What can Jesus do about Death?

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, uh, will last about an hour and in a few seconds you'll meet our hosts, uh, for our service, who will introduce today's talk.

After the talk, we will have a time of worship and reflection after which we head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the comments. Now, we want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church, and we've got a few ways in which you can do just that.

Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our live stream, and if you're up for it. Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together? You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others. And one of the easiest ways for you to do that is join one of our midweek groups where we need online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ.

You can also subscribe to our fairly new podcast called What's the Story, uh, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people. More information about all of these things can be found on our website at www dot Crowd Church. Or you can reach out to us on social media at Crowd Church if you are new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like to know what your next steps to take are or we're not.

Head over to our website, Crowd Church slash. Next for more details. And now the moment you've been waiting for is here at Online Church Service Stops right now. Well, good evening, our welcome to Crowd Online Church. I'm here with the dashing and debonair Phil Watson. Phil, how are we doing?

Yeah, I am concerned.

I am colorblind. Do my clothes clash? What color are my clothes? Are they this, this is orange. I got this from an Oxfam shop in, uh, near Epsom, if anyone's from Epsom. Hello. Epsom in, uh, just outside London, home of the Epsom Darby. Uh, this however is a Fred Perry, which I bought firsthand. There's logo. Yeah.

Yeah. Look at that. Check out. Is it what, what, what color is this? Is it green or brown?

It's kind of like a greeny brown to be fair.

Can you, can you wear these two together? Can anyone sure.

Or can I, is a better fit? I, I think, I think you could get away with it, Phil. I don't think I would.

Yeah. No. I'll, we, we'll go with that.

Hello everybody. It's nice to say hello to you.

Miriam's putting the, in the comments here. She says, I love your outfit, Phil.

Yeah. Miriam, you, I'm a top fan. And you know what, you know what I, I can't mention names Matt, but I did a talk at a real, you know, real live online? No, not online. An actual face-to-face in person.

Yeah. An in person one. That's what it's called. Not real. And um, some of the feedback I got was. Phil is as funny as he thinks he is. So I'll say that again. Phil is as funny as he thinks. He, he, he is. He think he is. Yeah. And I'm like, I will. This was teenagers and teenagers do not give, if you're a teenager and if you ever were a teenager, you'll know teenagers don't give compliments easily.

So I was like, oh, yes. Take it. I'm gonna put that, I'm putting it on my cv. I'm gonna, well, I've got, um,

I think it was in my Father's Day card from Zoe, she wrote, oh yeah, dad, thanks for being, you know, blah, blah, blah. Uh, one day I want to be as funny as you think you are. You think

I, I think I've had that from all my children.

Yeah. Yeah. That a great phrase. So he was like, oh,

I don't quite know what to make of that.

Yeah. Thanks. Appreciate that.

So we've established we men of a certain age with children. Yeah, yeah. Who are absolutely are te teens, early twenties. Oh dear. Yeah. Yeah. What can I say?

Anyway, uh, for those of you who are joining in, welcome to Crowd Church.

We are an online church, believe it or not, uh, as well as a fashion advice service, uh, how to do color and clothing. Uh, yeah, we are an online church. Uh, so it's great that you are with us, uh, this evening. Uh, as you can see, it's Phil and myself, we're hosting the service. Uh, if you are live with us, if you're watching the livestream live, uh, as opposed to watching the catchup on YouTube or Facebook, uh, then join in the comments like, uh, Miriam has Sharon's in the comments.

Uh, Nicola. Hi Nicola. Matt Crew, uh, doing something behind a service station, texting on his phone. That sounds a bit dodgy, doesn't it? Uh, he's good evening from the service station on the M 62 as well. He says, yeah, happy birthday to you, Matt, as well. Um, and so, yeah, Nicholas, but oh my goodness, I thought, uh, you were being medallion, man.

Okay. Not quite sure what that means, Phil, but let's go with that. Um. So, yeah, joining the comments do. So Harvey, great to hear from you, especially if you've never been to Crowd Church before. A warm welcome to you. Uh, it's just, uh, we, we, we like to find out about Jesus and we like to have fun doing it. Uh, and so that's kind of what we're gonna do today.

We have got the amazing Dave Connolly sharing the word of God with us in just a few moments. He's gonna be talking about Lazarus. Uh, after that we're gonna have time of worship, as we said in the intro. And then Phil and I are gonna be doing Conversation Street. So make sure you get busy in the comments with your thoughts, with your questions, uh, as we're gonna have a bit of fun with Conversation Street today.

Uh, so do join in with that. Uh, and the whole thing's gonna last about an hour, so quid in, right? Uh, and of course we will keep you up to date with the latest course, uh, which I'm not, I'm obviously not watching. Is it two

Nils still?

I have no idea actually. Abby, I think it is. Find out. Uh, I hope it is. Uh, Matt says, can you give a shout out to my beautiful niece who got dedicated today?

Ava. Ava, big shout out to you. This is not a radio show, Matt. I just want to point that out. This is online service, but sure, why not? Uh, big shout out to you, Ava Weldon on your dedication. Uh, that's awesome. Uh, and we hope it goes really, really well. Uh, with your award with Christ. So, you know, uh, you've got a great uncle.

What can I say? Uh, right. So I'm gonna hit this button on here. We are gonna jump straight into the talk with Dave Conley. Dave Conley is one of the founding pastors of Frontline Church, which is what Crowd Church is affiliated with. Um, he has been a long time friend and mentor to both Phil and I for many, many years.

The man is a legend full of wisdom, uh, and got an amazing SC accent. In fact, uh, he was on this week's What's the Story Podcast, if you've subscribe to that. Uh, I talked to Dave about what it was like growing up in the sixties in Totti. Uh, and we talked a lot actually about, um, the murder of his nephew, Paul, and how he dealt with that.

It was quite a a, you and I were there when that all happened. Mm-hmm. I mean, not right Phil, but we were obviously with Dave in the middle. Yeah,

I remember. Yeah.

And so we get into all of that in this week's. What the, what's the story? If you wanna know more about that podcast, uh, where we do dig into people's stories of faith and courage, check out what's the story podcast.com.

Um, or you can go to www dot Crowd Church. Same thing. It would take to the same place. And in fact, Phil, you've been on, what's the story as well?

I have indeed. Yeah. They're always, I love other people's stories. I love listening to, um, yeah, basically it's just a, it's a chat, isn't it? About this is what has happened to me.

Uh, it's not theoretical, it's real, it's real life. Yeah. Always interesting. Always interesting. Yeah. Brilliant. So do check it out.

So anyway, that was a very long instruction to Dave's talk. Yeah. Uh, so here is Dave's talk, uh, and then Phil, and I'll be back after the worship. Uh, here we go. Oh, every time that button, I need to fix that button.

Let's try that again. Today's. Story taken from scripture is centered around the death of a man called Lazarus. And we can read this story in John's gospel, chapter 11 and 12. I wanna encourage you to take a few moments to read these scriptures at your leisure, but let's make a stars in verse one. We read up a situation that will touch each of our lives.

It all hinges around what can Jesus do about death? Death is a reality. Whether we want to talk about it or not, death is intimidating. It makes us feel vulnerable. It causes us to think about our own mortality. It raises many questions about ourself, about God, about life after death. So let's take a look at what is happening in these verses.

In verses one to three, a man named Lazarus was sick. By the way, Lazarus lived in a town called Bethany with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, the two sisters send a message to Jesus saying, Lord, the one you love is sick. Also, you know, it's worth noting that Jesus stays with them every time he appears to be in the region.

He obviously has a depth of relationship with this um, family. We see in the story that Mary and Martha somehow knew where to find Jesus, and when Jesus was told in verse five, the one you love is sick, he didn't have to guess who they were talking about. He knew it was Lazarus. We read in verse five to seven when Jesus heard about her, he said, Lazarus's, sickness will not end in death.

No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this. See, although Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, he stays where he is for a further two days before he goes to be with them. He says, after two days, he finally says to these, to the disciples, let's go to Judy again. We find out later that Jesus already knew that Lazarus was dead even by the time the messenger had arrived.

And by the time Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Bethany was only a couple of miles away from where Jesus was. And the disciples knew that if they returned to Bethany, they were going to be in danger. We read that the disciples say to Jesus and verse eight teacher, only a few days ago, the Jewish leaders in Judea we're trying to kill you.

Oh, you going there again? And in verse 16, Thomas says, let's go to and die with Jesus. We read on, and when Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Some Jews believed that the soul hung around the body for three days until decay setting. Then it would abandon the body and there would be no hope of life.

Some may have believed that Lazarus could possibly have been raised during those first three days, but nobody, nobody believed he could possibly be raised from the dead on four days. Jesus didn't enter the town because he knew that it would create a scene. He waits outside for Martha to arrive, and when she did, she repeats something to Jesus.

That had probably been said numerous times since the death of Lazarus in verse 21 and 22. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. That sounds like a great faith statement. But when I read Martha's statements again, you know, uh, previously I thought she was expecting Lazarus to be raised from the dead, but possibly she wasn't.

Verse 24, Martha answered. I know he will rise again in resurrection at the last day. See, we find out later because she protests when Jesus asks for the tomb to be opened. She wasn't expecting a miracle anymore. She was simply stating, Lord, if you'd have been here, things wouldn't necessarily have been different.

But I still believe in you despite what has happened. It hasn't shaken my view of who you are. I mean, that sounds a great statement. Your Jesus challenges are. It wasn't enough for her to acknowledge that she believed in him. Even though Lazarus had died. She had to believe that he had the power. Even now over death, verse 23 and 24, Jesus told her, your brother will rise again.

And Martha said Yes when everyone else rises on Resurrection Day. She believed in a resurrection day. That was a teaching, um, that was pretty controversial, racial in its day. But Jesus wanted to clarify things. It's not enough to say, okay, he died. That's the end of it. But one day it'll be, it'll be okay.

It'll be made right. In the meantime, I still believe in you. Jesus. It's not enough for some future event. It's actually someone standing right in front of Martha right there and right then. Jesus. Verse 25 and 27, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else will live again.

They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this, Martha? Martha replies yes Lord. She told him, I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who was coming to the world from God. It's not a belief or a dogma. It's a person. It's not even about a future resurrection.

It is about never dying, never perishing. Even between the point of physical death and the resurrection. The one who believes in Jesus still lives. Jesus is about to show that he has power over death and that his followers don't have to say, we will believe in you despite the reality of death. We can say we believe in you because you are the one who gives life beyond death.

You are the resurrection and you are the life. We'll see in the next few verses. A similar scene unfold with the other sister Mary. Jesus still stays outside the village and Mary says to him in verse 32. Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died. This was obviously something Mary and Martha had spoken about.

Naturally, what happened next doesn't really come through in our English translation very well. In verse 33, when Jesus saw her weeping and he saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled, moved with indignation. It's difficult to translate. It was used in the language of the day about like snorting, like horses.

It conveys an anger, a pain, a shuddering, a strong emotion. Deeply troubled means to be agitated almost to a place of despair. I've always pictured Jesus being upset and weeping, but you know, it's so much deeper. This is his friend, the one he loved. Jesus was deeply moved with sorrow and grief. Jesus was facing death face to face.

He was seeing the effects of sin. Words weren't enough. Just as when we face death, there's a sense that a, at times words can't convey how terrible death is. He broke down grieving and when he asked to go to the term, he's still grieving. I wanna ask and suggest that every person needs to ask what hope they have beyond the grave.

Some have decided that they don't need hope. That hope is an illusion. Jesus offers more. He's not only crying and grieving at the sights of death. He does something more. Roll the stone aside. Jesus told them. And yet Martha says Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he's been dead for four days.

And Jesus responds, didn't I tell you that you will see God's glory if you believe So? They wrote the stone aside and Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed. Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it aloud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.

Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus come out, and Lazarus came out bounding grave clothes. His face wrapped in a head clot. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go. Jesus said earlier that this was going to bring glory to the Son and give the disciples another opportunity to believe in him. And you know what it did?

It gave the disciples the opportunity that Jesus wasn't just the one who turned water into wine or who healed the sick and made the blind. See, he al. He's also the one who conquered death. He's God overall. He's the resurrection and the life. How can you not get excited about this? It would be easy to think that this story is about Lazarus, but it isn't.

Lazarus would die again one day. This is the story, the story that ultimately is about Jesus and his power over death itself. It's about his glory and what happens to those of us who put our trust in him. We gain victory over death because we then enter into a relationship with the person who is the resurrection and the life.

It's about Jesus because the events that unfold ultimately led to his own death. Right after this story ends, the leaders plotted for Jesus's death, which led. To our salvation, Jesus could face his own death because he himself is the resurrection and the life. For those of us who are bereaved at this time, my friends, there is hope.

There's hope because Jesus grieve for his dead friend. Jesus met death and saw its pain and its ugliness, and he understands There's hope too because in verse 25 it says, those who believe in me, even though they died, like everyone else will live again. There is life beyond the grave. We would probably be smart to realize today that our lives are going to be shorter than we think.

Life goes much faster than we would like. We don't want to spend a lot of time thinking about death, but no ha supplements, no exercise program, no diet will delay it indefinitely. There are a few answers for death, but we know the one who conquered death and promised eternal in a life. Let me leave you with this thought, my friend today.

You can know the one who died so that you might live. God bless you.

Let the king of my heart be the i

my song. Let the king of my heart be the shadow. I hide

you.

You.

Let the king my heart be the inside

my. Let the,

the.

You are good.

There you go. Like the king of my heart. What a phenomenal track that is. Uh, love that track. You can rewind, you can play very loudly, especially if you're in the car. You can also find that track on our YouTube playlist. Uh, king of my Heart is what it's called. So, uh, do sing along with that, Phil. I see you're still in the same top.

Yeah. Yeah. I don't, I don't change for anybody. Well, that's not, that's not true, but there's a sermon in there, surely. Yeah, there is. Isn't there? Yeah. Oh, I'm just moving a wire. That's terrible, isn't it? Okay. Sorry if I just zoomed in two people's viewing. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

So let's get into this then. So what did you think too?

Dave's talks if you've not done so already, leave your thoughts, comments, uh, on YouTube, Facebook. We'll get into that as we go along in Conversation Street with myself and Phil talking about this very meaty passage. I am the resurrection and the life, this incredible story of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

Uh, and um, did you ever get that? Oh wow. Are you near a railway station or is that fireworks? That's fireworks. Just right outside the house. What's to love? So, uh, if you are watching this outside of the uk it is November the sixth, which means yesterday it was in fact November the fifth, which is Bon Finite.

And Phil, I dunno what you did on Bon Finite, but last night we had some people around. We had, um, some beautiful people from international countries as well as the So with and the BA nuns and a few of the, so we, we had a big international mix and they sat there, these beautiful people, uh, and they said, what's the deal with

bonfire night?

And did you say we celebrate a man who nearly blew up democracy?

Yeah. Well, he, he failed, didn't he? Exactly. The Catholic failed in blown up democracy. Exactly. We celebrate,

we celebrate failure and even following the story, and we are meant to be talking about death and Lazarus, but it is a fascinating story where one of the conspirators to blow up Parliament wrote a letter to somebody saying, don't go to Parliament tomorrow because there's gonna be a big bang and this letter was found.

And then they, 'cause they've got the real, the real version of it and you just, it is a very good example of be careful what you send and write down careful what you text Tweet. Yeah, absolutely. Anyway, yeah. A, a mad event. Anyway,

it is a crazy event which we celebrate in England, which explains why, uh, the fireworks are going off tonight because they're all the fireworks that didn't get let off last night.

Uh, it's, it's, uh, there are a lot of fireworks. I mean, basically for three hours. Uh, Liverpool Justice Explosion City, isn't it? And it's just going off everywhere. So, um, so yes, that's why there are fireworks going off outside. So I would, if they go off again, I will try my best to get to the mute button very quickly so they don't wreck yours and fill, you'll just have to fill the void.

I could do that,

no doubt. So, uh, that explains Bon finite, which is not the reason, mayor, why we're here, but that's the interesting trivia. So Lazarus's story, there we go forward. What is

the shortest verse in the Bible? Phil Jesus swept, uh, and it's the first verse I ever learned. Uh, and I, I think there's lots of talk about here, as there always is, but there's so much there that Dave mentioned at the beginning.

It's the fact that Jesus seemed to have mates, um, Mary Martha and Lazarus. He, and as Dave Khan said, when Jesus was in this area. So basically, if you imagine. The holy land as it's sometimes referred to, Jesus wanders around it with this group of disciples. Um, talking and getting mixed receptions from people.

Some areas they loved him, other areas couldn't stand him. He did miracles in some places. He told parables or stories with a meaning and other places. And he would, I'm assuming he had a network of people and when he got to this village or this town, they'd go, oh yeah, yeah. We know who you are. You are, we are friends.

Whatever, come and come and stay. 'cause there wasn't obviously travel lodges, premier Inns or anything similar. And I'm just, I'm, and I, I think that Mary and Martha and Lazarus were part of a kind of network of people who, who gave hospitality to Jesus. Yeah. It's a lovely idea, isn't it? That depth of friendship that Yeah.

I know that sometimes if, if you, if you are, you might have come across, I think they're often called itinerant preachers, so they travel around a country or the world and it is wonderful. And the most famous one in my lifetime was probably Billy Graham. Um, there've been numerous others, incredible impact, but actually there are also some people that stay put.

Yeah. Uh, like you, like you and me, Matt, who stay put in one, in one town, one community. And we go, this is where we will be anchored and this is the place where we will have our influence. And I love the idea and we've done that. I know you have two amount of hosting friends or people we don't necessarily know, um, who stay in our houses.

And, and I never really thought about that actually, but until Dave mentioned that, that these are, these are, these are friends. And so when they, when, uh, the message came through, the one you love, and I dunno how that, that sounds very odd in English, isn't it? The one you love has died? Yeah. Just bit, yeah.

Like our, our bestie our best friend. Yeah. And Jesus knew that's Lazarus. He knew that that was Lazarus. So there's an insight into Jesus being. Very human there. And the Jesus wept is also just a very, very important verse. 'cause it's easy to think that Jesus was some superhuman. And it's so hard to find the word superhuman, unlike you and me.

But actually he felt, we know, he felt sadness. We know he felt grief. And I think there's a big mental health message in those two lines.

I think there probably is. Yeah,

whatever your emotions are, you should be in tune with them if you can, if you, if you are, if you, if there's grief in your family, if something bad has happened, there is nothing good about having a, an again, we're international, but the classic British stiff upper lip, it, I'll be fine.

It'll be great. Grief will come out one way or the other. And it's better to get it out through tears and, and however you wanna show that than to pretend. You are not upset. I remember my grandmother saying to me, and I put it on a Facebook post recently actually. She said, Jesus wept and Jesus slept and he hung out with his friends.

If he's good enough for him, he's good enough for you. Love that. And it's a really good summary, isn't it? Because yeah, there is quite a few occasions when Jesus seemed to fall asleep in the most inopportune moments, storms, boats up, mountains. Um, and that is an important thing. Getting rest. Um, I'm going on a bit here, aren't I?

What'd you think about Jesus wept?

Well, exactly. I knew it was the smallest verse in the Bible. Like Q was the first verse I ever, um, yeah. Memorized. 'cause it was the easiest one to memorize. When you're a kid at Sunday School. Memorize the Bible verse. Jesus wept. There we go. Done. Yeah, I can do that one.

Yeah. Um, but no, you're right. I think it's, um. I think it's really insightful. I mean, Dave, we're talking about death and we're talking about resurrection. Yes. There's the power of that, and yes, there's an incredible story in that. But fundamentally, here was a man stood before the tomb of one of his best mates.

Yeah. And it, and it, as it, as you would expect it rightly, uh, was upsetting. Uh, and Jesus shows his humanity and weeps. And like you say, there's a lot of good mental health messaging around that. Um, but it's, um, sorry, these fireworks are still going, uh, 10 to the dozen. Uh, um, but there's, there, there is, there is something.

Isn't there something quite special about the fact that, like you say, Jesus had his mates, he's and one of them has passed away. And for the, it's interesting how I like how Dave put it. He said that, um, when Martha was saying, if you'd have been. He would not have died. It's like, we know you are a miracle working God.

We know that you heal. Mm-hmm. How many of us have prayed that Prayer? God, if you'd have just answered my Prayer, this would not have happened.

Right? Mm-hmm.

And it's like, yes, we know you can do this. We believe that God, you can heal. We believe that God, you can do the miraculous. And if you would've been here, this would've not have happened.

If you'd have just shown up, this would've not have happened. Mm. If you'd have answered my Prayer two days ago when I told you he was sick, this would not have happened. Um, and it's like, it's like God seems unfazed by that, but he still feels the pain of it. Do you know what I mean? I find that

ing, yeah.

What if ge I'm gonna get all theologically technical, aren't I? But if Jesus is omniscient, which means he knows everything, if God is omniscient, why He, oh, I dunno. It's too hard for me to get my head round. But the good news is I don't have to because I'm not God. And I have to keep coming back to that.

The realization that I will not understand everything. I think there are some insights into this story as well. 'cause I know that, uh, within Jewish culture, you bury a dead person within 24 hours. Yeah. It's not like the western culture that you and I are part of where we might wait days or weeks or even longer.

And it's still the case today within Judaism, somebody dies, you bury them within 24 hours. Partly, I guess it's, it's a, it's a cultural thing because if you're in the heat of, of Israel, you would wanna bury a, a body quickly. And I've never thought of this before either, but I wonder if Jesus is apparently casual.

Approach. You know, he waited four days. This is gonna sound very macab. They weren't as medically developed as we are when we in, in the west, when somebody's dead, we, we know they're dead. Mm-hmm. We, you know, a medical doctor with training signs the death certificate. You can't do it any other way in our culture.

And I dunno, I dunno. Okay. So I'm just suggesting maybe Jesus knew what was gonna happen. He, he had an emotional response, but four days in the grave, Lazarus is definitely dead. This is not a mistake. He wasn't sleeping, he wasn't, um, he, he hadn't passed out. And I've often thought that maybe about Jesus being in the gray for three days.

This is not he, he, he wasn't. Um, pronounced dead by mistake or in error by somebody who didn't know any better. Um, 'cause I've heard stories of people being assumed dead and then they have, you know, I mean, years ago, and then it turns out they weren't dead. They were in some sort of coma or something like that.

So I wonder if, if Jesus is apparently casual approach was in a way to show his power that when he said Lazarus come out of the grave. Um. There was no doubt that the man had been dead. Yeah. Um, and as typically with every Bible story, I've got so many questions I would wanna know, Lazarus, where have you been?

What was it like? You know, you, you hear of near-death experiences where people are pulled towards lights or whatever. What, you know, where were you for those few days? And, and the other sort of thing is, you know, what happened to Lazarus afterwards? Was he, was he like, when I think Lazarus, because I've never heard of anyone else, call Lazarus.

I go, oh, the bloke that was raised from the dead, did he become locally? Is, you know, there's Lazarus, the guy who was dead, who now isn't, did he, did he have some sort of, um, celebrity status? And I, and I'm assuming, well, I know it's true, he did eventually die. Mm-hmm. You know, he, he, he's not alive now, so he wasn't made immortal.

He was just given some additional. Time on Earth. I wonder how he used it.

And it's, that's a big question, right?

And well, it's an interesting question for anybody who's a Christian or not, which is you dunno how long you've got. Mm-hmm. What are you gonna do with that time? Mm-hmm. Um, and how much of it, you know, you have to sleep, you have to weep, you have to eat, but what are you gonna do with the rest of your life?

But that, and that can come across as like a, oh my word, I need to make the most of every day. And we've all had that feeling when somebody has been taken from us a loved one. Mm. Uh, you know, you know, you, you never all sorts of good advice. Like never end a relationship on an argument. 'cause you don't, you don't know what might happen.

Mm. You know, you don't know whether that could be the last time you see them, but, um, yeah. What, what happened next? 'cause there is another bit in the Bible, isn't it? In, in the gospel of John where he says, where John, the writer says, I'm only telling you the main details. 'cause if I told you everything that happened, I would.

I'd be writing forever. So, yeah. So John, if there, if there were to be a sequel, I would like these questions on know that's a face, what happened, what happened next to this person? Yeah, yeah.

It's

No, it's a

fascinating, you are right. I mean, in some respects it's quite, it's quite, um, uh, pictorial isn't it, of the Christian life.

It's like we as Christians say, we were dead in our sins and then we were raised to life in Christ. Yeah. It's like we have done metaphorically and spiritually, I suppose what Lazarus did physically. And so this whole idea of Lazarus, what did you do once you were raised from the dead, I think is a great question.

And it's like, Christian, what are you doing since you have been raised from the dead? Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? How, how are you now? How has your life changed? Um, how is your life being lived as a result of being raised in, you know, spiritually from the dead? And it's quite a fascinating concept.

Um, you know, with the power of God like that, that actually he brings newness of life and that's the. That's the beauty of it, isn't it? It's like, it's the whole, um, the way I was, the way I used to be. That can be left in the grave or at the bottom of the baptismal pool if you do the whole baptism thing.

Yeah. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? It's that kind of, it doesn't have to be that way anymore because actually I have been raised to newness of life and that Paul talked about it. He said, I have been crucified with Christ. Yeah. It's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Yeah. And the life I now live in the flesh.

I live by faith in the son of God. And I think what an incredible revelation that is when you get your head around it.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, it it's exactly that, isn't it? And it's the, there's a, there was a story in the papers a few years ago in the UK about a palliative nurse that had worked caring for dying people for their entire professional life.

And they sort of summarized what these folk taught her, and some of them regretted things they had done. So they went, I wish I hadn't done that thing where I hurt somebody. But more often on than not the people in the last stages of life, which must focus the brain must then, it is a, it's a great part of being human is that whilst we all know we are gonna die, actually we're able to get on with life anyway.

Um, you know, you can be overwhelmed with that sense of doom and catastrophe, but most humans, most of the time go, I will live as if I won't. And I think that's probably how we have to live. But one of the, the regrets that many of these people had in the last days of their lives was, it's not the things I did that I regret is actually the things I didn't do.

I regret, and this apparently, not that we're old men, Matt, but as you get older and you realize that, oh, actually that thing I will probably never do. So it's taken me, you know, I haven't mentioned fostering yet, but as an example. As an example. Well, I mean,

well done for making it for 42 minutes. I know, I know.

That's gotta be some

kind of record. Record. Yeah. As an example, my family decided to foster, and I talk about fostering a lot with people, but it could be any, um, should we say altruistic act, um, or even a non altruistic act. And it's like, I'm glad we, we, I'm glad we did it when we did, because otherwise I'd never have known what would happen.

And there is a sense of, um, you, you, you. As the times go by, go, I wish, I wish I'd done that. And you go, well, you know what? While you're still living, there is still time to, to make a difference to how, how you live. Yeah. Um, and when you do die, and we all do die, this is inevitable. There's a couple of questions.

One is, is there an afterlife or not? And if there is, and if you're a Christian, you believe there is and you're going to it. Um, um. What can you, we had this preach in the, in, in the church this morning. What can you take to the afterlife? I mean, it's a crazy question, isn't it? I've never been to Egypt, but you see the pyramids and there was sort of belief that, oh, I'm the fairer, I'm very wealthy, I'm gonna die.

And when I die, I want to be in the biggest tube with a ton of wealth. And I believe that, you know, you'd have your slaves buried with you, your wives buried with you. And if you look at powerful people throughout the history of the world, they have a similar system where I, my, you know, when we buried the Queen, the pomp and ceremony was amazing, unbelievable.

Uh, and I don't wanna sort of, you know, the queen's great. It's like we, she's died the same as you and I are going to. Mm-hmm. She, her body will decay. Um, and I, I, I was, yeah, this morning had a great pitch of a lady called Jenny who said, there's only two things you can take when you die. Uh, and I thought, two, I thought there was nothing you could take when you die.

And she and, and her, and 'cause she's cleverer than me, she went, you can take your relationship with Jesus. So when you die and you, you go to heaven, whatever this is, looks like you've got your relationship with Jesus already and you've got it with you. And the other thing you can take is the relationships that you have with other Christians.

Mm-hmm. And I thought, oh, and I've, I again, I dunno who's gonna get into heaven. It's not, luckily, it's not me that chooses and judges, um, I'm, I'm kind of looking forward in some respects to meeting some people in heaven without everyone. Mm-hmm. But I'm gonna be, as far as I'm concerned, I will be reconnected with people, uh, who are also Christians.

And I'll be very surprised who's there. I expect, I'll be surprised who isn't there. Yeah. But, um, that's a whole nother debate. That's a, that could be own

live stream.

Are you in or are you out? That's just, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But it's, it reminds me of, there's a joke by Milton Jones who's a. Dry comedian.

He was a Christian actually. And he's, what does he say? Something like, I'm in a competition to be the oldest person in the world and every day I go up the leaderboard and it, it's kind of macabre, but, but, but it's true. Yeah. Everybody is going in the direction

Yeah.

Of, of death.

Yeah.

But what are you gonna do with your life?

And it always, I always come back to the stories of the Good Samaritan, uh, the parable which Jesus told about, what good are you doing? And then the story, it's known as the sheep and the goats, which is basically like when you help someone else to summarize it, if they're hungry, starving, stranger, foreigner, if they're, if they're ill, whatever their circumstance, whatever you do for another human being, this is good.

This is how Jesus wants us to live. And you don't have to wait. I'm, I'm quoting Anne Frank. Now I'm on foot on quotes, aren't I? You don't have to wait. You, you don't have to wait another day. To start making the world a better place. That's very true. You could, you, you, wherever you go to work, whoever you hang around with, whatever you do, you can be a positive to other people.

You can make their day by being a positive person. Um, I think I've got away from death there and started to talk more about life.

Yeah. But never mind. It's all, it's all wrapped up together, isn't it? It's, it is, isn't it?

You can't have one without the other. Yeah.

So I heard, um, a great quote. I put it on Instagram the other day by Simon Sinek who said, you know what, we have these bookshops that are full of self-help sections, but in none of those bookshops is a section which says, help others.

Yeah, that's really interesting, isn't it? And

I thought that's very, very true. And I, and you kind of think, well, yes, uh, life is in some respects about helping others, but we don't really think about it like that, do we? We don't really, and that's one of the things that struck me about what Jen was talking about this morning, you know, that, um.

We, we take withers, uh, those sort of Christians that we've, that we've sort of brought into the king for want of a better expression. Yes. Do you know what I mean? And, and Paul talks about this in his letters about his crown, I think it was in Philippians. Um, but he talked about his crown, um, being the people that sort of were in the churches that he planted.

And he's, he is like, yeah, I'm gonna get to see you in, in eternal life. And that's the thing that drives me forward. That's the thing that propels me and you are my joy. That's, yeah. Those, and that's brilliant. That's the let's help other people section. Do you know what I mean? Let's help other people find Christ.

Yeah. And I think, I think that's not a bad thing to give your life for. Do you know what I mean? Yeah. It's not a bad thing to sort of, to strive for is actually the. That because you, the Bible does talk about a reward in heaven. It does talk about a crown in heaven, you know? Yeah. It's like I can't earn my way there, and I know I can't earn my way into heaven.

And I know it's about grace, but there is a crown.

Yeah. And, and the, the sheep and the goats would suggest the parable sheep in bi. I mean, I, I am, I'm a farmer. I don't know. But sheep good, goat's not good. And I've always wondered about the story with mm, I can understand the, hey, be altruistic, do good things for other people where that actually gets you when you get to heaven.

I don't know. But it gives me the impression as you say, that there is some reward in heaven. Um, but because in heaven there is no sin other, you actually celebrate other people's rewards, is what I've always imagined it to, to be like. Um, but again, uh, philosophizing about what heaven's like is something like, all I know is I want to go there.

And I'm, yeah. That, that's, I wanna go there and, and I think it's gonna be great. And whilst I think it's very human to grieve, of course it is. And sometimes people can be a little bit unhelpful when they talk about somebody dies and they mean, well, you know, they've gone to a better place, or whatever they might say.

And I'm like, do we know that? Are we sure about that? Um, there's, there's something very, um, helpful about helping other people and about what you do while you are alive, how you're going to use your years, how you're going to use your hours, your weeks, your minutes. And we live in a very, I think all humans have, but there's a, we live in a pressured environment that talks about the, the accumulation of wealth.

Um, the accumulation of status, the accumulation of, of status symbols, whether that's your job title or whether that's your marriage status, whether it's the car that you drive or the wealth that you have. And that's been part of, I'd imagine that's part of every culture. Yeah. And has been since the beginning of time.

We, we sometimes say, oh, it's worse now, and I'm going I bet it's always been just different. Yeah, it's just different. Yeah. You know, nobody said, oh, I've got a Tesla and the brand new iPhone a hundred years ago. But they said they had, or I dunno what it had been, four, eight, some old car. I know. There's, there's, there's something that humans do.

Isn't that? Yeah, it's, it's an interesting thing 'cause you kind of go, I want this to make myself somehow feel better. I want this to make myself feel better than others. Which is the opposite of what Jesus says, which is, Hey, look out for other people. And it doesn't mean it's wrong to have wealth. And you know, I The Good Samaritan, he had money enough Yeah.

To pay for the care of another human being. You, Do you know what I mean? Wasn't it It's how he used it. It's it exactly. It's how he, it's how he used it. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. No, it's really

interesting, this whole idea of how you spend your life and, you know, the, in some respects, the call of the Christian to lay down their desire for wealth, not necessarily lay down wealth, because I think, I mean, the, the reality of it is even despite the cost of living crisis, we still are some of the most prosperous people on the planet, right?

Oh yeah. We have to, we have to be aware of that. Um, and we have to, I think we have to acknowledge that even if we don't have a whole great deal by British standards, we have a whole great deal by global standards. I mean, let's be real. Um, but that, that chasing of wealth, that chasing of accumulation for stuff and laying that down and saying, God.

What, what do you want me to live for? Why did Jesus write? And now Paul talked about that. He says, I forget those things which passed. But the one thing that I do, I press on for the, the upward call of Christ. I lay a hold of that for which Christ Jesus laid a hold of me as this language, isn't it? And Thessalonians, and it's like, Jesus, why did you save me?

Why did you go through that? Why is the, why am I part of this whole resurrection thing? Mm-hmm. Let me understand that because that's what I need to give my life for. That's what I need to do, isn't it? And so, um, it's very challenging and it's, it's very easy to say.

Yeah. Yeah. But a and, and, and you're right.

Aren't, you know where if you, if you go back through time and you look around the globe, if ever there was a time when you could choose to live, it would be now. Mm. With, with, with health, with social interaction, with social care, um, uh, and yet at the same time. Death isn't. Death is, is there looming? Mm-hmm.

If you like, is that the wrong one? That's a bit of ominous, but it's true. Death looms for everyone and all the, you know, all the skincare products in the world, all the, the Botox and what it, what is we see this morning, there's a facility in America full of frozen people. Oh yeah. Frozen people. I don't suppose they're dead technically, but they're waiting.

There's it, is it called cryogenically frozen?

Yeah.

Yeah. So they're waiting for there to be a medical solution to whatever health problem they've got so that they can then be cured of it. And I'm just fairly sure that humans will never beat death. It will always come for you eventually, regardless of, of your, of your wealth.

Yeah. And regardless of your status. Now, there's a certain, there's an ease in how you live, isn't there? The comfort that you have. But again, we, we. I think particularly maybe in the west is we tend to go, oh, if only I had this life would be easier. I'm not sure. My understanding is around the west of the globe where people are less, um, wealthy.

You know, if you're living in a, in, in a war zone, you know you are, I'm sure that people there are thinking, I wish I had your problems. You know, I wish, yeah, I wish I only had to get up on a Monday and go to work in the rain, you know? Yeah. You know, you've got a job, you've got a home to leave, and you've got a home to go back to.

You know, it, it's, it's how you, how you look at that, isn't it? Yeah, that is totally, yeah. I can't decide if this is really, really inspiring or really miserable. Uh, well, I,

it's funny, isn't it? I think actually it could be both and it all depends on how you interpret it, right? Yeah. Um, and, and actually your outlook on life and, um, death is a funny thing, isn't it?

I, I think it's one of those things like, why do we die? Why? I can explain it with the Christian story, right? Mm-hmm. I can, I can understand that, you know, and I can understand that. I think my belief was that when Adam and Eve created, there were, there was, there was no death at that point that, you know, had they not have, um, sinned, they would still be around.

Um, but they did. And so death came, and I can understand that in the context of Christian circles, but I can't understand it outside the context of Christian circles. Yeah. Like, why do we die? Why do we, why are we, why is, if you take God out, why, why is death there? It makes no sense to me, you know, for something sort of come explode and disappear.

Like, why, why does it not perpetuate itself? Well, surely that's the, the most sensible thing to do. The,

there's an argument isn't there, that the, the most rational explanation is probably the true one. And, uh, we're opening up another can of worms 'cause that's what we do. But the, the most rational explanation for everything and everyone being here is, there's a.

Mm. And, and, and, and I'm not. And I'm not him. And I'm calling him a him because it's easier. I'm not them. Whatever you wanna, whichever pronoun you wanna call, God, I don't think they mind. Yeah. But the easiest explanation is there's a God Yeah. To me. And then everything else is if God is this transcendent ephemeral, which are very long words, meaning you can't get your head round God because mm-hmm.

They're God in the same way that you can't actually get your head round eternity, you know? I know. Or infinity is another word. You know, you can't get your head round that 'cause you're only a human. It, I find it really reassuring to go, there's a God, it's not me and this God is in charge and this God for reasons that I don't fully understand has chosen to create this.

And I live in it and I'm part of it. Mm-hmm. Uh, and I also believe, and I've never had a problem with this, that God is interested in me individually. Mm-hmm. Um. And somebody might go, where's your evidence? And I go, well, my life. Yeah, my life. And the stories and the, and the feelings and the timers when I'm sure that God has spoken to me and helped me, and other times when he hasn't.

And I'd love to talk to him about that layer. And I'm assuming there's an entry interview when you get to heaven. I go, right, God, now I've got you. These are the things I really want an answer to. We, we were

talking about this last night with Will, me and Will. So with we were talking about this, it's like that every, we've all got this list of questions, God, while I've got you number one.

Yeah. Yeah.

Number one. Number number one, number two. But, but you know, you're right about it. I mean, I tend to see, I prefer to see the positive spin on it. 'cause I quite like the idea. No, I love the idea that it's not your wealth and it's not your status. Because unless you are, what is it, Jeff Bezos, or who's other one?

Elon Musk. Yeah. And if your purpose in life is to become wealthy, unless you are one of them, you've lost.

Yeah.

You are not the winner. Sorry. Even if you are really rich, you are not the winner. 'cause they've already won that at the moment. So once you decide to take yourself out of that competition and go, eh, it's not about, it can't be about wealth and therefore status, it's much easier to go.

Brings me back to, um, are how are you spending your life? Well, if you're spending it on things that will never rust, which is the Bible word, isn't it? Mm. You know, like anything, any, even the most precious metals, gold, silver, I'm guessing, will deteriorate over time, but something like helping other people doing good, good deeds, if you like.

They never rust. They never, they, they never dissipate. They never go grow old. They never go moldy. They're just good things. Hmm. Um. That's easy actually. That's easy for anyone can do that. You can do it. You can do it with your family tonight. If you've listened to Crowd Church or wherever you are, you can go, I'm gonna go and do something nice for somebody else.

And that's an eternal thing.

Yeah, it is. And I think it's interesting. I mean, one of the things that I'm, we're gonna talk about this over the coming weeks, and I'm aware of time, so I'm gonna end with this point, that if you are a Christian and you are listening to this, my challenge to you in the current climate in which we face ourselves, certainly in the uk, where we have the cost of living crisis, we have the energy crisis, we've got the food crisis, we've got the interest rate crisis, we've got inflation, we've even got crazy politicians doing all kinds of crazy, weird and wonderful things, right?

It is just a very uncertain time. But in that uncertainty. In that craziness, the last thing we need to do is go inward and in slow. Yeah. And batten down the hatches. It is totally the right time to open our doors. Yep. Invite in our neighbors and go, come on in. Our house is warm. I've only got a slice of bread or whatever it is you've got on the table, but we're gonna share it with you.

Right? Yeah. And I think we've never had such a good opportunity to bring the gospel to our neighbors. And so I'm, if you are a Christian watching this, I'm encouraging you. Please do not batten down the hatches. No. Open your doors. Yeah. The,

the word, the word of the year apparently is perma crisis. Dunno if you saw that.

It's one of the, no, I dunno what perma was like. You know what? God's in charge. Perma crisis, whatever, you know? And people, it's a really common mantra, isn't it? Times are tough. Well, they always have been. They always will be. There always will be. How do you respond to it? Yeah.

Yeah. I can tell you now things are gonna get worse and some things will get better, but it's just, yeah, it's just the way it's gonna be.

Right. And so where's your. Fundamentally, and that's what Paul said. He said, I live this life in the faith of Christ, so my faith is built on him, not on things. Not on stuff, stuff. Yeah. Uh, and so, you know, it is, it is the way it is. Phil. Wonderful. We are on the hour. Thank you so much for joining me. Just, just to say everybody, uh, next week do come join us on the live stream.

Uh, we are carrying on our conversation through John's gospel. Uh, we have Tony Udin speaking. Next week is also Remembrance Sunday. Uh, Claire Glare will be hosting with me. Uh, if the schedule is right that I see on the screen in front of me, uh, George will let me know if I'm wrong. Um, but yes, we have, uh, Claire coming, uh, to host.

We've got Tony Odin speaking and it is Remembrance Sunday. So do come join us for that. It'll be great to see you. Uh, mattru put in the comments, join us next week, 6:00 PM GMT for our next livestream, complete with the odd tech issue as usual. Shocking. At least we're predictable.

Yeah. There's a familiarity

to, to that isn't there.

Which is quite comforting, I feel. Yes, yes. Uh, so yes. Do come join us next week. So, uh, Phil,

anything else from you, but in closing No. No. Uh, find out about God's plan for your life. He's got one. He loves you and He, he wants to, he wants to be in a relationship with you. Simple as that.

Very good. Very. I couldn't have put it better myself, mate.

I couldn't put it. Phil, thank you so much for joining me. Alright my friend. Alright everybody, always fun hosting with you. Uh, God bless you everyone. We will see you next week. That's it from us.