In this enlightening talk, we have a deeper exploration into the nature and power of kindness. Here are the key points and insights from the service, focusing on the transformative impact of kindness in our lives:

1. Spiritual Foundation of Kindness: Understanding kindness as a fruit of the Spirit, which God cultivates within us as we grow in faith and spirituality.
2. Kindness and Wholeness: How acts of kindness contribute not only to the well-being of recipients but also to the personal wholeness of those who give. Kindness is about connecting deeply with the essence of God’s character—His unending grace and mercy.
3. Biblical Perspectives on Kindness: Insights into how kindness is portrayed in the Bible, including references from Paul’s letters emphasising kindness as a path to repentance and transformation.
4. The Good Samaritan: A detailed look at this powerful parable that illustrates the boundless nature of true kindness, transcending societal and cultural boundaries.
5. Practical Impacts of Kindness: Discussion on the physical and psychological benefits of kindness, supported by both scriptural references and modern scientific research.
6. Living Out Kindness: Practical steps and motivational insights on how to incorporate kindness into daily life, making it a transformative force for ourselves and those around us.
7. Call to Action: Encouraging listeners to designate a day specifically for practicing intentional acts of kindness and sharing these experiences to inspire a community-wide embrace of compassionate living.

This talk is not just an exploration of kindness as a concept but a compelling call to make kindness a dynamic and transformative part of our daily lives. By embracing kindness, we embrace a part of God’s own nature and open ourselves up to a more fulfilling and spiritually enriched life. Join us as we discover how even the smallest acts of kindness can lead to radical changes, not just in individual lives but across communities.

Welcome to this week's Crowd Church service.

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

us live a more meaningful life.

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

where you can contribute and grow.

I want to invite you to connect with us here at

Crowd Church and there are a few ways that you can do just that.

Firstly, you can engage with 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?

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 and discover

more about the amazingness of Christ.

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

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

courage from everyday people.

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

be found on our website at www.

crowd.

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

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

know what your next steps to take are.

Why not head over to our website, crowd.

church forward slash next, for more details.

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

church service starts right now.

Wow, good evening, welcome to Crowd Church, who've we got beside me

today on the live stream, you'll be pleased to know, it is Matt Edmundson.

My beautiful wife.

Hi everybody.

I'm just chuckling slightly because as the introduction was playing he was talking

along with it because he knows it so well.

I've heard it so many times, right?

So I had double Matt speaking to me.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

We'll just leave it as double Matt.

Ha!

Ha!

I don't know what to say,

don't know what to say.

For those of you who don't know me, I'm Sharon and I'm married.

So you know, this will be why there'll be the husband and wife jokes going

up throughout the live stream.

Anyway, warm welcome to you.

Welcome to Crowd Church for your first time with us.

Warm welcome to you.

And of course, if you are a regular, then a warm welcome to you guys as well.

We are streaming live on YouTube.

We are on Facebook.

And we are of course now on Instagram as well.

So wherever you are watching us, be sure to say hi in the comments.

Be great to hear from you.

Let us know where you're watching from.

Because, we're just jamming the chorus, start that sentence again,

we're genuinely curious, aren't we?

And a bit nosy, yeah.

Are you curious or are you nosy?

Oh, a bit of both, yeah, definitely.

Where's the line?

I'm not sure.

Who do we have with us so far?

In the comments we've got Matt Crew, the

intro needs recording again.

Andy's in the comments, Peter is in the comments, so good evening to everybody.

What's this?

Mega congratulations to my United Women on winning the FA Cup Final.

Fair play to you, but I am going to say congratulations to the

women's England team, under 17s.

Oh, great.

They're winning.

They're winning.

They're doing really well.

Hats off to you.

Great.

Hats off to you.

Yeah, absolutely.

Go support the England women's under 17s.

Rebecca Dowse is in golf.

She's a legend.

Absolute legend.

So yes, they're winning, which I'm very excited about.

Not that this is a football channel.

No, and I really don't understand football, so I'm

starting to glaze over a little bit.

Moving on swiftly.

Move on quickly, yeah.

Welcome

to you today.

We are talking, do you know what we're talking about today?

Oh, it's me, isn't it?

Yeah.

Talking about Say that again.

Kindness.

Kindness, you have to say it louder so it goes in the mic.

I was just slightly hesitant, I was like, I think it's

kindness, I listened to it earlier so I should know, but yeah, the

memory's not playing at the minute.

The memory's not playing.

Peter says, nosy nothing wrong with a healthy interest.

Exactly,

yes.

Healthy interest, I like that.

Would you incur?

Concur?

Yes.

We like Peter.

He's a legend.

So yes, warm welcome to everybody in the comments.

Today we are talking about kindness.

You've got double Matt today.

Unfortunately, I'm terribly sorry, because I'm doing the talks just

the way it's worked out with the schedules that I'm hosting.

Normally, we try and do it where somebody else is hosting when I do the

talk, but it didn't quite work out.

So yeah, you've got me doing the talk.

We're talking about kindness.

Yeah.

And somehow I've got to tie this into wholeness.

Now we've been talking about the fruits of the spirit, right?

And we've been looking at this whole thing about spiritual health.

We've been talking about the fruits of the spirit, what happens to you when the

Holy Spirit works through you, right?

That's how we would define the fruits of the spirit.

Yeah, we've got all of that going on.

Miriam's in the comments as well.

Hi, Miriam.

Hi, Miriam.

Another legend.

Say hi to Miriam.

Miriam's on YouTube.

So yeah, say hi to Miriam.

But yeah, so we've been doing this spiritual health thing, talking about

the fruits of the spirit, what happens when the Holy Spirit works for you.

We're on the topic of kindness.

Oh, yes, we're going to get into that.

So what's going to happen?

Why don't you, they're going to have enough of my voice, you

tell them what's going to happen.

Yeah, so we've got Matt talking about kindness.

And then after that, we're going to come back and discuss the talk and

pick up on any comments that you make.

So throughout the talk, do put your comments in.

If you've got any examples of where you've received kindness or given kindness, or

just any thoughts that you've got about the talk, chuck them in the comments,

and we'll hopefully pick them up after.

And for our American cousins that might not

know what chuck means, just chuck.

Put them in the comments.

I'm just translating.

So yeah, check them in the comments, lob them.

Lob them in the comments.

We will see you in there during the talk.

But yeah, Sharon, I'll be back after the talk.

So I'm just looking for the, there we go, always looking for

the talk button on the keypad.

So we're gonna play the talk now.

We'll be back for Conversation Street.

Don't go anywhere.

Grab your notebooks, grab your pens, because this one is I found

actually quite a challenging talk.

This whole topic of kindness, you're going to find out why.

I'm going to quickly switch to you.

You can introduce the talk.

I'm going to get changed, change location, sort my hair out, and

then I'll be back to do the talk.

Here we go.

So the other week I was having lunch with some colleagues in a cafe catching

up about a new brand we are going to be launching soon in brackets just for

context if you don't know I run my own company as well as being part of crowd so

here we are chatting away eating some good food having some fantastic conversation as

we usually do but this for me turned into an unforgettable moment because The bill,

the food bill, was paid for by a stranger.

Now, to this day, I do not know who paid it.

I don't know why they paid it, but pay it they did.

And not just for me, for all three of us.

Oh yes, which was amazing.

I was the recipient of a random act of kindness.

It was a beautiful thing, too.

Being kind, then, it seems to have this sort of Amazing ability, the power

to transform an ordinary moment into something really quite extraordinary.

So today, guess what we're looking at?

Kindness.

Oh yes.

Which is one of those words that I think can elicit all kinds of emotions in us.

Now the Bible tells us that kindness is a fruit of the Spirit.

In other words, it's something that God brings about in us and

through us as we grow in Him.

And start to become whole now.

All good stuff, right?

So let's look at it.

We're gonna ask, what is kindness?

Is it just about doing good deeds or is there more to it than that?

How does kindness actually make us whole, given that we're talking about wholeness?

Probably a good question to ask.

We will ask why.

Kindness has such a powerful impact, not just on those who receive it,

cause we all, makes a lot of sense, but actually also on those who give it.

Oh yes, that's coming.

And then finally we're going to ask how can we become more kind,

which I think is a really dangerous question, but that's just me and

we're going to get into all of that.

But before we ride into the danger zone,

Love the 80s pop reference there.

Name the movie in the comments if you know what I'm talking about.

But before we head into the danger zone, I want to look at the kindness of God.

Because this is church after all, so let's look at the kindness of God.

Paul is one of the key writers of the New Testament, right?

And he wrote a letter to a chap called Titus, who was his spiritual son.

And in that, he said this about himself.

He said, we lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

But when the kindness and love of God, our savior appeared, he saved us.

Wow, that's a great phrase, isn't it?

When the kindness and love of God appeared, he saved us.

Now, that word saved, he saved us.

What does that mean?

It carries the idea of soundness and wholeness.

In other words, when the kindness and love of God appears, he

makes us whole, nothing missing.

Nothing broken.

Wholeness is the kindness of God in action.

I think that kindness is God's secret weapon that brings

about change in our lives.

And it's not just me that thinks this.

Actually, Paul thought this too, which is where I got the

idea from, not going to lie.

Paul wrote this in a letter to the Roman church.

He said, God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance.

Which is a really powerful idea that the purpose, the reason behind

God's kindness is repentance.

The reason God is kind is repentance, which is all about change.

Repentance just means to turn around, we're going one way, so we turn around

and we go the other way to repent.

That's what it means.

It's about turning around from what was holding us down, and in this case,

Paul, when he was talking to the Roman Church, was talking to them about sin, and

being really judgmental of other people.

He's telling you to turn around from that.

And go a different way, go a God kind of way.

Why?

Because God has been kind to you.

So it's about turning towards something, I think, which is infinitely better.

Repentance is not turning away from something out of fear.

Like God is mad at us.

So I think this idea that repentance is inspired by the

overwhelming kindness of God.

God is a beautiful thing.

It leads you to turn away from things that keep us broken and

brings you to a place of wholeness.

The kindness of God in action.

Love that, not gonna lie.

So just what is, I love talking about this stuff.

I genuinely do.

I get really excited.

What is God?

Kindness.

Before we answer that question, what I want to do is

understand what kindness isn't.

What is it not?

Because I think there are some misconceptions out there about

kindness, and in understanding those, I think we'll get to

understand what kindness actually is.

The first misconception I see out there is that kindness is often

confused with self indulgence.

Let's take the idea be kind to ourselves, which is a phrase I hear a

lot, often tied with the idea of things like self compassion and self care,

probably being the most well known phrase, and I get the intent here.

Behind it.

I really do.

It even sounds right when we say it because self care, being

kind to ourselves, we're often our own worst critic, aren't we?

Being overly judgmental and harsh on ourselves, which I

don't think is godly at all.

So I do think self care in many ways is actually a basic responsibility before

God, but I don't think it should tip over into obsession with ourselves or

actually neglect of others as this creates a conflict with the biblical principles

of self denial, stewardship, and the prioritization of loving others, something

we should probably talk more about.

Self care can, I think, tip into self indulgence and it can become about

finding that elusive, Comfort based lifestyle, which I don't believe

is what faith should be about, which is all a bit ouch, isn't it?

Being kind to ourselves then, that can become an excuse, can't it?

Which we don't want.

We don't want that excuse for a lifestyle which is in conflict with the plans

that God has for us, which repentance.

Being kind to yourself is not about Accepting those things that God actually

wants to free us from or change in us.

But it is about changing how you think about yourself.

Kindness is seeing yourself as God sees you.

Being kind to yourself is thinking of yourself the way

that God thinks about you.

And when you do this, honestly, it opens up the door for repentance,

for changing your direction in life, learning from our mistakes and

bringing about God's transformation and wholeness in us and through us.

But the reality is to do that may actually make us uncomfortable.

At least for a season.

So being kind to ourselves is not always about comfort, it's not always about being

comfortable, it's not about accepting those things that God wants to change in

us and it's not about self indulgence.

And I think we can also confuse kindness with something else.

The avoidance of conflict.

How many of you know what I'm talking about, right?

Mainly because I think the opposite of kindness is often seen as meanness,

and so to be kind, we avoid situations that could make us look mean.

So what if I define kindness simply as a behaviour intended to benefit others?

That's it.

Kindness is a behaviour intended to benefit others.

So the opposite of kindness is not necessarily meanness, but rather

a behaviour that is intended not

When we behave in a way that doesn't benefit somebody else,

we're not being kind to them.

If we want to be kind to somebody, maybe, just maybe, the best thing that we can do

for them is to confront or to challenge.

Maybe that's the benefit that we're bringing.

Sure, now, hear me on this.

I'm not saying it has to be like this.

All the time.

There are some people that need to hear that.

But I don't think that kindness is about keeping the peace at all

costs, or sidestepping difficult conversations, or ignoring injustice.

Actually, being kind is more about how you deal with conflict, rather

than the avoidance of conflict itself.

And we see this, don't we?

Case in point, the life of Jesus,

he was confrontational in many ways.

But at the same time, he was the kindness of God personified.

He confronted in a kind way because kindness is a behavior

intended to benefit others.

Kindness is about wholeness and not just about keeping everyone comfortable.

Why does kindness have such a powerful impact on others and on ourselves?

To answer that, there's an old story about a guy who was lying

in a ditch next to the road.

He had been robbed and practically beaten to death and left there to die.

He was unconscious, he was pretty much naked, and in a bad way and a long

way from anywhere that could help.

He was the victim of a horrific and violent crime, but the

story doesn't end there.

It goes from bad to worse for him, because people start to walk down that

road and they see him, they notice him, but they don't do anything.

To help him, one of whom was even a priest for some reason, the three people that

walked past him did not want to help.

None of them wanted to be inconvenienced or get involved with something that

they shouldn't get involved with.

They were not being kind and the very people that should, they

were the very people that should have been kind, but they weren't.

And it's easy, I think, as we hear that story, to get angry.

And I think that's actually something of God in us, that kind of anger rising

up when somebody should have been kind, but wasn't, that's maybe why Jesus

told this story, which we've come to know as a parable of the good Samaritan.

It was a good Samaritan that pulled this guy out of the ditch

and paid for his medical care.

Now, the important part of this story is the kindness came from a Samaritan who,

They didn't just own a telephone line here in the UK or a bunch of charity shops.

They were actually a race of people who were despised by

the Jews at the time of Jesus.

Now, Jesus was talking to Jews.

Okay.

They despised the Samaritans and yet it was a Samaritan who was

the kind stranger in the story.

To bring this matter home.

I want you to imagine that you are the Good Samaritan.

You walk down the road and you see someone in the ditch that is from a

group of people that have done nothing but spew hatred towards your people,

that have oppressed them in some way.

Maybe they have, I don't know, Nazi tattoos on their arm.

Maybe they are a bully from school or that person that went out of their way and

knowingly had an affair with your partner.

Basically, they are a person that has wronged you in some major way.

They are lying there in the ditch.

They need your help and you see them.

Do you help or do you walk past?

Jesus here is helping us understand that kindness is the

outworking of the love of God.

Kindness is a behavior based on love intended to help

others, to help our neighbor.

It's powerful stuff, isn't it?

Jesus goes on to ask this question.

He says, what do you think?

Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?

The one who treated him kindly, the religion scholar responded.

Jesus said, Go and do the same.

Bingo!

Right there.

Go and do the same.

Go and be kind.

Look beyond the superficial, the tattoos, the memories, the

hurt and the pain and be kind.

Now, Matt, this is easy to say, but it is hard to do, right?

But this is what happens when the Holy Spirit brings about the fruit

of kindness in us and through us.

It's what happens as we start to become whole.

You cannot, I don't think, According to scripture, be a whole person

without being a kind person.

You cannot be whole without being kind.

So what about the Samaritan?

Was there a benefit for him in all of this?

We know that there was a definite cost when we read the story.

Cost him money, cost him time and effort and actually probably in forgiveness.

But was there a benefit to go along with this Same level of cost.

Research has shown that when we are kind to others, our own happiness and

life satisfaction actually increase.

That's a beautiful thing.

And our blood pressure and our cortisol levels, which is a hormone directly

correlated with stress they decrease.

That's another beautiful thing, right?

All good stuff.

And not actually at all surprising, because as you would expect, the Bible

does have something to say about this.

It says in the book of Proverbs that those who are kind benefit themselves,

but the cruel bring ruin upon themselves.

So we can see from the Neuroscience.

And the Bible and probably, you know what we know and have experienced that

kindness is one of those things that transforms both the receiver and the

giver win . So if you are not feeling happy in life, rather than waiting

on someone to come and be your white knight in shining armor, why not figure

out why God is telling you to be kind?

And watch what happens.

Your journey to wholeness is your journey in kindness.

So that's quite a revelation right there.

So how can we actually be more kind?

That's a big question, isn't it?

I'm aware that for many of you watching this, you may have rarely experienced

kindness first hand, and the sad truth is, if we haven't seen kindness, if

we haven't experienced kindness, I think it's hard to actually be kind.

It's easy to be unkind.

We just repeat what has been modelled to us.

So how can we become kinder people?

The answer lies not within our own strength or in our own power, But

I think in opening ourselves up to the healing of the Holy Spirit and

experience His kindness, the kindness of God, His wholeness in our lives.

The ultimate act of kindness was Christ on the cross, taking our place.

Spiritually, we were the ones lying in that bed.

Ditched by the side of the road.

We were the ones that were in a bad way, and Jesus was the Samaritan.

We despised him.

The Bible says we hated the name of him and we mocked him for years,

and we still do in many ways.

But he was kind and he heals.

Our hearts and our wounds.

He pays the price for us, and it is God's kindness that leads us to repentance, to

change, to turn around and find wholeness.

When that grace of God, his kindness and action heals and changes us.

We start to become like Him and we start to become kind because He is kind.

Jesus put it this way.

He said, I tell you, love your enemies, help and give without expecting a return.

You'll never, I promise, regret it.

Live out this God created identity the way our Father lives towards

us, generously and graciously, even when we're at our worst.

Our Father is kind.

You be kind.

Wow.

We take the kindness of God and we extend that to others.

And the key here is not to do it expecting anything in return

because that's not kindness.

That's trading, isn't it?

That's almost investing.

We have a different example.

Our father is kind.

So you be kind.

Jesus goes on when talking to the crowd of people, he goes on to say

this, don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults,

unless of course, you're not kind.

You want the same treatment.

Ouch.

Don't condemn those who are down.

That hardness can boomerang.

Be easy on people.

You'll find life a lot easier.

Give away your life.

You'll find life given back, but not merely given back.

Given back with bonus and blessing.

Giving, not getting is the way.

Generosity begets generosity.

Don't be mean to people.

Don't jump all over them.

I'm not telling you not to hold people to account.

Because that's not what it's about.

Behave in a way that benefits others.

Be kind, which includes what you say, right?

Who around you needs to hear a word, a kind word from you?

Texting them is okay, but calling them is better.

I came across a study recently that found when young girls were under some form

of stress, that stress would reduce when they hear a voice of someone they trusted.

Like their mum.

Not only did their stress go down, but their positivity actually went up, which

is not, it's not to be unexpected, right?

It makes an awful lot of sense, but you know what?

That same study also found that if a mum sent a text message rather

than actually spoke to them, The effect was not nearly as profound.

What that means is this, voice is more powerful than text messages.

So if someone, if you need to be kind to someone, if someone needs a kind

word from you, be vocal about it.

Text messages are okay.

But it's better for them to hear your voice.

Calling takes an extra effort.

Visiting that person takes even more effort, but that's the

kindness of God in action, right?

That's all it is.

So talk with people.

Look for opportunities to help others without expecting anything in return.

Offer a helping hand and be like the good Samaritan.

What would happen if those that disagreed with each other in our society We're

actually kind and helpful to each other at the same time, despite those differences,

rather than just spouting hate.

What a difference that would make.

We should be more Samaritan and less judgy.

Open the door for others.

Just listen to them, send care packages, cook a meal, talk to the

person who is serving you at the checkout, make them smile, make that

a challenge, can I get this person in front of me to smile, yes or no?

Take an interest, call a friend you haven't spoken to for a while,

compliment everyone you meet with actual genuineness, not in a false

kind of way, just be genuine.

Volunteer, donate, even pay for somebody's coffee or meal at a cafe.

in a way that benefits others.

There are so many ways to be kind and it just takes intentionality and the Holy

Spirit working in you and through you.

Just allow that to happen and go for it.

So this week, I want to challenge you to designate a day as your kindness day.

Imagine a day wholly devoted to spreading kindness In every

interaction that you have, every conversation, even with those you find

it hard to agree with, plan it out.

What can you do?

What can you say?

Be intentional about it.

See how it goes.

But if I'm honest, I don't want it to just be a one off.

If Thursday is your kindness day, do it every Thursday.

Build the habit of kindness.

Because the impact will be extraordinary, extraordinary, because kindness will

seep out of every area of your life and it won't just be Thursday, it'll be

Wednesday and Tuesday and when we practice it and keep being intentional about it.

Things can and will change in the world around us.

Remember, as the Bible tells us, those who are kind indeed benefit themselves.

Kindness is one of the few things that really is a win.

So let's make kindness our mission.

What do you say?

Choose your kindness day.

Choose to be kind to everyone you meet that day.

And even those of you who don't, share your stories with

us, we'd love to hear them.

Remember, God our Father is kind, so we get to choose to be kind too.

So there

you go, quick change of location.

You did that so well, so quickly.

The boy's got talent.

Definitely.

Yeah, something like that.

Welcome back to Conversation Street.

Glad you could join us.

Yes, I did the talk.

For those of you who joined us during the talk, a warm welcome to you today, Sharon.

My beautiful wife and I are hosting, and I just happened to do the talk.

Ordinarily, that doesn't happen.

Normally, our scheduling's a little bit better than that.

But on this occasion, we need Double

Matt.

That's the phrase of the day.

Double Matt.

Double Matt.

At least it's not triple.

Yeah at least I'm not hosting and speaking.

That would be tricky, but nigh impossible, actually.

Anyway, I digress.

So what did you make to the talk?

There are lots of things going on in the comments.

I was watching that people dipping in and out on the old gram, people

dipping in and out on the old Facebook lots of comments going on.

Yeah, I think I had different reactions.

Part of me is just, lots of really lovely bits.

And then there was quite a bit of owie bits.

It's quite challenging, isn't it, as well?

It's lovely on the one hand and the story you started with.

I love hearing stories like that of these random acts of kindness.

And I know Nicola put in the comments that she's done some, and I remember

her talking about them in the past.

I can't quite remember what they are.

So I was looking for some to come back in the comments.

And it's always really, it's really cool to hear those things, I think.

And they do, they can change your day, can't they?

When someone's kind to you.

Yeah.

But then there is the owie.

section where actually it can be a challenge being kind sometimes

if you've got someone who you find very frustrating and you just

want to tell them how you feel.

And of course sometimes it is appropriate to tell them how you feel, but it's

what's our motivation and what's our tone and are we doing it out of

kindness or is it pure frustration?

Yes.

That kind of thing.

Yes.

So yeah, it's a challenge.

Very much a big challenge, very much a big challenge.

So yes yeah.

Peter said a good example of kindness is my sister back in the UK has

recently had a cancerous cyst removed.

A friend of mine here in Spain sent her flowers to celebrate the great news.

She is unknown to my sister.

Yeah,

that would be totally unexpected, wouldn't it?

So that's got quite a big impact.

Yeah, she's really lovely.

Yeah, absolutely.

But Peter, you should send flowers as well.

I'm assuming Peter did actually.

But yeah, it's great news about your sister as well, Peter.

We've been praying for her.

Good news that she's on the road to recovery, which is great.

And that's actually, it's one of those things that one of the kindest things you

can do for people is pray for 'em, right?

And to take that time aside and just to remember them before God in prayer, it's

always a good place to start with people.

I didn't even say that in the talk.

What kind of a preacher am I?

It's hard to fit everything into 20 minutes, isn't it?

It is

yeah.

Matt Crew says There's so much

that could be said.

Matt Crew says you don't sound as fluey compared to midweek.

Yes, true.

I'm pretty much healed now, which is a beautiful thing.

You're doing much better, aren't you?

Yeah, back to normal, which is nice.

Yeah very nice.

What else we got?

Jenny's in the comments.

Andy says, sounds like you've been listening to one too many podcasts, Matt.

Why'd you say that, Endy?

Not that I'm offended at all, but I'm curious as to what you mean by that.

So yeah interesting comments.

Anyway, I digress from the comments.

What were your notes?

You took lots of notes.

I didn't, I thought it was a bit weird if I took notes of my own talk.

I don't know, I just didn't.

Yeah, it just helps me to concentrate a bit and then

to remember bits that stood out.

I think apart from the story you started with, the first thing that stood out

was about God's kindness repentance, because I think sometimes we can get the

impression that God is just wanting us to do the right thing and almost is angry,

Oh, you've messed up again, but it's showing like it, no, it's his kindness

that is wanting us to turn around.

It's not this angry God is just going.

I guess it's the same when we look at someone we love, who's making

decisions that we think are actually, or we can see that are really harmful.

I think sometimes it's easier from the outside looking in to go, that's, that

doesn't make sense, that's going to be harmful to your life and looking at them

and just going, why are you doing that?

No, don't do that.

Do this and it's not because you hate them.

It is literally because you love them and you want good for them

and you want their life to go.

So I think that was the first thing that came out is God's kind.

Yeah, and being God.

I think he's surely he's got to be the kindest.

If you think of the kindest person that you've ever met, it's like

God is way more kind than that.

Yeah, he is the kindest being ever.

Yeah, that's very true.

I like that.

Yeah, I think it's an interesting one, isn't it?

Because again, we're talking about wholeness.

How do you become a whole person?

I think part of that journey is understanding that God is in fact kind

towards you and towards everybody else.

And that in his kindness, he will bring about that wholeness.

And part of that journey then is the outworking of kindness, the

kindness of God through you, right?

So he uses you and me to bring the cut his kindness to the world.

And that's all part of the journey, isn't it?

And that's where you start to go.

Wow, that is a bit.

Yeah, but involved.

I see Dave, there's so many comments, I feel like we're

not being able to pick up on them all.

But I've just seen one from Dave saying, we have to be prepared to get involved

with people like the Good Samaritan.

That's part of the cost.

Yeah.

And I think, yeah, there is sometimes a cost to kindness, isn't there?

And I think with that Samaritan, it's like going into what is essentially an

enemy village to find somewhere safe where this guy can be healed and recover.

Actually, that is a huge cost.

Yeah.

And that's not to say that we shouldn't look after our own needs as well.

But I think sometimes we do need wisdom on where to step out and where

we need to pay that cost and actually where sometimes we need to draw back.

That can be a fine line sometimes.

Yeah, that all comes down to boundaries, doesn't it?

And understanding boundaries.

And that's one of those things, we have such a fear, I think of being

of burning out and quite rightly so to all being taken advantage of.

But I always remember something they said at Bible school, which is always

stuck with me, it's better to have a little wildfire than no fire at all.

In other words, I'd rather be taken advantage of a little bit, or maybe go

you know, beyond my boundaries, maybe a little bit, then not

enough, if that makes sense.

But I'm not talking about being stupid or excessive, obviously

obviously in that story with the Good Samaritan, that was

somebody who was completely helpless.

There was nothing he could do to help himself.

And yeah he actually, he needed somebody, which is very different to

someone not being continuously not taking responsibility for their own

life, isn't it, where yeah, different scenarios, different responses sometimes.

They do.

They do.

And, but again, it sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

The kindness of God is extended to us and through us, but there can be a cost.

To that, it's

not popular, is it?

No, it's not popular.

And it's not all sunshine and rainbows, either.

It's not it's can't being kind is not always easy to do.

And I think that's the whole point of it, isn't it?

Is it's not always straightforward.

It's not always easy.

Yeah.

But you know that there is a cost and we do have to count that cost.

I think I've got, there's a comment from Matt Crew saying

I've had people who've taken advantage of my kindness and then twisted the

kindness into claiming its evilness.

It's hard to trust anyone else after your kindness has been violated.

Yeah, that can be tricky.

Yeah, and we need to be wise with our kindness.

But I think at the end of the day, it's like, who are we serving?

And what do we expect from our kindness?

I think that's something that helps me it's God that I'm serving not people.

So in a sense, how they react to that's not my responsibility.

My responsibility before God is how am I, what's my actions?

How am I thinking about people?

How am I dealing with that?

Cause it's hard when people are like that back, isn't it?

You're just trying to be kind and it's getting misinterpreted.

That is, that's tricky.

But yeah, I think for me, that would be how I'd help with that one.

Yeah.

That's super wise.

I think I said this in the talk that actually, if it's hard to model

kindness, if you've never actually received kindness in any way, and we've

all got our stories, and we've all got stories of when people have been

unkind, as well as when people have been kind, and we've all got those stories.

But like you say, fundamentally, kindness is a fruit of the spirit.

If God is living in you, and you are a Christian, and you are

on your journey to wholeness.

Part of that deal, in some respects, whether we like it or whether

we don't, we're going to have to extend the kindness of God out.

And what we learned from Christ on the cross is actually, it's not always that

well received, with the two guys, either side of him on the cross, one of them

was criticizing him and mocking him.

The other guy was like no

he did it anyway.

Yeah.

And yeah, I think that brings back to the verse where it talks

about the God, oh, it's stuff in Romans.

I can't think of the exact quote where it talks about how Jesus died

for us when we were his enemies.

So even for people when we are mocking him, rejecting him, he

still extends that gift to us and it's up to us what we do with it.

But he's constantly giving that kindness just can't come back to me,

but he's kind, but he's not controlling.

So he gives us the choice of how we receive that, how we react to that.

And yeah, it's the same, isn't it?

We give out that kindness and Pete, some people are going to reject it.

Some people are going to receive it, but it's for us to just, to

say, Judy, give it out, isn't it?

Yeah.

But I think it's a really good point about, it's about being

connected to God and it's not just all this self effort stuff, but.

If we're connected to God and constantly receiving his kindness, then it's easier

to give from what you've got than try and give something that you've not got.

Yeah, that's super true.

Because I'm there's a guy was talking to you the day he was talking

about how he was a kind person.

But he was saying it in the context of something bad is going on in my life.

Therefore, I don't deserve it because I was a kind person.

Yeah, and I think that's very dangerous thinking.

Yeah very dangerous thinking, because that's a case of I'm doing this

stuff to earn some kind of position in life, which I think is not going

to help you really in any way.

And I think the other thing to think about here is actually, God is kind to you.

But how God defines kindness, and how we understand kindness,

might not be connected that well at various points, right?

And so I like the definition that kindness is mercy, that kindness is a benefit and

is an action intended to benefit you.

And so when God is kind to humanity, you don't always see the end from

the beginning, but he does, and we have to trust that, right?

And God being kind to you is not giving you everything you want or need.

Everything that your wishlist sort of thing.

And one of the things I think it's reminded me

that I did the first talk on the Fruits of the Spirit about love and

I've got my train of thought now.

Oh, yeah, it was talking about how sometimes we can

do things that look loving.

So you can have two people do the same action that looks like love.

So maybe make a meal for somebody who's having a hard time from

one person, but the motivation can be completely different.

So the motivation for one person might actually be love in that they've

concerned about that person and they want to show them support and

whatever the other person, it might be

the motivation is to make themselves look good or like that to get something back.

Yeah.

And there was an example, I gave the story of somebody who, when

they first became a Christian, they had this just sense of God's love

and how it was such a pure love.

And I think that could be said with all of these fruits from God.

It's a pure kindness.

Yeah.

Out of purity.

So that the inside matches the action.

There's not this kind of separateness between them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I think that again, that's the difference when, if we're connected

with God and receiving from him, we've got much more chance of giving out pure

kindness rather than all this, wrong motives, right thing for the wrong reason.

Yeah very true.

So Nicola's put one of her stories in the comments.

So I love this one.

I once paid for a person behind me on the M6 toll.

They caught up with her at the next service, in fact I'm going

to put this in the broadcast.

They caught up with me at the next services, super grateful I'm guessing

because they had forgotten their money.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah, that's great.

I think that sounds quite fun, doesn't it?

And that when you were talking in the talk about having a day where you

have an acts of kindness day, like you say, this is something that in theory,

should just be flowing out of us.

But I did quite like the idea of having a focus for a day.

Yeah.

And like developing a habit in a sense of, but it sounds quite fun, which I liked,

not because sometimes things can be I don't know, maybe I can make them like a

bit of a task to do, but that can be like quite creative and, yeah, no, you totally

can, about all these different things.

Yeah.

No, I like the idea of it.

And I've, it's not that Thursday is my kindness day, but that's the day where

I think I have these little challenges.

And I just remind myself have a little reminder, the sort of do

the kindness thing, and it started to start to become a habit.

The main one is always now whenever I am my big thing, if I'm ever in the checkout

at the supermarket, I really want to make the person at the checkout smile.

That's my thing.

I've got a thing now I'd like I want to talk to them and engage them in a

way where they just, you know, Smile.

I'm intrigued now as to how you do that.

Normally it involves a dad joke.

Is it a smile from enjoyment or a smile from please move on?

I don't mind either way.

So Andy says, Oh, you mentioned blood pressure, cortisol

levels in the talk, Enz Huberman coming.

Okay.

Yeah, no fair play.

It is interesting though, I that, when all the researchy

stuff matches up with scripture.

Yeah.

I was listening to actually the Human Podcast today, which is why I was smiling.

I was walking around the park listening to one of his podcasts on sleep, which

I thought was really interesting.

Nicholas says, A few weeks ago I met a lady and her husband and she was trying

to get a taxi just to go down the road.

Because he couldn't walk that far, so I save him seven quid and get my lift.

Nice.

Cool.

Nice.

I think Nicola

is good at those little acts of kindness.

Yeah.

No contest, but Nicola's winning right now.

She's putting the most stories in, definitely.

But yes, you're winning, if it is a competition.

Pete says the comment to speak rather than text is very valid.

Appreciate that.

Text is black and white and can be read in whatever mood the receiver is in.

The spoken word is far warmer.

Yeah, it is.

It's interesting, isn't it, how the spoken word that I was really intrigued

by this study that came out where they took two control groups young girls

who were stressed with something.

I think it was to do with school.

They were stressed with something and one control group, the

parent, the mom, especially the mom would talk to her daughter.

And in the other control group, the mom would text her daughter.

And actually the one where she physically called her.

was far more effective than just a text message.

Which is interesting in a world that just delights in sending

text messages now, right?

Yeah, sometimes it's more convenient.

Yeah.

You can read them back again, can't you?

You can.

But yeah, I think they're, the Bible again says that there's

power in the tongue, doesn't it?

Talks in the beginning of the Bible of how God created by speaking.

Yeah.

And so you're like, I think there is a lot more power than we

actually realize in when we speak.

Yeah, no, there is.

And actually, this comes down to your kindness challenge day as well.

When you're out and about talking with people, one of the things that

you can do to be kind, I think, is just to be encouraging and be kind

with your words and say, nice things, flattering things, complimentary things.

False way, but in a genuine way about the person in front of you,

because you just don't know what battles they've been fighting.

It makes so much difference as well.

It reminds me of this week had the last couple of weeks, actually.

So at work, we have quite a few students.

I work with women teaching English to non English speakers and, There's a lot of

problems going on for a lot of people.

So we try and help them and part of that involves connecting

with different organizations.

And the last couple of weeks I had to phone this one particular

organization to do with housing.

And the lady on the phone was so kind and helpful and I was shocked.

It's a bit sad that I was shocked.

I think because I've had so many phone calls where people

haven't been so kind and helpful.

And at the end she she said, Oh, I think it was a line that they have

to say, Oh, how have I been today?

Have I been helpful?

I was like, you have been so helpful.

so much.

And then I actually wrote in and as a compliment thing on that.

And you actually picked up on that, didn't you?

And you were like

why have you not sent me any compliment emails?

So I've been sending him compliment emails every day since.

Every day.

Maybe I should start doing, do you want voice notes now?

Yeah no.

No,

okay.

No, Mona sends me voice notes.

And I, here's the thing, right?

I guess no one's done a study on voice notes.

Because I know we've gone back to this.

It's nicer to talk to somebody than it is to send them a text.

But I think voice notes are just all kinds of wrong.

But for some people that actually easier if you find that

if you're dyslexic, and you can't read.

Yeah.

Anyway, I think we're wondering,

I do appreciate that for some people I, if you're

going to send me, I just like text me because I can read them.

I can scan them, if that makes sense.

Whereas Mona, God love her, whenever she sends me a voice mail, you know you've

got to sit down, get a drink, notepad.

It works better for some people.

It does.

No, it does.

It does.

We are

very much off point.

That's unlike

us.

So Matt says you can't do that when you use a self service checkout.

Try and get yourself

to smile,

yeah, talk to yourself, see how long it is for the

security to come and take you away.

But this is where I think, actually intentionally going and

see somebody at the checkout.

I know the self service checkouts are easier and I know they're more convenient.

But sometimes deliberately going and seeing somebody that can do

that's doing the checkout for you.

One, I think they're probably in fear of their job because the whole

self service thing is taken over.

But two, Go make them smile.

Just do that.

Go and say, how's it?

And it just doesn't have to be people at the checkout, obviously everywhere,

you need to make people smile.

Whoever you meet.

Nicola says having the dog with me helps as I've trained her to

give hugs and sometimes that's all you need is a hug off a dog.

And he says totally agree, dog hugs are the best.

You should get a t shirt.

Dog hugs given that kind of thing be really quite interesting.

Yes.

Anything else in your notes?

Oh there was the whole thing of kindness is not the

avoidance of conflict, which again I think from my own point of view, I

know in the past people have really challenged me about stuff in my life

and I really didn't like it at the time.

Yeah.

But actually it was the kindest thing they could have done because after I'd

finished fuming and muttering under my breath and like being like, I was

actually, I think they've got a point.

And those are the moments that have actually turned things around

in my life because they've been able to see things that have

needed, genuinely needed changing.

Yeah.

Sometimes I think we can get I'm speaking for myself.

I know I can get stuck in a rut and a bit blinkered where you just can't see

your way out and it's always easier, I think, to see what somebody else is

doing wrong, not necessarily wrong or where they just, if they shift stuff,

life would go a whole lot better.

Yeah.

And sometimes I think we can bat off those comments and be just like, Oh,

you're just being horrible, but actually sometimes that can be out of kindness.

Yeah.

So I think it's worth listening and just.

If we do get those comments just to go, okay, is this, does this person,

is this person for me, if they are, is there anything in what they've

said that actually I need to listen to and take note of because it could

well change our lives and actually bring us to that place of wholeness.

This comes back again to the kindness of God leads

us to repentance or leads us to change, leads us to turn around.

But kindness is not the avoidance of conflict, nor is it accepting it.

I don't think God accepts in us those things which he wants to change in us.

If that makes sense.

Yeah.

And sometimes we get comfortable in that.

Sometimes that's our sin.

Sometimes that's just our way of living.

And God's I don't know, I think I want you out of that really.

And so it's the kindness of God that brings about the repentance.

And yeah that's where it gets tricky, because I think it's easy.

When you're in those situations, for me, it's easier to complain about other

people than it is to look at myself and go, God, what are you saying here,

and I've, I just have this simple check if I'm complaining about others more

than I am praising and being thankful, there's a balance, which is, what is it?

It's out of balance, isn't it?

Things which are, things are unchecked.

I appreciate we go through seasons and that there are

events and stuff that happen.

But fundamentally Dave says, takes us back to the truth of power and

life and death being in the tongue.

Yeah, definitely.

Explain that.

Yeah, I think it's picking up on what we said before about

that our words are really powerful.

And I know the effects on myself that if somebody is speaking kind words,

it's almost if you've got a thirsty plant and you give it water, Yeah.

A few hours later, it's revived.

I've just done that with a plant today, which is why it's on my mind.

Words are like that, but words that have come out of hate or unkindness have the

completely opposite effect and have the ability to crush us or crush our spirit.

So yeah, we just really need to be careful with that.

How we use our words.

Yeah, absolutely.

I totally agree.

Provide an update.

Oh, yeah, put that in the comments an update on what's

going on with the WhatsApp number.

WhatsApp number saga here at Crowd Church.

Yeah, there's a saga.

So we set up the WhatsApp number two years ago, and it was working fine.

We got apps on our phone.

So then whenever someone was texting Stephane, it'd come straight to my

phone, which was a beautiful thing.

But it stopped doing that a few months ago, just went, Yeah,

I'm not doing that anymore.

I'm just gonna die.

And so for a few weeks, we had no WhatsApp number.

Now we have got it working.

But the WhatsApp doesn't go through to my phone, it goes through

to the church mobile phone, for want of a better expression,

which is not manned all the time.

So we do have a WhatsApp number, you can send stuff through to it,

we promise we will respond to you.

It may not be within that hour.

That's all I'm saying.

It may take a day sometimes or depend on when it is a day or two.

Okay, that's not too bad.

I thought you're gonna say a month or two.

Yeah, no, should be within a few days.

The phone's actually on my desk in my office.

So it's whenever I'm in my office, every couple days.

So yeah, it is working.

So if you do have any prayer requests, any stuff you want to send

through to us, you can WhatsApp us.

And we will respond, honestly, and you can also reach out to us

via social media at Crowd Church, all through the website, crowd.

church and also you can reach us by email and all that sort of good stuff.

Email actually is probably better than WhatsApp now, because it's just available

on more devices, that's the update, Matt.

I hope that clarifies it.

Jenny yes, you can now start WhatsAppping me again, because

why would you not want to send

it in all your compliments and your kind

words as well as your requests.

Jenny, what a legend.

Wow.

Edmo uses his office.

Yeah.

Thanks, Matt.

Sometimes maybe a bit too much.

Maybe

I'm not saying anything.

I have seen that Matt's also asking about next week, Yeah, so yes, it is

Will Sopwith talking about goodness,

gracious, me,

what's it goodness?

I wrote it down, but it's got lost in all my notes, I'm not sure where it is.

Yes, it is in fact goodness, Will is talking to us next

week about goodness come and join us next week as we carry on this wee

journey through the fruits of the Spirit.

We've got a couple more weeks on this.

Cause there's goodness, there's faithfulness.

You're doing that talk.

I think Dave's doing a talk.

I can't remember that.

I think Dan Orange is doing self control.

I can't remember the other fruit of the Spirit.

I'm really sorry.

Apparently I'm a church pastor and I can't remember all the fruits of the Spirit.

Anyway after that we are then jumping into identity in Christ as we carry

on this journey in spiritual health.

We're going to look at what it means to be in Christ Jesus and

how life changing that teaching is.

Sharon Edmundson: Definitely changed my life.

Yep.

And mine too.

So I'm very excited about that coming up.

So got some cracking stuff coming up.

Then over the summer in August, we're going to do the non live, just letting

you know what's going on, really got the non live streams coming up.

We're going to get some Psalms out there in August.

And then in September, we're going to start the next part of the whole thing.

We are going to start part two of the wholeness series.

Part one is spiritual health.

Part two is soul health, mind, will and emotions.

We're going to get into all those kind of things September, October time as well.

So very excited about what's coming up.

Some good topics, some meaty topics.

Anyway, anything else from you as we wrap up today's service?

No, just thanks for joining us and for all your comments.

Sorry we've not picked up on all of them.

There were lots, so that's fab.

Thanks.

Yes, absolutely.

So I'm just, I don't know why I'm looking at this.

There's way too many comments, which is nice.

I it's better to have too many than too little.

Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

So thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church.

It's been great fun.

Really enjoyed this conversation about kindness.

Go do your kindness challenge day.

Tell me what day of the week you're going to choose.

You've got a few seconds.

Write it in the comments.

Just pick a day which makes sense for you in the week.

What's your kindness day going to be?

And then start to plan it out.

What can you do that brings about the kindness of God to other people?

It doesn't have to be big.

Nicola proved that dog hoax.

Paying someone's toll on the M6.

They don't even have to involve cash.

Just kind words, but whatever it is, pick your kindness day

and let us know your stories.

I'm really intrigued.

It's been, yeah, it's been great.

So thank you so much for joining us.

Have a fantastic week wherever you are in the world.

That's it from me.

Goodbye.

That was so slick.

I know, I haven't got anything else to say.

We were

so professional.

I'm out of words now.

That's it, is that it?

Yeah.

Fair enough.

All right, ladies and gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us.

God bless you, have a fantastic week.

I'll see you next week.

Bye for now.

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

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God bless you.

Bye for now.