Join Matt and Sharon Edmundson at Crowd Church as they introduce a nine-week series on the book of Philippians, featuring insights from Jenny Mariner. Engage with the community by sharing your thoughts and questions in the comments, and explore themes of gratitude, generosity, and partnership. Visit www.crowd.church for more information and connect with us on social media or WhatsApp for prayer requests.

Timestamps

0:00 Intro

4:57 Understanding New Testament Letters

6:10 Paul's Transformation and Mission

9:14 Paul's Reflections from Prison

12:17 Growing in Faith and Understanding

18:25 The Power of Generosity

21:59 Letting Go to Gain Fulfillment

28:03 Corrie ten Boom's Story of Gratitude in Adversity

34:59 Building Habits Through Gratitude

37:06 Maintaining a Connection with God

42:29 The Dilemma of Generosity

Show Notes:

Introduction to the Book of Philippians

- Guest speaker Jenny Mariner introduces the book of Philippians, marking the start of a nine-week series.

Understanding New Testament Letters

- Jenny explains the context of New Testament letters, focusing on Paul's transformation and his role in spreading Christianity.

- Emphasis on the letters as both divine inspiration and personal correspondence.

Key Themes in Philippians

- Jenny highlights the central message of living a life laid down for Christ, inspired by Jesus' humility and sacrifice.

- Discussion on the themes of gratitude, generosity, and partnership within the letter.

Gratitude and Generosity

- Jenny shares Paul's example of gratitude despite hardships, encouraging listeners to foster a grateful attitude.

- Exploration of generosity as a spiritual practice, with personal anecdotes about sharing resources.

Partnership and Community

- The importance of community and partnership in spreading the Christian message is discussed.

- Jenny notes the collective nature of Paul's letters, encouraging unity and collaboration.

Practical Faith and Personal Stories

- Hosts Matt and Sharon reflect on personal experiences of faith and gratitude, sharing stories of resilience and trust in God.

- Discussion on practical ways to cultivate gratitude and live a life of service.

Keywords

Philippians, Paul, gratitude, generosity, partnership, joy, contentment, Christian living, prison ministry, spiritual growth, faith journey, New Testament letters, biblical wisdom, Jesus Christ, servant leadership, Christian community, spiritual fruit, thankfulness, perseverance, Christian discipleship, biblical interpretation, Christian perspective, spiritual transformation, Christian relationships, biblical encouragement

Matt Edmundson [0:00 - 0:08]: So welcome to Crowd church. Great that you're here with us. If you're joining us online, my name is Matt Edmundson. Beside me is my beautiful wife.

Sharon Edmundson [0:08 - 0:09]: I'm Sharon. Hi. Welcome, everyone.

Matt Edmundson [0:10 - 0:24]: It's great to be with you. And of course we are in person as well here in Liverpool. This is the second week we have done this. We've got a few more tech issues this week, not gonna lie. So the fact we're going out live is a beautiful thing. But it's good to be here, right?

Sharon Edmundson [0:24 - 0:26]: It's very good to be here. Yeah.

Matt Edmundson [0:26 - 0:30]: Yes. This is the second time I've been to church day. Making me really holy.

Sharon Edmundson [0:30 - 0:31]: Very, very holy.

Matt Edmundson [0:31 - 1:11]: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So today we are going to have a talk. In just a few minutes, Jen Mariner is going to be sharing with us. We are going to be introducing the book of Philippians. We've got nine weeks going on in the book of Philippians. Oh, we got someone in the comments. Great. So we know we're live, we know it's working, which is a wonderful thing. So, hey, Miriam, how you doing? So, yeah, make sure you say how's it in the comments? Come say hi, write your questions, write your thoughts, anything you've got going on, write that down in the comments below. As Jen's going through a talk, Sharon and I are going to be back after the talk. We're going to do Conversation street.

Sharon Edmundson [1:11 - 1:11]: Yes.

Matt Edmundson [1:11 - 1:20]: When we answer your questions, your questions that you put in the comments, we're going to answer those. And the people in person as well get to ask their questions.

Sharon Edmundson [1:21 - 1:30]: So it's not just questions as well because I think lots of people have got lots that they can add to the conversation. Lots of experience. Yeah. So add those as well. Be great.

Matt Edmundson [1:30 - 2:43]: Yes. Share your thoughts, share your stories. We really like stories. I'm just trying to get YouTube on my phone. I'm not. Yeah, it's not working. Okay. Nicola's in the comments. Good evening, Nicola. Great to see you. So, yes, that's what's going to happen. Jen, I saw you run into the tech booth. Is everything right? Okay. Did you get the clicker? No, there is Dan. Don't. Dan's lying to you. There's a click. Is he going to forward the slides? Okay, so we've got it sorted anyway. So we've got Jen come and joining us in just a few seconds. Like I say, intro in Philippians. Do visit the website which will come up on your screen hopefully at some point soon. Do visit the website if you've got any questions or you can find us on social media. The website is www. Dot crowd dot church. You can find us on social media at Crowdchurch. And of course there's also a WhatsApp number which you can also use as well. So yes, do reach out to us. Any prayer requests? Anything going on? We would love to know. We would love to pray for you. We had a bunch of people connect with us this week asking for prayer, whether that was for healing, whether it was for their families. Yeah, we had some good prayer requests this week. Good prayer. I don't know if you can judge them. That one's good, that one's bad.

Sharon Edmundson [2:43 - 2:45]: We had prayer requests. We'll leave it at that.

Matt Edmundson [2:45 - 3:04]: Yeah, we'll just leave it at that. We won't grade them. That's not what we do. So yes, do send those in as well. So hopefully we are good to go. He says, are we good to go on the talk? Good. Okay, run Vt. And then we have got Jen and then Sharon and I will be back.