this is probably a more practical answer to uh in in some (45:57) respects um I would study the Bible on what it says about fear right I would go and get like five or six verses and you can just Google what does the Bible say about fear and it's going to come up with some stuff right so I am then going to write those down on a piece of paper those five verses I'm going to write them out long you know the full length um or you can just copy and paste because you know we live in the modern world but you're going to copy out those verses right uh what I would then do is (46:30) I would then on a piece of P I think this usually works best on a piece of paper but I would highlight different parts of that verse I would ring different parts I would write little notes in the margin um I would write then build that out to a paragraph what do we think that means and this is what I did when I was younger and it really really works I would prep those six verses as though I was going to deliver them as a talk in church right as a sermon and so there's a number of reasons why I think this is good right and I'm sure there's all kinds of psychological benefits as well but to (47:04) read something is one thing to read something make notes in the margin is something else but to read it understand it in such a way that you're going to try and teach it I think that's a very different form of Revelation I really do and so I would uh between University when I first became a Christian and the house where I used to live it was a 45 minute walk and so I would take out those notes and I would give I would preach to myself for 45 minutes walking home and if you just put your headphones in people just think you're talking on the phone so you don't look a weirdo uh but 20 years ago (47:41) of course we didn't well 20 years ago it was a lot longer than 20 years ago when I was at Uni but 30 years ago uh we didn't have the we had that big over the head things and we didn't have Mobile phones on had so people just thought I was weird and I was fine with it um but go down the garden shed uh go somewhere where it's quiet wait till the kids have left the house whatever it is pull out those notes that you have prepped as a talk and then actually preach that talk get the words out of your mouth and deliver that as a (48:10) sermon there is something so powerful about that um you are speaking the word of God to your soul and you get encouraged and I would do that twice a day uh for many many days whilst the word of God was built built up in ins of me and I could have faith and whil Faith grew and sort of expanded in my in my heart preaching it was the best way to get it in there or if you want a kind of a more potted version I didn't necessarily the the preach version but definitely when I was struggling with things I would um do this study like you say like what God what are you saying (48:48) what does your word say about this situation this subject and then if they were like they'd generally be about well I'd pick three verses in particular that just really stood out to me that were just like yeah yeah that's for me and then I would take them like medicine like three times a day and you touched on the whole thing of the speaking and the Bible has a lot to say about meditation and the biblical meditation is to think on but also to mutter so it's the both the thinking and the speaking out which you've mentioned there um and I'll just be like again (49:23) speaking these verses over myself and thinking about them like thinking okay if I really believe these were true how would that affect how I felt how I thought how I behave and was like start acting in that way yeah even before you necessarily feel like it just trusting on okay I believe this is truth and because I believe this is truth I'm going to act on it I'm going to speak it I'm going to think it yeah and yeah very powerful so both methods and actually um uh for other people if you're really creative and artistic maybe creating art (50:02) around those verses where you've got to constantly think about it creating music whatever it is you're into you can use those skills and talents to actually meditate think on matter God's words yeah you can do and and that for me is the best most solid way to encourage yourself uh don't don't be passive in other words a lot of people will go Lord I need encouragement and just sit there right it's good to pray um but it's don't be passive right get yourself into God's word study God's word so if you're not a Christian all I'm saying is go to the Bible find out what God says about (50:42) certain things the Bible covers a lot of topics we've done a lot of those actually uh previously on crowd and what does the Bible say about that whole series um the Bible covers a lot of topics you can go and find out what the Bible has to say and encourage yourself in in that uh and that will be a way to build Faith inside you and as your faith grows and expands when you're not being passive you'll be amazed you all of a sudden you'll feel like David that you can run through a troop and climb a wall (51:10) right it's just and you'll feel like Paul like I don't care what's going on here I'm more than a conqueror in this and it sounds odd that he could say that but I think he'd got to a place where actually his faith in God allowed him to to get there it wasn't overnight and it wasn't when Paul was passive um but do stir yourself up in the things of God stir yourself up uh in God and you will be encouraged and maybe you could do a whole talk on that yeah maybe maybe that's what your talk would be about I'm (51:39) just going to look at the comments do you want to explain what's happening next week yeah next week in the UK we've got bonfire night um and the the nation will be gathering together in groups eating watching fireworks and that kind of thing so we've got a nonl live live stream next week so yeah it's pre-recorded the whole thing will be pre-recorded uh yeah anything else to add on that yeah I'll tell you what is funny I'm just Matt Cruz putting the comments uh edmo hasn't bothered telling me who's doing the talk next week it's probably someone elderly like edmo himself Jenny's written in the comments (52:17) oi I'm a similar age to edmo so Matt is backtracking going I you should be apologizing Matthew straight away uh yes next week as you say is a non-live live stream so if you are watching this outside of the UK you'll be like what is bonf night and I wish I had a sensible explanation for you of what Bon finite is but I don't uh but it's based on a historical event but nobody really thinks about that and it's all a bit gruesome so it is but it's we don't think about that we don't think about that we just we just move on it's just an excuse for a get (52:55) together it is and we've got a bunch of folks coming around to ours for bonfire which would be great um but yes so we have got bonfire night next week so we're going to do a non-live live stream it will be myself and my very very good friend hopefully if all goes well tomorrow um Tony and I are going to be recording so tiny Udin uh who's a pastor of T hamlets Community Church he and I going to record next week's non-li live stream tomorrow it's going to be good no doubt about it uh that we're going to laugh a lot um and probably be slightly irreverent if I'm honest with you but (53:29) we'll try very hard not to be too callous um because Tony and I just like to laugh whenever we get together but I thought it'd be great to get someone like Tony on board we're just going to talk about the stra State of the Union in terms of just some things that we're seeing in church at the moment and just talk around those issues and and just figure out what God's saying about them so I'm looking forward to it it's going to be great do make sure you watch that uh if you're doing Bon night if you're in the UK stay safe obviously uh don't do anything crazy um and if you're if you're Halloween's (53:59) on Tuesday is that this Tuesday M uh so Halloween coming up this Tuesday Halloween's an interesting one isn't where we should maybe have talked about Halloween slightly contentious issue should Christians do it yes or no write your answers in the comments uh I'll be really really Keen to hear them um but uh yes Halloween yes or no um in fact does it even it doesn't even have to be that black and white does it um uh really um so what else is coming up next week no nothing else in the comments other than rude comments about you not knowing what the ethernet means not KN (54:39) what an Ethernet [Laughter] is but that's okay that's okay you don't need to um to be fair I don't really know what it is anyway but I just know it's a wire that comes out and it should stick in there somewhere uh but yes no thank you so much for joining us once CE again apologies for the buffering issues tonight it's not normally like this the first time this has actually happened for a very very long time um but do like and subscribe do come join us next week in the non-live live stream uh for tiny and M conversation we'll be back live (55:11) the week after with hosted um live streams I think is it Chris hul the week after I don't know why you're looking at me I don't know why I'm looking at you to be fair I I know I know you don't know I'm very sorry to put you in that position uh but I think it's Chris hulc then it's you talking about encouragement or something different now or something different's ripping up her talk as we speak uh then it's me and then we're into the Christmas season can you believe that clocks have gone back today the sky is dark we're getting ready for Christmas loving it you do (55:42) love a bit of Christmas I do love a bit of Christmas we get we go I go a bit nuts at Christmas because it's an awesome time of the year so uh do come and join us for all the Christmas live streams great that you could join us tonight um and if you're watching this on catchup hopefully it's smooth sailing uh but yes should we pray should we we should pray probably shouldn't we and then we'll we'll we'll end it uh so should I pray or do you want to pray you can pray I'm just doing that leaning forward thing because I'm still still (56:07) still got that thing from school I you know hands closed uh Lord I want to thank you for um being with us I thank you that you are The God Who encourages us and I pray Lord um for all of us all of us part of crowd all of us watching this all of us um maybe just glancing through and have made it to the end all of us that need encouragement at those points in our lives Lord would you reach through space and time would you touch our hearts would you minister to us would you encourage us either by stirring us up in your word by sending people with ideas or thoughts or just (56:46) phrases or sayings that are going to encourage us would you bring songs onto our playlist would you bring stuff across on YouTube Lord whatever it is you need to do would you build your encouragement within us I thank you that you are the God who never leaves us you are the god that never forsakes us and it doesn't matter what we face in life we can say we are more than conquerors through you amen amen amen God bless you guys thank you so much for joining us uh we'll see you well I'll see you next week that's it from us see you soon uh oh I need to (57:18) press the there we go right bye bye thank you so so much for joining us here on crowd church now if you are watching on YouTube make sure you hit the Subscribe Button as well as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live and of course if you are listening to the podcast uh the live stream podcast make sure you also hit the follow button Now by Smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform it helps us reach more more people with the message that Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life so if you (58:03) 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 bye for now
