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Unshakeable Joy: Finding Contentment Beyond Life's Storms
Episode 6523rd April 2024 • CROWD Church Livestream • Crowd Church
00:00:00 01:05:12

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This talk centres on the nature of Christian joy - a joy that remains steadfast and unshaken regardless of life's tumultuous circumstances. Drawing from the deep well of Scripture, particularly Philippians 4:4-7, we invite you into a transformative understanding of joy that is not tied to the ephemeral moments of happiness but anchored in the eternal presence of God.

Key Highlights:

  1. Understanding Christian Joy: Explore the distinction between the fleeting nature of secular happiness and the enduring contentment of Christian joy. Learn why this joy is not just a feeling but a state of being that can withstand the tests of life.
  2. The Role of Faith: Discover how faith lays the foundation for this unshakeable joy, enabling us to rejoice in the Lord always, even amidst adversity.
  3. Joy vs. Circumstances: Unpack the pivotal realisation that while secular happiness is circumstantially driven, Christian joy thrives independently of life’s ups and downs.
  4. Cultivating Joy: Gain practical insights into how we can cultivate a joy that resonates deep within our hearts, drawing us closer to God and enriching our spiritual lives.
  5. The Promise of Peace: Delve into the promise of the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus—a peace intrinsically linked to the joy we find in God.
  6. A Call to Rejoice: Be encouraged by Paul’s call to rejoice in the Lord always, understanding its significance, especially as it was written from a place of imprisonment and suffering.

Join us as we explore the contours of a joy that is not shaken by the world's chaos - a joy that finds its roots in the unchangeable nature of God's love and promise. Discover how to anchor your heart in this unshakeable joy, transforming your perspective on life's storms and finding contentment that transcends understanding.

Transcripts

Matt Edmundson:

Welcome to this week's crowd church service.

Matt Edmundson:

We are a digital church on a quest to discover how Jesus helps

Matt Edmundson:

us live a more meaningful life.

Matt Edmundson:

We are a community, a space to explore the Christian faith and a place

Matt Edmundson:

where you can contribute and grow.

Matt Edmundson:

I want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church and there are

Matt Edmundson:

a few ways that you can do just that.

Matt Edmundson:

Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our live stream

Matt Edmundson:

and if you're up for it, why not invite a few friends over and explore?

Matt Edmundson:

experience the service together.

Matt Edmundson:

Church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others.

Matt Edmundson:

And one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also join one of our

Matt Edmundson:

mid week groups, where we meet online together to catch up and discover

Matt Edmundson:

more about the amazingness of Christ.

Matt Edmundson:

You can also subscribe to our podcast called What's The Story.

Matt Edmundson:

It's the story where we deep dive into stories of faith and

Matt Edmundson:

courage from everyday people.

Matt Edmundson:

More information about all of these things that I've mentioned can

Matt Edmundson:

be found on our website at www.

Matt Edmundson:

crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

church or you can reach us on social media at Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

If you're new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith and would like

Matt Edmundson:

to know what your next why not head over to our website, crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

church forward slash next, for more details.

Matt Edmundson:

And now, the moment you've been waiting for is here.

Matt Edmundson:

Our online church service starts right now.

Matt Edmundson:

Good evening and welcome to Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

My name is Matt Edmundson and beside me is the beautiful, the legendary, Glegler.

Claire Glare:

Hi!

Claire Glare:

Oh, just one hand possessed.

Claire Glare:

A random hand.

Matt Edmundson:

We're having too much fun here today, ladies and gentlemen.

Matt Edmundson:

Let me tell you.

Matt Edmundson:

Welcome to Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

If this is your first time with us, a very warm welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

It's great that you're here.

Matt Edmundson:

Great that you can be with us.

Matt Edmundson:

If you are a regular, it will look different again because

Matt Edmundson:

we're streaming on Instagram.

Matt Edmundson:

So we have to do this two camera shot thing.

Matt Edmundson:

Otherwise it doesn't make sense for Instagram and the vertical live streaming.

Matt Edmundson:

So that's why we're doing what we're doing.

Matt Edmundson:

So very warm welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

Good to see you.

Matt Edmundson:

Good to see you, Sarah.

Matt Edmundson:

Andy's in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

Jenny's in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

We've got Peter in the comments as well.

Matt Edmundson:

We've got Matt Crew in the comments and we've got me testing

Matt Edmundson:

every platform in the comments.

Claire Glare:

And I'm just clueless.

Claire Glare:

No, never.

Claire Glare:

I don't even have an Insta account.

Claire Glare:

Do you not have an Instagram account?

Claire Glare:

I'm 51.

Claire Glare:

I know, it's impossible to believe.

Matt Edmundson:

But I'm the similar sort of age.

Matt Edmundson:

In fact, I'm the identical age.

Matt Edmundson:

And I have an Instagram account.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, but

Claire Glare:

you Do stuff like that, don't you, for a living?

Claire Glare:

I'm just like, I'm just trying it.

Claire Glare:

I don't, I've even taken Facebook off my phone now, just oh really?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Are you just shutting it off for that whole thing?

Claire Glare:

I just, I haven't got the time.

Matt Edmundson:

Fair play.

Claire Glare:

It's not that I don't, I'm not interested, it's just, yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah we are an online church.

Claire Glare:

Yes.

Matt Edmundson:

We do the church digitally, it's just that Clare doesn't

Matt Edmundson:

do Instagram, Facebook or any of the other platforms because she's not got time.

Claire Glare:

But

Matt Edmundson:

I'm here.

Matt Edmundson:

Very grateful you are in fact

Claire Glare:

here.

Claire Glare:

I'm honoured to be here.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

Love it.

Matt Edmundson:

Love it.

Matt Edmundson:

Love it.

Matt Edmundson:

Love it.

Matt Edmundson:

Warm welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

Great if you're joining us.

Matt Edmundson:

Great if you're joining us on Instagram.

Matt Edmundson:

Let us know how, if it's working okay on

Claire Glare:

Instagram.

Claire Glare:

Nicola's here as well, which is

Matt Edmundson:

nice.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicola's, oh yeah, Nicola's here as well.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, great to see everybody.

Matt Edmundson:

Matt says, please do not sing, Claire.

Claire Glare:

We've already done some singing, haven't we?

Matt Edmundson:

We have.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And I went, oh no, we're in karaoke mode already.

Claire Glare:

Stop.

Claire Glare:

Stop with the karaoke.

Claire Glare:

It was

Matt Edmundson:

slightly dis Oh, look.

Matt Edmundson:

Okay.

Matt Edmundson:

Have they

Claire Glare:

won?

Matt Edmundson:

No.

Matt Edmundson:

I see that.

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry, I'm just checking.

Matt Edmundson:

I've got the Instagram feed on my phone.

Claire Glare:

Oh, okay.

Claire Glare:

Too many screens for me.

Matt Edmundson:

Way too many screens going on here.

Matt Edmundson:

Way too many screens.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicholas says, where's the knitting?

Matt Edmundson:

Dun.

Matt Edmundson:

Later,

Claire Glare:

I'll show you how I'm doing.

Matt Edmundson:

Just don't you don't want to disappoint really, do you?

Claire Glare:

Matt reminded me actually, today.

Claire Glare:

I did.

Claire Glare:

He said bring your knitting.

Claire Glare:

I did.

Claire Glare:

Bring your

Matt Edmundson:

knitting.

Matt Edmundson:

Gotta bring the knitting, gotta bring the knitting.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, a warm welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

This is not a knitting channel by the way, this is actually church online.

Matt Edmundson:

So yes, welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

We are Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

A great place to explore the Christian Faith.

Matt Edmundson:

So for this first time with us very warm welcome.

Matt Edmundson:

Alistair is on Instagram.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, yes he is.

Matt Edmundson:

Love you guys.

Matt Edmundson:

Love you too, Alistair.

Matt Edmundson:

Absolute legend.

Matt Edmundson:

And so it's great that you could join us.

Matt Edmundson:

You should, I wish I could show everybody.

Matt Edmundson:

One day I'll get a camera hooked up and you'll be able to see all the screens and

Matt Edmundson:

monitors that are around us right now.

Matt Edmundson:

One of which, I'm not going to lie.

Claire Glare:

I was about to, I was about to bring it out.

Claire Glare:

I was about to say.

Claire Glare:

It's an

Matt Edmundson:

iPad with the Liverpool game on it.

Claire Glare:

Horror.

Claire Glare:

Horror.

Claire Glare:

I'm horrified.

Claire Glare:

I'm an Evertonian if I'm out.

Claire Glare:

You're an Evertonian?

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Did you not know that?

Claire Glare:

If I'm anything, I'm not really anything, but if I'm anything, I'm in the blue.

Claire Glare:

Because they are the people's team, really, in Liverpool.

Claire Glare:

I might be excommunicated.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm just going to look for that button where I

Matt Edmundson:

can switch your microphone off.

Matt Edmundson:

So I'm not happy.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm not happy.

Matt Edmundson:

Did not know that.

Matt Edmundson:

Lala's on her, oh shit, Lala's moved to Instagram now.

Matt Edmundson:

Ah, very good.

Claire Glare:

I wonder whether some people Alistair says

Matt Edmundson:

why.

Matt Edmundson:

Why on earth would you want to be an Everton supporter

Matt Edmundson:

and not a Liverpool supporter?

Claire Glare:

Underdog.

Claire Glare:

Always the underdog.

Claire Glare:

It's about justice.

Claire Glare:

It's about equaling the balance.

Claire Glare:

It's about Fighting Against The Odds, basically.

Claire Glare:

There, that's the gospel in

Matt Edmundson:

a nutshell.

Matt Edmundson:

The gospel is Everton Football Club.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, it's not, ladies and gentlemen.

Matt Edmundson:

I just wanted you to know we're not promoting heresy on this channel.

Matt Edmundson:

Matt, is the crowd WhatsApp not working at the moment?

Matt Edmundson:

I've noticed that some messages are not being picked up, answered.

Matt Edmundson:

Although maybe that's just mine.

Matt Edmundson:

Actually, that's a very good question, Jen.

Matt Edmundson:

The WhatsApp is not working at the moment.

Matt Edmundson:

So if you have tried us.

Matt Edmundson:

To reach us on WhatsApp, you might well have struggled and I'm trying to get it

Matt Edmundson:

sorted out, and it does not seem to be resolving itself for whatever reason,

Matt Edmundson:

and I genuinely don't know what the problem is, I don't know why WhatsApp is

Matt Edmundson:

not working, so just use email for now.

Matt Edmundson:

I need to take the WhatsApp off the website.

Claire Glare:

That's been going on for a few days, has it?

Matt Edmundson:

It's been going on for a week and a half and we've been trying

Matt Edmundson:

all kinds of things to try and get it sorted out, yeah, sorry about that.

Matt Edmundson:

But yeah, good point, Jen.

Matt Edmundson:

Thanks for letting me know.

Matt Edmundson:

And just to let you all know, if you do try and reach that through

Matt Edmundson:

WhatsApp, you're going to struggle, but you can reach us on WhatsApp

Matt Edmundson:

which you'll find on the website, or you can reach us via social media.

Matt Edmundson:

So the website is www.

Matt Edmundson:

crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

church, social media at Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

Any of those will work whilst WhatsApp is getting sorted out.

Matt Edmundson:

Nothing.

Matt Edmundson:

I've not,

Claire Glare:

I have nothing to add.

Claire Glare:

I dunno either.

Matt Edmundson:

I dunno.

Matt Edmundson:

, look, I'm so from these comments, I know they're funny comments.

Matt Edmundson:

It could be worse.

Matt Edmundson:

She could be a Palace fan.

Matt Edmundson:

. Claire Glare: I know that's Crystal Palace.

Matt Edmundson:

That's as good as it gets in football for me.

Matt Edmundson:

I've yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Are you, so Sarah, does that mean you're a Palace fan?

Matt Edmundson:

I dunno.

Matt Edmundson:

Is

Claire Glare:

that, is she called Sarah?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

She's moved from YouTube where she was on, and now she's gone

Matt Edmundson:

to Instagram, Lala Hereford.

Matt Edmundson:

So that's Nicola.

Matt Edmundson:

She says Dave Conn is an Everton fan, which is actually true.

Matt Edmundson:

And Dave Conn is doing today's talk.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, Sarah's a Palace fan.

Matt Edmundson:

Her dad's from Croydon.

Claire Glare:

But the Church of Jesus is a broad place, and all football fans

Claire Glare:

are welcome, and non football fans even.

Matt Edmundson:

Yes,

Claire Glare:

just the disclaimer.

Matt Edmundson:

Just the disclaimer.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm trying to figure out why that comment still on the screen.

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

There we go.

Claire Glare:

No spoilers.

Claire Glare:

3:1 for Liverpool.

Claire Glare:

They've just scored another one.

Claire Glare:

Sorry.

Claire Glare:

Was that really bad?

Claire Glare:

Is that really?

Claire Glare:

Is that the non done thing in the football world?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

I've just, oh, but Jürgen Zappi.

Matt Edmundson:

Jürgen is happy.

Matt Edmundson:

Yes.

Matt Edmundson:

Very sorry about revealing the scores.

Matt Edmundson:

Clad doesn't do football.

Matt Edmundson:

So if you're watching this while the football is going

Matt Edmundson:

on, very warm welcome to you.

Matt Edmundson:

Coventry scored again.

Matt Edmundson:

So okay we're getting all the scores coming in on the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, we're keep them coming, it's good to keep up with it.

Matt Edmundson:

We do Jesus and football, that's what we do.

Claire Glare:

And knitting, and karaoke.

Claire Glare:

I think we've got many, and woodwork.

Claire Glare:

We've got many strings to our bows.

Matt Edmundson:

We have crowd churches, not just Not

Claire Glare:

violin in.

Claire Glare:

Although I did do that when I was in

Matt Edmundson:

primary school.

Claire Glare:

I got up to grade three on the viola.

Claire Glare:

Oh, viola?

Claire Glare:

Yeah, because I think they ran out of violins.

Claire Glare:

So I was a bit, I had the longer one.

Matt Edmundson:

Is a viola just like a shorter, smaller violin?

Matt Edmundson:

Longer.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, is it longer?

Matt Edmundson:

Okay.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

I knew that was a size differential.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, very good.

Matt Edmundson:

Okay, so coming up today, we are talking about wholeness.

Matt Edmundson:

We've been doing a whole series on wholeness and we are in the first part

Matt Edmundson:

of five sections that we're looking at where wholeness is concerned.

Matt Edmundson:

Do you remember what the five sections are?

Matt Edmundson:

No, you don't do.

Claire Glare:

I've got to be one of the worst hosts that you have I'm

Matt Edmundson:

so sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

No, you're one of my favourites, it's just great.

Matt Edmundson:

It's

Claire Glare:

not polished.

Claire Glare:

It will be physical health, mental health.

Claire Glare:

Those are, yeah, no, I've no idea.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, spiritual disciplines, was that one of them?

Claire Glare:

No, you tell us what the actual orderly were, are.

Matt Edmundson:

Spiritual health, soul health, body health,

Matt Edmundson:

relationship health, economic health.

Matt Edmundson:

They're the five areas that we're looking at.

Matt Edmundson:

Good.

Matt Edmundson:

Where wholeness is concerned.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, we're going to be looking at those, which is going to be great.

Matt Edmundson:

So we're in the first ones.

Matt Edmundson:

We're still doing spiritual health.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Which is good.

Matt Edmundson:

And so last week when I was on my, if you're a regular to crowd, you'll

Matt Edmundson:

know that I was on a course last week.

Matt Edmundson:

And Dan and Ruth hosted and introduced the Fruits of the Spirit.

Matt Edmundson:

Sharon, my beautiful wife, did a talk on love.

Matt Edmundson:

Because she is just a lovely person.

Matt Edmundson:

She is.

Claire Glare:

She is.

Matt Edmundson:

Brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, no doubt.

Matt Edmundson:

So anyway, so she did that talk.

Matt Edmundson:

So we're looking at the Fruits of the Spirit, which is how would you

Matt Edmundson:

explain the Fruits of the Spirit?

Claire Glare:

Put me on the spot, Matt.

Claire Glare:

I think it's the analogy of a tree, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

So what we are planted in are the, our relationship with Jesus,

Claire Glare:

relying on the blood of Jesus and all that he's done for us.

Claire Glare:

And that daily relationship, then what flows out of us.

Claire Glare:

Is that okay?

Claire Glare:

Okay.

Matt Edmundson:

Is that right?

Matt Edmundson:

What do you think?

Matt Edmundson:

Is that okay?

Claire Glare:

I'm sure somebody else has got a bad time.

Claire Glare:

Dave will have one for us tonight.

Matt Edmundson:

Dave will have one.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, so the fruits of the spirit like Claire said and actually as

Matt Edmundson:

we, for me, as the Holy Spirit lives in you, this is what outworks out.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

So the Holy Spirit in you outworks through you.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

These things, right?

Matt Edmundson:

And so like an apple tree bears apples.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

So the fruits of the spirit.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

We bear the things of God.

Matt Edmundson:

And

Claire Glare:

it's unforced, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

So if you're, Oh, this is really funny.

Claire Glare:

Oh gosh, that sounds a bit scary.

Claire Glare:

Sorry.

Claire Glare:

Forced laughter isn't real joy, is it?

Matt Edmundson:

No.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Whereas we're having a really joyful time.

Claire Glare:

We

Matt Edmundson:

are.

Matt Edmundson:

Unforced.

Matt Edmundson:

It's actually when, I don't know if Sadaf did it deliberately

Matt Edmundson:

that you and I did the joy one.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't

Claire Glare:

know.

Claire Glare:

I would, I, like one of my favorite verses in the Bible is the joy of

Claire Glare:

the Lord will be your strength.

Claire Glare:

And I would definitely say that joy is, and fun, and I don't mean that

Claire Glare:

in a frivolous way, but actually it's a really important part.

Claire Glare:

And I think it's kept me mentally really healthy over the years.

Claire Glare:

And and and that's a gift, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, very much it is very much so

Claire Glare:

yes, so joy.

Claire Glare:

I did say, excited to be here.

Matt Edmundson:

Unspeakable joy.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

So that's going to be today's topic.

Matt Edmundson:

We've got Dave Connolly talking about that.

Matt Edmundson:

So what's going to happen is we're going to play that talk.

Matt Edmundson:

You can watch that talk.

Matt Edmundson:

And I'm just looking at the comments here.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicola says, I've got bad ribs.

Matt Edmundson:

Please stop making me laugh.

Claire Glare:

That's a good start.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, we don't want to hurt you anymore.

Claire Glare:

But mad woman laughter is also bad.

Claire Glare:

Matt Crew, you kill me.

Claire Glare:

Just evil.

Matt Edmundson:

I hope he's talking about you and not me.

Matt Edmundson:

That's all I'm saying.

Matt Edmundson:

You've got

Claire Glare:

a muttly laugh,

Matt Edmundson:

haven't you?

Matt Edmundson:

I have got a bit of a muttly laugh.

Matt Edmundson:

You're showing your age now, you're 15.

Matt Edmundson:

It's

Claire Glare:

alright, I'm happy to, I'm ageing gracefully.

Claire Glare:

I think, possibly.

Matt Edmundson:

Possibly.

Matt Edmundson:

We don't know.

Claire Glare:

We don't know.

Claire Glare:

We

Matt Edmundson:

don't know.

Matt Edmundson:

So yes, we're going to play the talk.

Matt Edmundson:

During the talk, write your thoughts, comments, ideas, questions, whatever's

Matt Edmundson:

going on, write them in the comments, because after the talk, Claire and I

Matt Edmundson:

are going to be back for a bit more banter, a bit more fun, but we'll get

Matt Edmundson:

into your questions, your thoughts.

Matt Edmundson:

We're going to talk a lot more about this topic of joy.

Matt Edmundson:

But carry on, it's great, says Nicholas.

Matt Edmundson:

So yes, we're gonna have a bit of a joy filled time.

Matt Edmundson:

Do stick with us.

Matt Edmundson:

We're going to be around probably for another 45 minutes.

Matt Edmundson:

The service normally lasts about an hour.

Matt Edmundson:

So it's quarter past six here in the UK, so we'll be here till about seven.

Matt Edmundson:

Whatever your platform you're on, stay with us.

Matt Edmundson:

Do write in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

It'd be great to see you in there.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm looking for the button on my control bar, which I've now found.

Matt Edmundson:

That's why he was rambling on.

Matt Edmundson:

It's an amazing little button machine he's got.

Matt Edmundson:

It is.

Matt Edmundson:

But the trouble is, because when I'm looking at the camera like

Matt Edmundson:

this I don't need my glasses.

Matt Edmundson:

Because I'm looking at the camera and I can see everything clearly on the screen.

Matt Edmundson:

When I'm looking down here, I haven't got a clue what it says.

Claire Glare:

You're that, you're not.

Matt Edmundson:

Have you noticed, you can see here, ladies and gentlemen, the

Matt Edmundson:

buttons on the pad are quite far apart.

Matt Edmundson:

So I can't accidentally press the wrong one.

Matt Edmundson:

So I know that one's a talk.

Claire Glare:

So yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Anyway.

Matt Edmundson:

You found the

Claire Glare:

right button.

Claire Glare:

Hit the button.

Matt Edmundson:

Exactly what I've done.

Matt Edmundson:

So I'm going to hit the right button.

Matt Edmundson:

We're going to play Dave's talk.

Matt Edmundson:

Claire and I will be back very shortly after this talk, but yeah, get in

Matt Edmundson:

the comments, we'll see you in there.

Dave Connolly:

Today's topic is joy.

Dave Connolly:

Christian joy is a deep, steadfast contentment rooted in faith.

Dave Connolly:

Philippians 4 verse 4 says this, Rejoice in the Lord always,

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I will say it again, Rejoice.

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When you think of the word rejoice, what do you typically think of?

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We might think rejoicing as being in a state of constant happiness

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and celebrating every detail of our lives with unending cheerfulness.

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We could be asking, what does it mean to rejoice in the Lord always?

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So Paul is calling for celebration.

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The difference between joy and secular happiness is that the

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latter depends on what's happening.

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It is circumstantially driven, we could say.

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If things are going in an upward direction in life, we

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are likely to feel up or happy.

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But if things are tough, we may also feel down and sad.

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This keeps you on an emotional rollercoaster.

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Biblical joy, by contrast, has to do with stability and celebration on the inside.

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Regardless of circumstances on the outside, we must choose to rejoice.

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In order to experience the joy God promises us, we might be

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asking, how do you do that?

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Think of God as you would someone you can see right there in front of you.

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You know that close family member, close friend, co worker, or someone from your

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church community or your neighbourhood.

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When we spend time with someone that brings us joy and happiness, we rejoice

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or we delight in being with them.

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We celebrate her.

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God's Word describes joy as full or complete.

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Joy satisfies the heart in ways that temporary happiness can never do.

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Let's focus in on today's key scripture.

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Rejoice in the Lord always.

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Again, I will say, rejoice.

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Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

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The Lord is near.

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Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and

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supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.

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And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your

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hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

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And we read that in Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 to 7.

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Look at that opening line, Rejoice in the Lord always.

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Again, I will say rejoice.

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I just love that line.

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I love the emphasis.

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These words are worth keeping close to us because they offer an incredible

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promise, the promise of the peace of God which surpasses all understanding and

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they offer a way to receive this peace.

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Over the years I have sought to encourage myself by posting them around

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my home, around my office, I highlight them in my bible, Just because of the

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wonderful truth that joy brings strength.

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I want to take a moment to reflect on these few words and on the peace

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which surpasses all understanding.

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See, we can link joy and peace together clearly.

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Paul begins this passage by calling us to rejoice in the Lord always.

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I just want to highlight something here to us.

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When Paul writes, again, I will say rejoice.

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Paul is writing these words from a prison cell in Rome.

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This joy that he is talking about is real to him.

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This is what he is experiencing in a time of trouble.

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That is so important to remember that he writes these words while being

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imprisoned because of his Christian faith.

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When Paul tells us that we can rejoice in the Lord always, he really means always.

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We might be asking, how?

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As we ask that question, let's find out what Paul tells us to do.

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Again, he says, we do it by rejoicing in the Lord.

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We can always rejoice in the Lord, even when we cannot rejoice in other things

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happening to us or happening around us.

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I'm sure you will agree with me that there are some things happening

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in our world at the moment that are so difficult to rejoice in.

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Maybe there are some things that are happening in our own lives right now,

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That we struggle so much to rejoice in.

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But I want to tell you this, we can still rejoice in the Lord, because

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God is always faithful, full of love and grace and mercy, and always

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there for us, always here with us.

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And so we can rejoice always, because we can always rejoice in the Lord.

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We rejoice no matter what is happening in our lives.

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No matter how bad it might seem, we have a God who loves us, a Saviour

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who died for us, and a promise from our God to be with us always.

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For us to rejoice in the Lord always requires us to fix our hearts and our

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minds, our attention on Him, regardless of all those things happening around us.

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And that takes a discipline.

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This passage is not just about rejoicing.

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Paul goes on to say.

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Let your gentleness be known to everyone.

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The Lord is near.

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We can rejoice in the Lord and we can be gentle with those around us because we

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know and we believe that the Lord is near.

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Because we know and believe that the Lord is near, we can share our views, even our

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passions, and we work hard for solutions.

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But without ever needing to be argumentative or aggressive about it.

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And without overly worrying too much about the results of our efforts,

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we have this wonderful serenity in the midst of life's storms, because

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we know that the Lord is near.

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We believe that God still cares about our world, and so we do the best we can,

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but leave the rest to our amazing God.

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The Lord is near, we know that, so why would we not want to rejoice?

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And why shouldn't we have that unflappable serenity?

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And yes, we can ask what about those moments that crop up in life

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when we find ourselves staying up at night worrying about something.

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All of us have done it, I'm sure.

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There seems to be no end of things to worry about these days.

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And I suspect that our news outlets like it that way because it keeps us tuned in.

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The question for all of us is, what do we do with these worries?

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Paul goes on to say this in the passage, Do not worry about anything, but in

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everything, by prayer and supplication.

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With thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God.

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My friends, have you noticed how worry and anxiety shapes our thinking and our lives?

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Let me give you some good news, that when our lives are filled with rejoicing,

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that also shapes our thinking and our living, we start to live a life full.

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of thankfulness, our emphasis changes.

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Other translations say do not be anxious about anything.

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Anxiety or worry is something we all face at different times in our lives.

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In fact, anxiety is one of the most common reasons why people go

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to see their doctor in our nation.

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We live in a very anxious, worried world, and it affects

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us all directly or indirectly.

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Let's look at the role of prayer in our everyday anxiety and worries.

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Paul tells us not to worry about anything, and that is a

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consistent theme in scripture.

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But I have to admit, this idea used to cause me problems.

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Worrying about worrying is what I used to do.

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And then I noticed that in scripture, whenever worry is mentioned, it is very

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closely followed by the word prayer.

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What we are really being taught in the bible is to turn our worries into prayers.

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Most of us can not help but worry at times, and being told not to worry,

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Doesn't seem to really help that, but turning our worries into prayers is

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something that we can all, I can now see the positive side to those times when I

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might feel anxious or worried, because they serve as a reminder to me to pray.

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When I find myself worrying about something, it's just a little alarm

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going off in me to say, time to focus, time to pray, time to rejoice even.

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Do not worry about anything Paul says in 6.

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Let me just say a few final things on turning our worries into prayer.

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Firstly, we are told that we should let our requests be known

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to God by prayer and supplication.

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Supplication is a request arising from a specific need.

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And this is so important because what Paul is telling us is that

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there is no need too small for God.

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There is no concern too unimportant to bring to God.

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We can bring every specific worry, every specific care or concern to God in prayer.

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In everything, by prayer and supplication, means everything.

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It's a little bit like that word, always.

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That we talked about before.

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And the second thing that Paul tells us to do is to do it with Thanksgiving.

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And this is very important because a thankful horse is seldom an anxious horse.

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When we take time to give thanks in all circumstances, we discover

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that there is much to be thankful for in all those situations.

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And our worry.

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and anxiety seems to go down in proportion to how thankful we are.

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Do not worry about anything.

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I heard it said once that another interpretation of

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this Do not be unduly worried.

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Do not be overcome with worry about anything.

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Paul tells us, but in everything, pray.

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With thanksgiving, let our requests be known to God.

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Verse 7 says, And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard

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your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.

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Let's bring today's talk to a close by briefly mentioning the

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piece that Paul writes about.

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It is a piece which surpasses all understanding, meaning we cannot explain

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it, we cannot discover it, we cannot create it, we cannot bottle it, we cannot

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buy it or sell it, we cannot earn it or give it away, we can only receive

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it, we can only receive it from God.

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Jesus says it like this in John's Gospel, Peace I leave with you.

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My peace I give you, I do not give you as the world gives.

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This is a peace that the world cannot give and that it cannot take away.

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And it's this same peace that Paul tells us in verse 7 will guard your

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heart and our minds in Christ Jesus.

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Remember, Paul is writing this letter from a prison cell.

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He may be using this word as an illustration, as the soldiers who guard

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him, the soldiers who are on guard duty.

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Maybe he's even looking at his God as he writes these words and he realises

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that he has a peace from God that is truly guarding him and protecting him.

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It's guarding and protecting his heart and his mind.

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My friends, there is no problem in this world that can penetrate God's peace.

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No soldier, no punishment, no prison cell, no sorrow, no anxiety.

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No worry, no loss, no grief, no sadness, no pandemic that can penetrate the

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peace that surpasses all understanding.

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The peace that comes from knowing and believing that the Lord

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Jesus is always near to us.

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The Lord promises to be with each of us always and God never breaks his promise.

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And God helps us to turn our worries into prayers, and helps us to be

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gentle with everyone, knowing and believing that the Lord is always near.

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How can we do anything else but rejoice in the Lord always?

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So again, my friends, I say rejoice.

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Rejoice in the Lord.

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Always.

Dave Connolly:

Amen.

Matt Edmundson:

Amen.

Claire Glare:

Amen.

Matt Edmundson:

Amen.

Matt Edmundson:

Just

Claire Glare:

needed to change the way we said that.

Matt Edmundson:

What you didn't see, ladies and gentlemen, was while Dave was

Matt Edmundson:

talking about Joy, Claire was knitting.

Claire Glare:

Do we need a knitting update?

Claire Glare:

Yeah, what's the

Matt Edmundson:

update?

Claire Glare:

There we go.

Claire Glare:

Oh, wow.

Matt Edmundson:

There

Claire Glare:

we go.

Matt Edmundson:

I was gonna say, have you actually done any

Matt Edmundson:

since the last time you were

Claire Glare:

on?

Claire Glare:

Probably not.

Claire Glare:

I've got a blue one to do after the me green one's done.

Claire Glare:

Do you

Matt Edmundson:

just reserve your knitting for when you're on crowd?

Claire Glare:

That and long journeys, if I'm not driving.

Matt Edmundson:

Okay.

Claire Glare:

You're not I'm driving, obviously.

Claire Glare:

That would be not a good helpful.

Claire Glare:

Oh, sorry, officer.

Matt Edmundson:

Hey, three points on your license.

Matt Edmundson:

Got to go do driver's awareness course.

Matt Edmundson:

Why?

Matt Edmundson:

Because I was knitting whilst I was driving.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah,

Claire Glare:

no, dangerous.

Claire Glare:

Don't do it.

Claire Glare:

Not one for peace.

Matt Edmundson:

No, but Nicholas says your cardigan is a cardigan.

Matt Edmundson:

Whatever.

Matt Edmundson:

Your scarf is looking awesome.

Claire Glare:

Thank you.

Claire Glare:

That's very kind of you, my lovely.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

You can come again.

Matt Edmundson:

And if you don't, what's that?

Matt Edmundson:

If you don't like the scarf, you can't come again.

Claire Glare:

No, you can.

Claire Glare:

It's a digital church.

Claire Glare:

How am I going to stop people?

Matt Edmundson:

It's

Claire Glare:

Not the point, is it?

Claire Glare:

Everybody's welcome.

Matt Edmundson:

Everyone's welcome.

Matt Edmundson:

Whether you like Claire's knitting or whether you don't like Claire's knitting,

Matt Edmundson:

you're welcome here at Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

Yes, you are.

Matt Edmundson:

Brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

Very well.

Matt Edmundson:

Welcome back to you.

Matt Edmundson:

What did you think of Dave's talk?

Matt Edmundson:

Write your thoughts, questions and ideas in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

Be good to get into that.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicholas says thanks.

Matt Edmundson:

Thanks for letting her into church.

Matt Edmundson:

She's very gracious, is that Claire?

Matt Edmundson:

Write your thoughts, questions, comments, all that sort of stuff in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, before the talk started, Clare, you said one of your favourite

Matt Edmundson:

verses is the Lord is my strength.

Matt Edmundson:

Yes,

Claire Glare:

the joy of the Lord is my strength.

Claire Glare:

So it's in the book of Nehemiah, for those of you that don't know.

Claire Glare:

Why

Matt Edmundson:

should you do that, by the way?

Matt Edmundson:

I'm just going to nip over there and turn a light on.

Matt Edmundson:

So you keep going.

Claire Glare:

Okay, alright.

Claire Glare:

Gosh, I feel like I've got the mic.

Claire Glare:

Oh no, don't drop the mic.

Claire Glare:

And, I don't really know, I'll be back quick.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, it's only a

Claire Glare:

bit.

Claire Glare:

It's a

Matt Edmundson:

small room.

Matt Edmundson:

It's just behind me now, you

Claire Glare:

can sit beside

Matt Edmundson:

me.

Matt Edmundson:

Where was you expecting

Claire Glare:

me to be?

Claire Glare:

I don't know, I don't know.

Claire Glare:

I thought you might have had to change a lightbulb or do some weird thing.

Claire Glare:

I don't know, brain clearly off it.

Claire Glare:

Okay, so back to the Bible.

Claire Glare:

Let's focus on the Bible, quick.

Claire Glare:

I don't know really, but I think I'm not sure why it's become a

Claire Glare:

kind of a bit of a life verse.

Claire Glare:

But I just think it has and I would, and something that I just said to Matt

Claire Glare:

earlier while Dave was talking, he was talking about Paul being in prison.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And I just wonder also whether Paul, while he was writing the book of Philippians

Claire Glare:

to the Philippian church, actually, he was also preaching to himself.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And so I think that when we have those verses, we can almost like

Claire Glare:

just remember them, say okay.

Claire Glare:

The joy of the Lord is my strength that is, and I wonder whether Paul was also

Claire Glare:

doing that, rejoicing the Lord always telling himself, speaking to his, I'd

Claire Glare:

say, speaking to my soul, reminding myself, and I loved what Dave said

Claire Glare:

about it's joy in the Lord, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

It's not in our own abilities.

Claire Glare:

It's not in our circumstances.

Claire Glare:

It's not in, the world situation, it's not in what we can achieve, it is joy in

Claire Glare:

who God is, what he's done in our lives.

Claire Glare:

And that's a work in progress.

Claire Glare:

And will continue to be.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And and it's in his character.

Claire Glare:

I loved what Dave said at the start of the talk as well that, it's about celebrating

Claire Glare:

who God is when we like to be with people, we have fun with them, don't we?

Claire Glare:

We enjoy their time and enjoy their presence.

Claire Glare:

And the more we get to know them, the more we have fun with them.

Claire Glare:

It's good, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, no, totally.

Matt Edmundson:

Totally.

Matt Edmundson:

So it's an interesting one.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

There's lots going on here talking about joy.

Matt Edmundson:

In the comments, Matt says he loves that verse in Nehemiah as well.

Matt Edmundson:

Peter, I like the comment from the talk, I'll put it on the screen,

Matt Edmundson:

I like the comment in the talk by Dave, use worry as an alarm to

Matt Edmundson:

pray, that's one I remember in use.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, and it isn't it, I think, when we, because, I,

Claire Glare:

I would say that I, Thankfully, don't struggle very often with sleep

Claire Glare:

and don't wake up in the morning.

Matt Edmundson:

You don't wake up in the morning?

Claire Glare:

That no, I do wake up in the morning.

Claire Glare:

Don't wake up in the middle of the night worrying about things, but.

Claire Glare:

Don't know about you, but probably parenting creates more worry than I've

Claire Glare:

ever experienced, just like Lord, and so I have experienced some, occasional

Claire Glare:

sleepless nights or, anxious moments and it is that alarm call to worry, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

Not to worry, to pray.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Cause.

Claire Glare:

What can we achieve by worrying?

Claire Glare:

We just can't, nothing changes by that.

Claire Glare:

But actually I had an interesting situation this last week.

Claire Glare:

I was in a, I was swimming lessons.

Claire Glare:

I'm at that phasing children's lives.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, not for yourself.

Claire Glare:

Not for myself.

Claire Glare:

I can't actually swim.

Claire Glare:

Although I could do with updating my technique and all of that.

Claire Glare:

But anyway, that's by the by.

Claire Glare:

And And I was listening to a lady and obviously she'd had a very busy day.

Claire Glare:

She was next sat next to me, but she was talking to somebody on her phone.

Claire Glare:

And I could hear all that she was saying and I found myself like.

Claire Glare:

And that's really unusual for me.

Claire Glare:

And I was like, Oh, but I didn't like that about myself, but then I was

Claire Glare:

like, I can just pray about a situation.

Claire Glare:

Let's just flip it around.

Claire Glare:

And then I felt so much happier, a, that I was doing something

Claire Glare:

constructive for this poor woman who clearly had a really tricky day and B.

Claire Glare:

My response was giving that to God.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And my reaction wasn't judgment, it had been Yeah.

Claire Glare:

, it

Matt Edmundson:

started out that way.

Matt Edmundson:

It out, you moved.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Way.

Matt Edmundson:

But

Claire Glare:

God enabled me through prayer, 'cause you feel

Claire Glare:

better about yourself, don't you?

Claire Glare:

When you're praying and you bringing things to God.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Because he's all powerful.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And he can sort it , he can sort it.

Matt Edmundson:

There's the the message translation by Claire, God can sort weird.

Matt Edmundson:

It's

Claire Glare:

the Cockney, it's the Cockney version, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

Cockney rhyming slang.

Claire Glare:

Sort it out, God.

Matt Edmundson:

Sort it out.

Matt Edmundson:

No, I totally agree.

Matt Edmundson:

There's so much from Dave's talk, right?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

There's so much in that talk about joy, about prayer, about worry, about, and how

Matt Edmundson:

all of these things are interconnected.

Matt Edmundson:

We talk about them like today we're talking about joy, we're talking about

Matt Edmundson:

peace, we're talking about kindness and goodness and self control and

Matt Edmundson:

all those, up in coming weeks and we separate them out but actually all these

Matt Edmundson:

things are like hyper connected aren't they and yeah and Dave was right, in

Matt Edmundson:

terms of joy and peace and all this stuff being linked and anxiety, being a

Matt Edmundson:

call to prayer and an alarm to prayer.

Matt Edmundson:

I am with you, Peter.

Matt Edmundson:

I think that's a really great idea.

Matt Edmundson:

But actually, if that's in me, I need to pray.

Matt Edmundson:

I love the start of this where we talk this word rejoice.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm a big fan of the word.

Matt Edmundson:

We don't use it a lot in modern English.

Claire Glare:

It's a bit old school, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

Sorry, I don't know.

Claire Glare:

I don't know why I've gone all cockney.

Claire Glare:

I don't know why

Matt Edmundson:

you've gone all cockney.

Matt Edmundson:

It's old school like you and me, Claire, maybe.

Matt Edmundson:

We're a little bit old school.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, but it's a fascinating word, this word rejoice, to rejoice, to

Matt Edmundson:

re put the joy back in, to re do it.

Matt Edmundson:

And the way you do that is through celebration, is through worship.

Matt Edmundson:

Not of, anything other than God.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And it's interesting, isn't it how the Christian faith talks

Matt Edmundson:

a lot about joy and suffering?

Matt Edmundson:

Not because the suffering is enjoyable.

Matt Edmundson:

But because in that suffering, there is a God who is a joy giving God.

Matt Edmundson:

And that's another thing to think about here, isn't it actually joy comes

Matt Edmundson:

from the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, it comes from God.

Matt Edmundson:

If that's where we get our joy from, if that's the source of our joy

Matt Edmundson:

, then actually we can rejoice, we can bring that joy back

Matt Edmundson:

into ourselves a little bit.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And there's that other verse, isn't there, that came to mind, consider it

Claire Glare:

pure joy whenever you face trials and tribulations and suffering and it, and you

Claire Glare:

read it and you think, that's so bonkers, it really is just so counterintuitive.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

But it's, and it's also a bit like when, faith without faith,

Claire Glare:

it's impossible to please God.

Claire Glare:

For me, it's I don't know, you've got to.

Claire Glare:

You've got to walk alongside them, haven't you?

Claire Glare:

You've got to carry the two things together.

Claire Glare:

And that brings pleasure to God, doesn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, it does.

Matt Edmundson:

It does.

Matt Edmundson:

Consider it all joy when you fall into all these tests and trials.

Matt Edmundson:

You've got to count or count it as joy, some translation says.

Matt Edmundson:

You've got to do that.

Matt Edmundson:

That's rejoicing.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And that comes back to that word that Dave

Matt Edmundson:

used, which I loved, celebration.

Matt Edmundson:

And we can do, and here's the thing, we've talked about how

Matt Edmundson:

joy is a fruit of the Spirit.

Matt Edmundson:

It is.

Matt Edmundson:

Part of joy is part of the characteristic of God.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Do you know what I mean?

Matt Edmundson:

And I just love that.

Matt Edmundson:

It's not something we talk about enough.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't think about God, God is all powerful and he's loving and he's kind

Matt Edmundson:

and he's all these amazing things, but he is fundamentally joyful.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Do you know what I mean?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And I.

Claire Glare:

He made like really crazy animals, that's the thing that gets me

Claire Glare:

wasps aside, but there are some really bonkers animals out there, aren't there?

Claire Glare:

And I love those nature programs where you see, because we can now, see those,

Claire Glare:

what they call the birds that dance and they do a little dance and they

Claire Glare:

in Africa somewhere I think and they you know, they skirt, they sweep all

Claire Glare:

around, they make it all pretty and then they dance and then they're like

Claire Glare:

Hi It's a mating dance, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

I wouldn't know.

Claire Glare:

Have you not seen them?

Claire Glare:

Yeah, no But they're like peacock and peacocks.

Claire Glare:

Peacocks Yeah

Matt Edmundson:

They're

Claire Glare:

amazing

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah Pick it,

Claire Glare:

tell us your favourite crazy animal.

Matt Edmundson:

Favourite crazy animal in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

Because, you're right, it's there's a few things that are slightly irreverent

Matt Edmundson:

sometimes, but on Twitter there's this feed that I come across every now and

Matt Edmundson:

again, not on Twitter, on Instagram, where It's not Twitter anymore, is it?

Matt Edmundson:

No, it's X as well, get it, you're right.

Matt Edmundson:

Showing my age now.

Matt Edmundson:

But it's where, one person playing God and he's talking to somebody else

Matt Edmundson:

like an angel, like talking about how he wants to make the animals.

Claire Glare:

Okay.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Take this,

Matt Edmundson:

make it look cute.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And then put a big needle on its backside and we'll call that a bee,

Matt Edmundson:

and it's just really funny and it's slightly irreverent, like I say,

Matt Edmundson:

but it comes back to this point that like you say, God is a joyful God.

Matt Edmundson:

Just look at creation.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And I think this characteristic of God, the

Claire Glare:

rainbow, lovely.

Claire Glare:

What is that?

Claire Glare:

That's amazing, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

That's just pure joy.

Matt Edmundson:

Pure

Claire Glare:

joy.

Matt Edmundson:

Joy in the sky.

Claire Glare:

Crazy rain all of that.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Joyful God.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Joyful God.

Matt Edmundson:

Andy says here.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, hi Miriam.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Miriam's in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh,

Claire Glare:

hi Miriam.

Matt Edmundson:

Miriam.

Matt Edmundson:

What a legend.

Matt Edmundson:

And he says joyful.

Matt Edmundson:

Miriam is joyful.

Matt Edmundson:

Her smile lights up the room.

Matt Edmundson:

She's such a legend.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Andy says joy can be found in the worst times.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Agree or disagree?

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Because it isn't, it's not happiness is it?

Claire Glare:

No.

Claire Glare:

It's not.

Claire Glare:

Because it is joy in the Lord.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

It's us, not in a kind of striving way, but in a digging deep way.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

This is awful.

Claire Glare:

The situation that I'm in is terrible.

Claire Glare:

But I know that you are faithful, that you, I have been in similar,

Claire Glare:

maybe not as worse as this.

Claire Glare:

Maybe this really is the worst of times that I've experienced in my life so far.

Claire Glare:

But I know that you have got other people through that.

Claire Glare:

If that, that we can hold onto other people's testimonies, can't we?

Claire Glare:

Yeah, we can.

Claire Glare:

Can read the Bible and think, Oh gosh, yeah.

Claire Glare:

God, you got them out of that terrible predicament, walking through the Red Sea.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Walls up there of water, yeah.

Claire Glare:

All amazing and all amazing.

Claire Glare:

And yet, you, yeah we joy comes through that, doesn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, totally.

Matt Edmundson:

Totally.

Matt Edmundson:

And I, yeah, I love it.

Matt Edmundson:

Joy comes in the hard times.

Matt Edmundson:

I totally agree, Andy.

Matt Edmundson:

And you can find joy in the tough times because like you say, we find it in God.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And God is a joyful character.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And I think it's important to acknowledge here, actually, that joy is not some

Matt Edmundson:

delusional state of emotion that we are trying to get ourselves into.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, I've come across Christians that maybe subconsciously think that.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, that because it emotionally there, it's hard that they feel

Matt Edmundson:

condemned because they don't feel joyful, there's a sort of this fake

Matt Edmundson:

joy going around where they're masking everything that's going on, assuming like

Matt Edmundson:

they're not willing to face up to life.

Matt Edmundson:

And I don't think not authentic.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, I don't think that's joy.

Matt Edmundson:

I just don't think God is needs us to be deluded.

Matt Edmundson:

And I think you can experience joy and celebration.

Matt Edmundson:

In spite of feeling awful at the same time.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Does it does that make sense?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't know if you would concur.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, I concur.

Matt Edmundson:

I concur.

Matt Edmundson:

I concur, ladies and gentlemen.

Matt Edmundson:

That's awesome.

Matt Edmundson:

Let's have a look here.

Matt Edmundson:

What else going on in the comments?

Matt Edmundson:

Great talk.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicola says this.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm finding it tough to find joy in many things at the mo.

Matt Edmundson:

But I pray I trust God and I find joy in my day.

Matt Edmundson:

Even if it's just.

Matt Edmundson:

Lick off the dog.

Matt Edmundson:

It works.

Matt Edmundson:

Pets

Claire Glare:

bring us joy, don't they?

Claire Glare:

They bring us real comfort.

Claire Glare:

And, I often remember hearing something, who did you last

Claire Glare:

say, tell that you love them?

Claire Glare:

And I was like, Ooh, it was my cat a moment ago.

Claire Glare:

I said, I love you, Lola.

Claire Glare:

Because we do.

Claire Glare:

Does the cat speak back?

Claire Glare:

She often does go, meow.

Matt Edmundson:

Okay.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And which I take to be, I love you too, Mama.

Matt Edmundson:

Absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

But

Claire Glare:

yeah, lick off the dog.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

Those pets are amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

But what I think, what I love about you don't have

Claire Glare:

a pet, though, do you?

Matt Edmundson:

Not at the moment, no.

Claire Glare:

Have you had pets?

Claire Glare:

We've had pets.

Claire Glare:

You've had chickens, haven't you?

Claire Glare:

But that's not, they're not pets.

Matt Edmundson:

We've had hamsters, gerbils, guinea

Matt Edmundson:

pigs, actually, is what we had.

Matt Edmundson:

We've had cats.

Claire Glare:

Oh, yeah, you have had cats, haven't you?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

I grew up with a dog, all those kind of things.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, I definitely had pets, but the thing I love about what Nicola

Matt Edmundson:

said is she's finding it tough.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Because, I know some of the stuff, right?

Matt Edmundson:

So she's finding it tough.

Matt Edmundson:

Life's not easy, but she can still find joy.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Do you know what I mean?

Matt Edmundson:

And actually appreciating those moments that are joyful moments.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Is super important.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And Dave was talking about thankfulness as well.

Claire Glare:

And I think they're interlinked really, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

When we can be thankful for the sunshine today, be thankful for

Claire Glare:

breathing, but really basic.

Claire Glare:

I am really thankful.

Claire Glare:

I'm thankful that I've got, I've had some breakfast.

Claire Glare:

I'm thankful that I've got clothes to put on or, there's physical

Claire Glare:

material things, whatever.

Claire Glare:

I'm thankful that I have friends.

Claire Glare:

I'm thankful that I've got community, that enables us to cope with the

Claire Glare:

really tough stuff, doesn't it?

Claire Glare:

Yeah,

Matt Edmundson:

it does, totally.

Matt Edmundson:

No, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

Being thankful, deliberately intentional thankful.

Matt Edmundson:

This is why, it's bizarre, I always say it's bizarre, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Gratitude journaling is one of the things that has a profound

Matt Edmundson:

impact on our mental health, right?

Matt Edmundson:

In our state of our mental well being.

Matt Edmundson:

No kidding, because the Bible tells us to rejoice always.

Matt Edmundson:

I say again, rejoice, and so I love it when the world catches up with it.

Matt Edmundson:

I

Claire Glare:

love what Jenny's written.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh yeah, I said that to the broadcast then.

Matt Edmundson:

So I love something they said in our church this morning.

Matt Edmundson:

Even when we think we've hit rock bottom, Jesus is the rock that we hit.

Matt Edmundson:

That's great.

Matt Edmundson:

That's great, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

I love that.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

You might have to explain that though, for people that might not know.

Matt Edmundson:

That means and I'm gonna put the camera on you so you have to explain it.

Matt Edmundson:

I'll just

Claire Glare:

go quiet.

Claire Glare:

I.

Claire Glare:

Is that possible?

Claire Glare:

I think, oh Jesus is the rock that we hit.

Claire Glare:

I don't know if I really liked it.

Claire Glare:

He's the dependable thing, isn't he?

Claire Glare:

He is, he's the foundation on which we build our lives and so

Claire Glare:

I think that's what that means.

Claire Glare:

Yeah,

Matt Edmundson:

totally.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, we often say Have

Claire Glare:

I done that right, Jenny?

Claire Glare:

I'm not

Matt Edmundson:

sure.

Matt Edmundson:

Jenny can explain it.

Matt Edmundson:

Jenny, explain that in the comments.

Matt Edmundson:

But I totally agree, Jesus is our rock.

Matt Edmundson:

He is the rock on which we build our salvation, isn't he?

Matt Edmundson:

There's lots of phraseology like that.

Matt Edmundson:

Lots of analogies about Jesus, one of which he's a rock.

Matt Edmundson:

He is dependable.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

He's immovable.

Claire Glare:

And I think it's it's the parable of the man

Claire Glare:

building his house on the rock and building his house on the sand.

Claire Glare:

Isn't it?

Claire Glare:

And actually with floods, we can really see that, can't we?

Claire Glare:

The house property and that is.

Claire Glare:

It's really firm and you've got those pile they call pilings

Claire Glare:

that go down really deep.

Claire Glare:

I'm sorry.

Claire Glare:

I'm going like that.

Claire Glare:

I don't know you, guys, is there any construction engineers out there?

Claire Glare:

I think I quite like a construction site actually.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

That's right.

Claire Glare:

That's what I thought it meant.

Claire Glare:

Jenny has given us the nod, but whereas if it's just on a little shaley bit

Claire Glare:

of land, by on the beach or whatever.

Claire Glare:

They go, don't they, and that's devastating.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, no, it is.

Matt Edmundson:

And there is that.

Matt Edmundson:

So just to complete that story, Jesus used he, when he was talking to people,

Matt Edmundson:

he often used parables or stories or analogies, we might say, and he did liken

Matt Edmundson:

the foolish man to the foolish man is a man that builds his house on the sand.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And a wise man is the man that build his house upon

Claire Glare:

song about that, but I'm going to restrain myself for Matt Crew.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, go on, carry on.

Claire Glare:

You're on a roll.

Matt Edmundson:

Wise man build, no is that the song?

Claire Glare:

There's a few.

Claire Glare:

There's a few out there.

Claire Glare:

Mine's more kind of American version.

Claire Glare:

Should we just do it?

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Don't build your house upon the sandy land.

Claire Glare:

Don't build it too close to the shore, cos it might look kinda nice, but you'll

Claire Glare:

have to build it twice, cos you'll have to build the house once more.

Claire Glare:

Anyway, sorry, I've gone red now.

Matt Edmundson:

I wish I had a button where I could play a round of applause.

Matt Edmundson:

There you go, pat yourself on the back.

Matt Edmundson:

Well done, I love that.

Matt Edmundson:

How

Claire Glare:

did we get to the, how did we get here?

Claire Glare:

We were

Matt Edmundson:

talking about rocks.

Matt Edmundson:

Yes.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

That's what Jenny said.

Matt Edmundson:

But

Claire Glare:

I was thinking about The Rock.

Claire Glare:

Because Matt's put about, Matt Crew's put about Jesus is my rock and salvation.

Claire Glare:

And I was also thinking about the rock in the Garden of Gethsemane with the tomb.

Claire Glare:

That's where my brain just went then.

Claire Glare:

And so obviously the rock rolled away and freedom came

Claire Glare:

and life came and all of that.

Claire Glare:

And I was like, Oh yeah, because that's the rock on which we depend.

Claire Glare:

If that rock hadn't rolled away, Jesus would have been dead

Claire Glare:

still and we wouldn't be here.

Claire Glare:

Because the reason we're here now is because

Matt Edmundson:

yeah, no, very true.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, it's all going on.

Matt Edmundson:

Man, it's so deep.

Matt Edmundson:

We're getting deep today.

Matt Edmundson:

So very deep.

Matt Edmundson:

So just going through my notes here.

Matt Edmundson:

Dave talked about when Paul wrote the letter to the Philippian

Matt Edmundson:

church, rejoicing the Lord always.

Matt Edmundson:

I say again, rejoice.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

He was in prison in Rome.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, next week, you are going to Italy.

Claire Glare:

Bologna.

Matt Edmundson:

Bologna.

Matt Edmundson:

A few years ago, I was in Italy.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

And I went to Rome.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

With Sharon and the kids.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, it's amazing.

Claire Glare:

Love Rome.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Love Rome.

Matt Edmundson:

Go to Rome.

Matt Edmundson:

If you've never been to Rome, go to Rome.

Matt Edmundson:

It's an amazing place.

Claire Glare:

Florence, Venice, they're all good.

Claire Glare:

They're amazing.

Claire Glare:

But Rome is amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Did you go to Paul's prison when you were in Rome?

Claire Glare:

I don't know why, but I'm not sure that we did.

Claire Glare:

Foolish mistake.

Matt Edmundson:

Foolish mistake.

Matt Edmundson:

We went.

Claire Glare:

Did you?

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah I've stood in.

Matt Edmundson:

Was he in house

Claire Glare:

arrest?

Claire Glare:

He was under house arrest, was he?

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah they It might have been.

Claire Glare:

They don't know really what it

Matt Edmundson:

was, do they?

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

It's a very good chance.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

He wasn't there when I went in to confirm.

Matt Edmundson:

It didn't say Paul was here on the wall.

Claire Glare:

Can't read the old Latin, can you?

Matt Edmundson:

No, you can't.

Matt Edmundson:

But even if Paul wasn't in there, you got an idea of the

Matt Edmundson:

kind of prison Paul would be in.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh my Lord.

Matt Edmundson:

I couldn't stand up straight in it.

Claire Glare:

Was it

Matt Edmundson:

little?

Matt Edmundson:

It was tiny.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, tiny, teeny tiny, hole in the rock type thing.

Matt Edmundson:

It was unbelievable.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, imagine, and I stood there in that place and thought, Oh my God.

Matt Edmundson:

Imagine being in a place like this for years, and you're writing to

Matt Edmundson:

a church saying rejoice in the Lord always, I say again, rejoice.

Matt Edmundson:

Now like you said, is he preaching more to himself than anybody?

Matt Edmundson:

But to be able to write that in that place, I just think is extraordinary.

Matt Edmundson:

And I think it, I find it deeply challenging because it's easy to

Matt Edmundson:

go off on an emotional tangent.

Matt Edmundson:

It's easy to be knocked sideways and, it's, dare I say, sometimes it's easy to

Matt Edmundson:

become a victim of my own circumstance.

Matt Edmundson:

And if any man could have done that, Paul could have done that, but he didn't.

Matt Edmundson:

And he was in that jail.

Matt Edmundson:

And he found the ability to rejoice in the Lord.

Matt Edmundson:

And I just think that's amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Proper, proper amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And I do actually think that in the darkest times, that is, if we are

Claire Glare:

able to turn our gaze to Jesus, that is when we can really experience

Claire Glare:

that huge comfort and, peace that surpasses all human understanding.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

And it is about.

Claire Glare:

It really is about turning our mind around, isn't it?

Claire Glare:

And just say, and challenge it and say, rejoice rejoice, telling ourselves.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

And getting into that is such a powerful thing.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm going to have to end the Conversation Street.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm aware after, geez, we've just gone on.

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry.

Matt Edmundson:

But it's all good stuff.

Matt Edmundson:

I shouldn't apologize.

Matt Edmundson:

It's all good stuff.

Matt Edmundson:

I think this topic of joy is such a powerful thing.

Matt Edmundson:

And that's my experience, in my Christian walk is actually despite the pain, despite

Matt Edmundson:

the emotions, despite everything else, you can rejoice and to be a whole person.

Claire Glare:

A

Matt Edmundson:

whole person is a joyful person.

Matt Edmundson:

Not necessarily a happy person all the time, but a person

Matt Edmundson:

that can find a joyful end.

Matt Edmundson:

Joy deep within their soul, despite everything else that's going on.

Matt Edmundson:

If you can do that, wholeness is just incredible.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, that Matt's put promote the Zoom.

Matt Edmundson:

I will promote the Zoom.

Matt Edmundson:

What's happening next week?

Matt Edmundson:

Thanks, Matt.

Matt Edmundson:

Next week we are carrying on our conversation about

Matt Edmundson:

the fruits of the spirit.

Matt Edmundson:

I have no idea who's speaking.

Claire Glare:

Me neither.

Matt Edmundson:

Do you not know?

Matt Edmundson:

No.

Matt Edmundson:

I dunno.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't really check this out.

Matt Edmundson:

I can't pull it on the hat.

Matt Edmundson:

Hang on, let me I, I'll just pull it up on my phone here.

Matt Edmundson:

Drive, Google Drive.

Matt Edmundson:

There we go.

Matt Edmundson:

It's amazing, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

I'm just going to put my glasses on.

Claire Glare:

It's all right.

Claire Glare:

It's allowed.

Matt Edmundson:

Sorry.

Claire Glare:

Glasses are the way forward.

Claire Glare:

I've been wearing glasses since I was seven.

Matt Edmundson:

Schedule.

Matt Edmundson:

That's not a new thing.

Matt Edmundson:

Here we go.

Matt Edmundson:

Crowd Schedule.

Matt Edmundson:

So let's look at what's coming.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm sorry, I should have been way more prepared.

Matt Edmundson:

So next we are talking about peace, And we have Pete Farrington speaking.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, good.

Matt Edmundson:

And we have Dan Orange and Anna Kettle.

Matt Edmundson:

They are hosting.

Matt Edmundson:

Fab.

Matt Edmundson:

That'll be good.

Matt Edmundson:

Talking about peace, which would be great.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, really good.

Matt Edmundson:

So make sure you join us for that.

Matt Edmundson:

If you haven't done so already, make sure you'd like and subscribe to the channel.

Matt Edmundson:

I was gonna say podcast, the live stream, the pod, whatever the thing.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, wow.

Matt Edmundson:

We spend all this money on this tech.

Claire Glare:

Claire just What is it?

Claire Glare:

Tumbleweed.

Matt Edmundson:

We thought long and hard about the branding.

Matt Edmundson:

We did all the research and it's called The thing.

Matt Edmundson:

Love that.

Matt Edmundson:

Absolutely love that.

Matt Edmundson:

So yes, the next week we're talking about peace carrying on.

Matt Edmundson:

We also have a midweek community group.

Matt Edmundson:

If you'd like to come join us on Zoom, come say how's it to the troops.

Matt Edmundson:

It'll be great to see you in there.

Matt Edmundson:

That's Wednesday night, 8, no 7.

Matt Edmundson:

30pm.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, actually, that's reminded me, I do have to give a brief notice.

Matt Edmundson:

If you're watching this and you're joining us on the Alpha course,

Matt Edmundson:

because every Wednesday, we also do an Alpha, we're doing Alpha at 8:30,

Matt Edmundson:

which has been going really well.

Matt Edmundson:

Amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, I love Alpha.

Matt Edmundson:

Alpha is a thing where you can come join us and we explore the Christian faith.

Matt Edmundson:

It's great if you're searching, if you have lots of questions about

Matt Edmundson:

Christianity, or if you're a new Christian trying to figure things out.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Alpha is brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

And so we've got some great guys on Alpha.

Matt Edmundson:

I would say actually great ladies on Alpha because the men have all disappeared.

Matt Edmundson:

But let's not go there.

Matt Edmundson:

Man, come on, wake up.

Matt Edmundson:

So yeah, if you want to come join us on Alpha, you're more than welcome.

Matt Edmundson:

That said, there is no Alpha this week.

Matt Edmundson:

Alpha will be cancelled this week or postponed.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Because I've been a week off.

Matt Edmundson:

I wish.

Matt Edmundson:

Clash of Diaries.

Claire Glare:

Oh,

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah Sharon and I are doing a marriage course and

Matt Edmundson:

we're speaking on communication.

Matt Edmundson:

So we're doing the communication thing on the marriage course.

Claire Glare:

Sorry, irony.

Claire Glare:

Communication.

Claire Glare:

Sorry.

Claire Glare:

Clash.

Claire Glare:

I can talk

Claire Glare:

of it.

Matt Edmundson:

It's just brilliant, isn't it?

Matt Edmundson:

So yes, so just to let you know that Alpha will not be happening this week.

Matt Edmundson:

But if you want to join the community group, you're more than welcome.

Matt Edmundson:

Just get in touch with us via the website, which is, let me put

Matt Edmundson:

it on screen, Crowd Church, www.

Matt Edmundson:

crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

church, or you can reach us on social media at Crowd Church,

Matt Edmundson:

and we'll send you the Zoom details, and you can come join in.

Matt Edmundson:

Is that the Phil Watson Marriage Course?

Matt Edmundson:

Yes, it is.

Matt Edmundson:

So if you're in Liverpool, you want to do the marriage course, come join us.

Matt Edmundson:

It's an amazing thing to do.

Matt Edmundson:

And it's hosted by Phil Watson, who's been on Crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

Him and Helena.

Claire Glare:

They're bonkers, lovely, joyful people, aren't they?

Claire Glare:

Oh, they're great.

Matt Edmundson:

On another level of amazingness.

Matt Edmundson:

They really are.

Matt Edmundson:

And yeah, if you're in Liverpool and you want to come join

Matt Edmundson:

us on that, do check us out.

Matt Edmundson:

Jamie says, powerful stuff tonight.

Matt Edmundson:

Thanks, Jamie.

Matt Edmundson:

Thankful for tonight.

Matt Edmundson:

Thank you, Matt and Claire.

Matt Edmundson:

It's great to have you, man.

Matt Edmundson:

Great that you could join us.

Matt Edmundson:

Appreciate you being here.

Matt Edmundson:

Matt says tonight has been joyful.

Matt Edmundson:

I just want to sing that joyful Lord, we adore thee, God of glory.

Matt Edmundson:

I'm gonna stop now because people are leaving.

Claire Glare:

I don't know that one.

Matt Edmundson:

You must have watched the movie Sister Act.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, don't remember that 2.

Claire Glare:

No, I re watched Sister Act, the other one recently.

Claire Glare:

I watched Sister Act

Matt Edmundson:

2.

Matt Edmundson:

It's a song from Sister Act 2 ah.

Matt Edmundson:

I say it's an old fashioned song, which they really do.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, but they're

Claire Glare:

great songs in Sister Act.

Matt Edmundson:

Amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, check it out Sister Act 2.

Matt Edmundson:

Peter says, yes, very thought provoking evening.

Matt Edmundson:

Thank you.

Matt Edmundson:

Thanks, Peter.

Claire Glare:

Try fostering Matt Crew's house.

Claire Glare:

That's a thing to bring joy to our lives as mother of adopted children.

Matt Edmundson:

No, we

Claire Glare:

love

Matt Edmundson:

it.

Matt Edmundson:

You love it.

Matt Edmundson:

You love it.

Matt Edmundson:

You must be an adoption champion

Claire Glare:

then.

Claire Glare:

You really put me on the spot there.

Claire Glare:

No, I am.

Claire Glare:

Read the subtext.

Claire Glare:

No, I am.

Claire Glare:

Yeah.

Claire Glare:

My children are great.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

It's just a whole different world.

Matt Edmundson:

It's

Claire Glare:

just a different podcast.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

No, no one told you about this.

Claire Glare:

I genuinely think, sorry, we digress.

Claire Glare:

That if you knew.

Claire Glare:

What you'd be what the challenges you do as a parent, nobody would do it.

Claire Glare:

And I think that for adoption and fostering as much as anything.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

I think because you just

Claire Glare:

wouldn't because it's so flipping hard.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, natural parenting is hard enough.

Matt Edmundson:

But fostering and adoption throws a whole bunch of other issues

Matt Edmundson:

into the works, doesn't it really?

Matt Edmundson:

But yeah, you're amazing.

Matt Edmundson:

Phil and Helena.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Phil is a big fostering champion, isn't he?

Matt Edmundson:

Put a shout out to Phil, go find Phil Watson, if you want to know more about

Matt Edmundson:

fostering kids, just go find him on Instagram, tell him we said how's it.

Matt Edmundson:

Because he's a big champion of fostering, isn't he, and adoption.

Matt Edmundson:

We

Claire Glare:

need people who are joy, whose joy comes from the Lord.

Claire Glare:

To foster.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, we do.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

So if you feel God's calling you to do that, do check it out.

Matt Edmundson:

Go check out Phil Watson or get in touch with us as a crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

We'll put you in touch with them.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicola says, stop it.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't know what she's talking about.

Matt Edmundson:

I've been talking about adopting kids.

Matt Edmundson:

Just stop it.

Claire Glare:

I think we've run over time.

Matt Edmundson:

Stop singing is probably what she said.

Claire Glare:

Yeah, probably.

Matt Edmundson:

I

Claire Glare:

was enjoying it.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah.

Matt Edmundson:

Oh, it's good to be funny.

Matt Edmundson:

It's good to think we're funny.

Matt Edmundson:

We're

Claire Glare:

scousers.

Claire Glare:

We're adopted scousers.

Claire Glare:

We are naturally funny.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, absolutely.

Matt Edmundson:

I got a birthday card last week because it was my birthday last week.

Matt Edmundson:

Happy birthday.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, thank you.

Claire Glare:

I think I said hi.

Claire Glare:

You did.

Claire Glare:

You did.

Matt Edmundson:

Bless you.

Matt Edmundson:

You did.

Matt Edmundson:

And I had this birthday card and it's, it made some comment

Matt Edmundson:

about what was it she said?

Matt Edmundson:

Something along the lines of I hope it's as good and as funny as you think you are.

Matt Edmundson:

Rude.

Matt Edmundson:

Rude.

Matt Edmundson:

Rude.

Matt Edmundson:

Rude.

Matt Edmundson:

Anyway, thank you.

Matt Edmundson:

People are

Claire Glare:

even ringing you up, Matt, to tell us that we've run out.

Matt Edmundson:

We are.

Matt Edmundson:

They're calling me on my phone.

Matt Edmundson:

Get off.

Matt Edmundson:

So much.

Matt Edmundson:

Nicola says today has brought me joy and pain.

Matt Edmundson:

Brought me joy and pain.

Matt Edmundson:

Brilliant.

Matt Edmundson:

Glad

Claire Glare:

you enjoyed it.

Claire Glare:

We hope to please.

Claire Glare:

Oh no, he's persistent, isn't he?

Claire Glare:

He is

Matt Edmundson:

very persistent.

Matt Edmundson:

He's going, he's a guy I need to drop his shopping off.

Matt Edmundson:

I'll do that on the way home.

Matt Edmundson:

But listen, thank you so much for joining us.

Matt Edmundson:

Have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world.

Matt Edmundson:

That's it from me.

Matt Edmundson:

That's it from Claire.

Matt Edmundson:

And I'm looking for the, there's a button there.

Matt Edmundson:

I can't see it, but I think it's that one.

Matt Edmundson:

But it's been brilliant to be with you.

Matt Edmundson:

Have you enjoyed it?

Claire Glare:

I've loved it.

Matt Edmundson:

Yeah, it's been great.

Matt Edmundson:

It's been great.

Matt Edmundson:

So thank you so much.

Matt Edmundson:

Have a great week.

Matt Edmundson:

Have a great week.

Matt Edmundson:

God bless you.

Matt Edmundson:

We'll see you next week.

Matt Edmundson:

Bye for now, guys.

Matt Edmundson:

Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, if you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe button, as well

Matt Edmundson:

as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live.

Matt Edmundson:

And of course, if you are listening to the podcast, the live stream podcast, make

Matt Edmundson:

sure you also hit the follow button now.

Matt Edmundson:

By smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your

Matt Edmundson:

podcast platform, it helps us reach more people with the message that

Matt Edmundson:

Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life.

Matt Edmundson:

So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our website www.

Matt Edmundson:

crowd.

Matt Edmundson:

church, where you can learn more about us, as a church, more about

Matt Edmundson:

the Christian faith and also how to connect into our church community.

Matt Edmundson:

It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome.

Matt Edmundson:

It's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time.

Matt Edmundson:

That's it from us.

Matt Edmundson:

God bless you.

Matt Edmundson:

Bye for now.

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