In this weeks CROWD talk Dave Connolly continues the series on identity with a sermon that focuses on understanding what it means to have an abundant life in a broken world, using John 10:10 as a core verse of study.

Key Takeaways

1. True Abundance is Spiritual: Dave emphasises that the abundant life Jesus promises in John 10:10 refers to spiritual abundance rather than material wealth or physical health. This abundance is about a deep, fulfilling relationship with Jesus, leading to eternal life and a life of true meaning and purpose.
2. Context Matters: Understanding the context of biblical verses is crucial. Dave says that John 10:10 and other scriptures are often misinterpreted to support the prosperity gospel. However, a proper contextual reading reveals that the promise of abundance pertains to spiritual well-being and not guaranteed physical prosperity or health.
3. Contentment and Trust in Christ: It is important to be content in all situations, relying on Christ for strength. Dave cites Philippians 4:12-13 to illustrate that true contentment comes from trusting in Jesus, whether in times of need or plenty, and living in obedience to God's will.

CROWD | Discover Abundance in Christ

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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. com forward slash next for more details.

Very warm welcome to Crowd Church. We are an online church, uh, just looking at this whole Jesus thing, uh, in ways which are hopefully interesting and fun. And Accessible, and all those kind of good things. And True. Don't forget True. True is very important. Um, but yes. Warm welcome to you. Great that you're here with us.

Do say hello in the comments, let us know where you're watching from, uh, and of course, as we said in the intro, any questions, anything as we go through, just write them in the comments and we will usually respond to them, uh, if we can. It's usually how it works, Jen, right? Yeah. You got your pen and paper there?

Jan Burch: Yeah, it's been quite chilled. Um, yeah. I was very, very, very tired this morning. But, um, yeah. It's been a nice day. Yeah, thank you. Yours? A bit jet lagged? A

Matt Edmundson: little bit jet lagged. Yeah, got back from a three week epic trip in the States on Friday, which, you know, still still recovering from, you know, hashtag First World Problems.

But yeah, no, good, good day. I watched a whole bunch of people get baptised this morning, which was awesome. And then I watched Lewis Hamilton. Spoiler alert, if you don't want to know who won the British Grand Prix, just mute the live stream for like a few seconds. Because Lewis Hamilton won the British Grand Prix.

First time he's won a Grand Prix in two and a half years. Amazing.

Jan Burch: My family were very pleased.

Matt Edmundson: Yeah, I bet they were. I was very pleased as well.

Jan Burch: And England are through.

Jan Burch: I

Matt Edmundson: did.

Jan Burch: Behind my cushion. Penalties. It's just too hard, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson: Oh, penalties are a nightmare.

They are an absolute nightmare. They are what they are. But yeah. We did well though. We did. We did. We did very well. It's a good weekend for English sport. But of course, if you're joining us from outside the UK, then I apologize for our going on about English sport. It's just normally we don't have an awful lot to cheer about in English sport.

And so when we do get stuff to hear about, we're very excited. So well done England, well done Lewis, keep going, keep going strong, because we are enjoying it right now. Do you think we're going to win the finals?

Jan Burch: I think they've got all the potential to do it. It's just, yeah, I think they're improving. That was the best game, wasn't it?

It was, it was definitely the best game. I wasn't too sure at the beginning. And, uh, yeah, of course we'll win.

Hopefully the former. Let's hope so. So what have we got coming up stage, Ann? I'm asking you that question and you have no idea.

Jan Burch: Dave Connolly talking.

Matt Edmundson: Very good. About?

Jan Burch: Mr. Cannoli. I

Matt Edmundson: love that. I don't

Jan Burch: know. Um, I've not had a chance to listen to it, I'm afraid.

Matt Edmundson: Okay, well, you're gonna get a chance to listen to it now.

Yeah. Great. Yeah, that's awesome. So yes, we have the very Reverend Dave Connolly speaking today. The way this works is we play a talk normally lasts about 15 to 20 minutes. And We then come back, Conversation Street, and we chat about the talk. So, Dave is delivering the talk tonight. He is talking about abundance in Christ.

What does it mean to have abundant life? How do we have it? How do we get it? Are we even allowed to have it? Is that a thing that we can do as Christians? Who knows? We're going to find out. In the next sort of 15 minutes from Dave. And then like I say, Jen, I'll be back to chat about it. So we'll see you in the comments.

Have you got your pen and paper ready?

Jan Burch: I have.

Matt Edmundson: I've got my marks. I'm ready. Are you ready?

Jan Burch: My pen is poised.

Matt Edmundson: My pen is poised. Excellent. Well, with my poised pen, uh, and my, uh, at the ready notebook, let's listen to Dave. Like I say, write your comments and questions in the comments. The comments that, I'm just replaying that phrase in my head.

Dave Connoley: Today, I want to share with you what it means to have abundant life in a broken world. If you've ever heard me speak before, you will know how much I love to read the Word of God and how I love to understand the context it was written in.

Through studying them and applying scripture to my life, it has enabled me to understand a little more of what my identity in Jesus Christ really is. I know some Bible preachers and teachers quote John 10, verse 10, as support for the idea that Christianity leads to physical prosperity, and you know, And Every Good Thing, they like to quote.

These words are also used to teach that Christians are promised health and wealth if they have enough faith. Yet what I read in the New Testament usually emphasizes a radically different result. Following Christ. But can I ask, are we not told that we will be persecuted, that the message of Jesus' divisive that we will need to take up our cross and follow him, is that not the natural expectation for Christians is the expectation or should the expectation not be suffering?

Don't lose sight of that in what I'm saying. God is the God of more than enough. He is the God of abundance. The third letter of John chapter 2. appears to be part of the introductory comments of a letter that was being written specifically for a man named Gaius or Gaius. It was simply part of a polite way to begin a letter in those days and similar greetings are found in other ancient writings.

And in order to understand what John 10, verse 10 really means, we need to look at it in context. John's gospel develops the biblical theme of shepherds and sheep. That is, Jesus being the shepherd, And the church, people being the sheep. The shepherd is accessible to the sheep. Strangers do not have personal relationship with the flock, but the good shepherd does.

As we read John's gospel, we see that life is one of the main concepts, one of the main ideas, one of the main thoughts, of his writing. I believe he uses the term life 36 times, where no other New Testament writing has it more. [00:13:00] We can find it 17 times in the book of Revelation, 14 times in Romans, and 13 times in the first letter of John.

So in this one writing, there occurs more than a quarter of all The New Testament references to life. Life in John's writings characteristically refers to eternal life. For example, in John 3. 15 we read that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him. The gift of God through his son. Yet here I believe the term must be taken in its broader sense.

Jesus can give a whole new meaning to living because he provides full satisfaction and perfect guidance. Jesus claims that he came that men might have life and might have it more abundantly. The Greek phrase used here for having more abundantly means to have a superabundance of things, to be a follower of Jesus, To know who he is and what he means is to have a superabundance of life.

They recognise that he has been sent from God and are ready to follow him as the Good Shepherd. Who by his sacrificial love, rescues his flock from evil and death, and leads them into the best of all pasture, where they can enjoy a richer and fuller, meaningful life. [00:16:00] He does not offer them an extension of their physical lives, nor an increase of their material wealth and possessions, but the possibility, Or should I say, certainty of a life lived at a higher level in obedience to God's will and reflecting His glory.

Such a view, in the light of the context that we are talking about and I've read about, is no less than shallow, and it overlooks the profound truth that is found in this passage. The passage promises superior, super abundant spiritual life. Life that is based on relationship with Jesus. Life empowered by the indwelling of Jesus.

Let me leave you with these closing thoughts. We need to surrender our lives fully to Jesus to experience The fullness of his abundance. We need to be fully aware that the enemy, Satan, is expressed through the image of the thief. And a thief is not looking to bring blessing into our lives. A thief only [00:19:00] brings destruction, loss, and death.

And finally, I started by saying how blessed I was to have learned and found something of my identity in Christ through reading the scriptures. Let me capture this thought with these verses and we find them in Philippians chapter 4 verse 12 to 13. I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to have plenty.

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength. Amen. God bless you.

Jan Burch: you?

Yeah. Thanks.

Matt Edmundson: Jan was just away with the fairies there, weren't you? Yeah.

Jan Burch: Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: So yeah, welcome back. Do write your thoughts, questions, comments, uh, and we will get into those in Conversation Street, but in true Dave Connolly style, delivers a classic Dave Conn talk. Uh, what stood out to you, Miss Jen?

Jan Burch: Um, just how, how exciting it sounds, but it just made me feel In one sense, sad for all the times or years, various points that I've not lived an abundant life, that I've allowed the worries of the world and different things to get the better of me.

We've, we've got eternal, um, eternity is real for us. Yeah. So it's not all about here and now. And we know where our home is in the future. And it, when I [00:22:00] think that way, I can cope better.

Yeah.

Jan Burch: Because I know it's, it's really brief. Yeah. Our time here. Um, so I think having it an eternal perspective really, really helps.

But I want to live an abundant life.

Matt Edmundson: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jan Burch: How about you?

Matt Edmundson: Definitely. I mean, why would you not, right? Why would you not want to live an abundant life? Yeah. You know, I find it fascinating that, um, Jesus reveals his mission in various stages of the gospel. Um, you know, the, the start of his journey, he stands up and reads from the prophet Isaiah, says, the spirit of the Lord is upon me, has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor and all this sort of stuff, which is great.

I don't think that's what Jesus meant. No. Um, certainly not if I interpret the rest of the Bible Yeah. In the context of that. Um, but he, so you have to understand what abundant life is. Mm-Hmm. . But the basic premise is such that Mm-Hmm. , we have an abundant life.

Jan Burch: Right. Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: So when you say that, um, what's my, okay, I'll get back to the comments in a minute.

Jan Burch: Um, that I, you know, we have access, don't we, to, to God on a daily basis, to wisdom, to his love to us. Um, Wisdom, have I just said wisdom? Yeah, you can say

Matt Edmundson: it twice, because there's a lot of it.

Jan Burch: I need wisdom. And, and I just think it's, it's like, um, you know, watching a black and white TV when there's a perfectly good colour one that's in the other room. That's such a good analogy. It's like, why would you do that? Yeah. So I think some of it is some of it's, I think, knowing who we are in Christ. Um, sometimes you don't feel you deserve the colour TV.

I was, I was, you know, busy at home most of the time. And, you know, that was brilliant. It was a real blessing to have to have all of that. Um, but in those moments, I don't, I couldn't honestly think about it. didn't feel like my life was abundant. Yeah. I was blessed beyond measure. Yeah. But I wasn't living at a higher level.

We know clearly it isn't, but I do think it's, it all comes back, Matt, to spending time with Jesus, getting to know him. Where does my, my help come from? Yeah,

Matt Edmundson: my help comes from the Lord. Yeah,

Jan Burch: it doesn't come from anywhere else. Nothing else can satisfy us. How about you? Have you ever, you know, when you heard the phrase abundance or abundant life, what, what did that mean to you?

I remember years ago, this is before I was married. This was before I was married. And Sharon actually was in the audience. Yeah, listening to me do this talk on the life of God. Yeah. And, and I mentioned the fact I was using these verses. No, no, this was a church. This was at Frontline. And I remember these verses were the foundation for that talk.

And I said, You know, if I ever have a daughter, because I was talking about the Greek word Zoe, and I said, if I ever have a daughter, I'm just going to call her Zoe, because I think it's one of the it's one of the most amazing words in the New Testament. And hence the reason we called it Zoe. She was, she was named even before I got married.

um,

Matt Edmundson: Abundant life.

If we just if all we measure that by is how much stuff I have and how many problems I don't have in my life. I think it's a very shallow measurement of Zoe of because it means it means something more. It means life as God has it. So Jesus is saying I'm coming to give you life, but life as God has it

Jan Burch: or intended.

Yeah. And it's that kind of that. Yeah,

And it's like, you know what, when sin came into the world, If you think about what happened to Adam, uh, in the story of the God of Eden, God breathed into him the breath of life, that Zoe, right? So here's life as God has it. And Adam comes into being. Adam and Eve then, you know, sin, screw it up for everybody.

I think there are definite to answer your question. So this is a really long answer to your question. To come back to it. Yes, there are times when I have lived in and just accepted the black and white TV where I've where I've lived life, not in its abundance, not as God would have it. And there are times when I have definitely known that joy, that abundant life, that peace, you know, that's abundant life, abundance of peace when life is all crazy.

In turmoil, right? Abundance of joy when everything around you tells you not to have that, an abundance of, um, you know, calm and wisdom when you don't know the right answer and all this sort of stuff, you know, that's, that to me is abundant life. So, um, yeah. Does that answer your question?

Jan Burch: Yeah. Thank you.

Forgot what my question was. Yeah. But yeah.

But he says, he also warns us in this, that the thief comes to steal, kill and to destroy. And I think sometimes with abundant life, just like you did, it's, yeah, you've got to identify what is the thief, what's robbing you of abundant life.

Jan Burch: Well, I, I, I think that in the middle, you know, as you know, you're going through your life on a 24 hour basis, it's not always clear.

And it's like, I think I've been totally, um, robbed at times, and I only realized it in retrospect. Yeah, not at the time when I could have done something about it. Yeah. Um, yeah. But no, I loved, [00:33:00] I loved what Dave said about learning that passage, um, about learning to be content. Yeah, I think that is the key.

Yeah, that is the secret to, to all of this. I think, you know, Paul was saying, I've known what it is to be full, I've known what it is to be hungry, and, um, you know, he went through it, he experienced both sides of the coin, um, but he was content with very little, and he was content with, you know, when things were better, but he wasn't more happy when it was better, he was, you know, Perfectly fine to go back to the other.

Um, and I think people that have, are content. I think that's a real gift.

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: And it's not actually contentment is one of those things that is not easy to do. Do you know what I mean? It's, it's, it's not like you learn. Yeah. Right. And it's because I mean, You know, I know what it is to be rich, I know what it is to be poor, I know what it is to be, uh, without, and I know what it is to be, you know, full and all this sort of stuff.

And everyone listening to this, and he says all these things that go on, the sort of the extremes of life, and then he says in, doesn't he, I have learned to be content. And I can imagine, as he's writing that, everyone's going, how can you be content? in When Life's Down The Toilet. And he follows that up with probably one of the most quoted verses in the Bible.

He follows it up by saying, I can do all of this because Christ strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And it's what he's saying there is I can be content in all of these situations because it's Christ who strengthens me. Yeah, that's abundant life. Yeah, yeah. Abundant life is being content.

Jan Burch: Zoe.

Matt Edmundson: No, contentment is all about being independent of the circumstances. That's what contentment means. It means regardless of what's going on around me.

I can live independently of that because I am living through Christ who strengthens me. Do you see what I mean? So whether I have a little, whether I have a lot, I can have abundant life. Doesn't make any difference. Yeah. Yeah. So, but like coming back to this abundant life is not material stuff, right? Um, and I think contentment is.

If, if, again, I use the, you know, we go back to the thief analogy, the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. Yeah. What is robbing you of abundant life? Yeah. What is the thief that's operating in your life? Yeah. Um, usually, you know, you're being robbed because you're not content.

Jan Burch: Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: Do you see what I mean?

Yeah. It's one of the, the measurements of it, isn't it? Am I content? No. Were you being robbed? Abundant life

Jan Burch: yeah

Jan Burch: yeah

Matt Edmundson: it's a poor saying I know what it is to be rich but if you're rich and wealthy you want to chase more rich and wealth yeah right I know what it is to be poor so you know you're chasing obviously when you're poor there's a whole lot more to deal with yeah and it's not easy And Paul in that says, I've learned to be content.

You can be content in either situation. If you can't find contentment where you're at, then you're being robbed of abundant life. It's such a powerful thing to say.

Jan Burch: It is.

Matt Edmundson: Um, and getting your head around that's quite, it's quite tricky, right?

Jan Burch: It is very tricky. Yeah. And it, and it would be different for, for each of us.

The thief comes in different forms. For all of us, um, but I, I do think the importance is that we recognize that. Yeah. So what are some

Matt Edmundson: of the things, what are some of the things that rob you? Do you think?

Yep.

Jan Burch: Um, sometimes to relax.

And it's great. And sometimes I don't. And why don't

I?

Jan Burch: It's just stupid. It's like, a little, little child wanting a hug, and the mum or the dad with their arms open wide, and then the kid just doesn't get there. Yeah, it's like, why? Why would you not run there? Yeah. And yeah, so I'm very stupid sometimes.

Matt Edmundson: Not just you, Jan, to be fair.

I think we're we're all in that bucket on occasions, aren't we? Yeah, yeah. We all know what to do. But doing it is not always the The thing that we do do. It's

All the time. Right. So if it meant for me to go and have like time with God meant leaving that room and going somewhere else, I found it really hard to do. Yeah. Now, now I don't when he joking, but, um, Tim, if you're watching, he, he, um, but in the beginning I didn't wanna be on my own. Yeah. And, um, but that, that's it.

And that would really help. And then I say, why can't I see you? Or touch you, you know, just hold your hand or, and that's what I've longed for. And that's why it's easy for me to go to a person, you know, either my husband, my children, a friend. Because I want that contact. But, you know, God, God is intimate with us.

But just obviously in a different way.

So we are in Christ, he is in us. Um, and so there's a whole bunch of stuff to get into here. But I find, I mean, it's interesting, you know, for you, you talk about the thief being apathy, which I totally get. Um, yeah. I think one of the things that I find is the biggest robber of abundant life for me is distraction.

Okay. And I think in the world in which we live Mm-Hmm. there is so much distraction. Yeah. Um, constant. It's, it's un unbelievable. Yeah. How much distraction there is and what you can get distracted with. Yeah. Um, we, we, we don't like to get bored now. No, we can't do it. We stand in a queue, we'll look at our phones, we'll do this, we'll do that.

And it's that. That I mean, Matt put in the comment here, because to abundant life, he's talking about Sabbath. In fact, Nicola put in the comments today, for me, I have abundant life sitting fishing, watching you

Jan Burch: guys. Yeah.

Yeah, especially in the world in which we live. And I find I if I get distracted. A lot, then that for me is a big thief. That robs a bit of life because that stops me connecting as much as I should with God, if that makes sense. I don't know if that's ever, do you get distracted or is it just me?

Jan Burch: Um, no, yeah, I can get distracted.

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: Easily. It's one of the, Nicola's put, that's why I go fishing. So should be a Sabbath rest, isn't it?

Jan Burch: I've never been fishing. You know, at the beach with my little net when I'm, um, maybe a crab in the sand, not in the water, not very good at fishing, but I can, I understand why people do it because it is a, It is a solitary sort of

Matt Edmundson: quiet thing,

Matt Edmundson: Yeah, and Jesus would go up the mountains, wouldn't he? And it's that he would be with people, he would be with crowds. He would withdraw. He would withdraw and go to those sacred spaces. And I think in the world in which we live, finding that sacred space, that place where you can avoid distraction, just be with God.

Jan Burch: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's it. That's great, Matt, that you've said that, because my desire is to withdraw, but I'm not going always to a sacred space, unlike Jesus. It's that communion, isn't it? Yeah. With the Father. Um, yeah, that's a real challenge, what you just said to me there. Well, it's going to a space, it's

Matt Edmundson: making the space sacred, isn't it?

What's my mountain side? You know, what's my mountain place? Sure. And where can I go? where I can connect. Because that's where abundant life is. That's where contentment is. Yeah. And actually, when I don't have those, I over about six months, I start to feel it. I start to feel like I'm burning out. Yeah, you know, we can only go so long in our own strength, can't we?

But that, that joy, that abundance of life that Christ offers, I, I don't think is an automatic thing. I think sometimes we have to go find it.

Jan Burch: Can you give any examples of times when you've gone and found your sacred space? Or?

Matt Edmundson: Oh, yeah, that would look like, yeah. So for me, there's a number of things that I do.

And my around

Jan Burch: the park, I

I love the Lake District, love to go out for a walk in the hills, which is just another sacred space. Um, I actually, I love flying on airplanes because no one can call me no , and so I can get so much processing and thinking done in those times. Yeah. Um, so I just came back from the States. This trip was a, I've done so many trips where I've come back more tired than the one I've went and I, last year I went and did seven flights When I was in the States, I went seven different places.

So if I, even if I can't get to the Lake District, I can walk around the local park.

Jan Burch: Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: Do you know what I mean? It, I don't have to go somewhere special or do something special. Um, and for me, I just, even just changing scenery, I think really helps, you know, just taking my computer and working in a coffee shop, just with a journal, that's the other thing I like to do.

I like to journal. So, um, yeah, some of the things I would do. What about you?

Jan Burch: Yeah, um, I think my car, being in my car on my own is a sacred space for me. I do think in that, and yeah, I listen to podcasts, so. I listen to UCB at times. Um, and again, that's somewhere that no one really will. Yeah. Find me if they approach.

Matt Edmundson: are great for that, aren't they? They are really great, just for, yeah. Yeah,

Jan Burch: just doing University Open Days, as I said to you before.

Jenny, um, our friend Jenny, um, I was with her in the car and, You know, and it was just great fun, just being able to chat, um, and we had, we had fun, you know, but we, we got a chance to talk, I haven't chatted with her for ages and, uh, I think cars are great for that.

Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah, there they are. And if you haven't done so already, the Jenny she's talking about, Jenny Oliver has a story on What's The Story Podcast.

Jan Burch: She does, yeah, really great story. She has a

Jan Burch: What's The Story, it's amazing.

Matt Edmundson: Yeah, yeah, great little podcast, great little podcast. So what's your thief? What stops you from having an abundant life? What robs you from that? And I think identifying the thief that comes to steal, to kill and to destroy is really We can spiritualise this, can't we, as Christians? We can go, let's just talk about the devil, let's just talk about our enemy.

He just comes to steal, kill and destroy. And it's like, yes, that's true. That's true. But what are the things, the tactics that robs from you abundant life? This abundant life, life as God has it, that Jesus came to bring you, what is robbing you from that? Now, it may be, obviously, that you are new to the Christian faith, you haven't yet decided to follow Christ.

Oh, it's very small. Um, you can go to www. crowd. church. Uh, and on the website is a page, um, that talks about what it means to be a Christian. Uh, and there's like a whole online alpha course, which you can do, which is great. We do in person. In person online, Alpha. So we do live Alpha. We do live Alpha online, which you can come join, explore the Christian faith a bit more, because Jesus really did come to give us this abundant life.

And that's my story. Don't always walk in it. But that's down to me, not Jesus. Yeah. Would that be fair? Yes.

Jan Burch: Always.

Matt Edmundson: Always fair. Yeah, always fair. So yeah, do check that out. We'd love to hear from you. And obviously any questions you've got, do let us know. No, uh, but that's, I think we'll probably end up Conversation Street there unless you've got anything else you want to throw in from your notes.

Jan Burch: No, I think I've mentioned the main things that stood out to me. So yeah, thank you, Dave. Another brilliant talk.

Matt Edmundson: Yep.

Matt Edmundson: Fabulous. Yes. Very good talk. So identify your thief and enjoy, um, abundant life and obviously prioritize God. I think that's probably a fair thing to say with all of that.

Um, so just looking down the comments here where Matt Crew reminds me of everything I need to do, which is great. So, uh, promote prayer. Yes. If you have any prayer requests, Um, then do reach out to us via the website, www. crowd. church, or via social media, which is at Crowd Church. You can reach us on any of those platforms with your prayer requests.

Uh, we would love to hear from you. We have been busy praying for people all over the world this week, which has been fan dabby dosey. Um, so yeah, that's been great. What's happening next week, uh, is Sharon. Sharon is talking next week. Can't whistle, sorry. That was a woo oo. Is that what that was? I'm glad you told me, because I had no idea.

Jan Burch: Shazza. She's ace.

Matt Edmundson: She's ace. So she is talking about, so we're doing this sort of little mini series in the whole series on wholeness, on what it means to be in Christ, uh, created in Christ. And so Sharon is talking about. Being His workmanship. Oh, yeah. That verse in Ephesians 2, 10, for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Jan Burch: Yeah. He has prepared in advance

Matt Edmundson: for us to walk in. Hey, we got there.

Jan Burch: Amen.

Matt Edmundson: So that's next week. So do come join us next week. If you haven't done so already, make sure you like, subscribe and do all that good stuff. As we are here every Sunday live at 6pm. With the exception of August, just a heads up in August, we go to what we call the non live live stream, which is great, actually.

So that's our Sabbath is August. So we have the non live live streams to look forward to. We are going, do you know what we're going to do? Have I told

Jan Burch: you this? No, I don't think so.

Matt Edmundson: Not told you this. Psalms. Psalms.

Jan Burch: Oh, so we,

Matt Edmundson: yeah, we got some, we did it a little bit at Frontline, we did it last year as well, actually, where we get people to bring

Jan Burch: their

Matt Edmundson: favorite song.

Yeah. And just talk about what it means.

Jan Burch: Oh, brilliant. Yeah.

Matt Edmundson: So looking forward to that. That's going to be great. Very

Jan Burch: edifying.

Matt Edmundson: Well, one would hope so. So yeah, we've got that coming up in August, so do come join us for that. Um, but yeah, that's it from us, I think, um, if you would like to know more about Crowd, uh, obviously go to crowd.

I joined from the States. Angelica joined from. I want to say the Philippines.

Jan Burch: Oh, Japan?

Matt Edmundson: No, it was the Philippines, I think. And then we had a few folks from the, I mean, you talk about worldwide. Yeah. Amazing. Love that. So if you'd like to know more about them, just reach out to us via the website.

Scooby Dooby Doo. I have no idea either. Just go to crowd. church and all the information's on there. You can always reach out to us via the contact page and we'll come back to you and, uh,

Jan Burch: yeah.

Matt Edmundson: Thanks Jan for suffering, Matt says, for putting up with Matt Edmundson.

Jan Burch: Matt Edmundson's ace. You tell him, Jan.

Matt Edmundson: Just look down that camera there and tell him.

Jan Burch: I like Matt Edmundson.

Matt Edmundson: No, thank you. In fact, you volunteered to do this tonight. You stepped in. Yeah, yeah. Which is great. So, uh, I think that's it from all of us here at Crowd Church. Thank you so much for joining us this week, uh, wherever you are, have a fantastic week. And I hope you just meditate and ruminate, uh, and think about this promise of Christ that he came to give you an abundant life, identify the thieves, what stops it happening for you.

And enjoy the abundance that Christ offers us because becoming whole is all about living an abundant life. So that's it from me. Jan, any final words for you?

Jan Burch: No, just have a great week and God bless you.

Matt Edmundson: Fantastic. And Nicola, I hope you catch lots of fish. Yeah. But that's it from Jan and myself. Have a fantastic week.

Bless you guys. We'll see you next time.

Now, by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform, it helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life. So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check www. crowd. church, where you can learn more about us.

As a church, more about the Christian faith and also how to connect into our church community. It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time. That's it from us. God bless you. Bye for now.

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

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. com forward slash next for more details.