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How A Biblical Worldview Transforms Our Perspective
Episode 4612th December 2023 • CROWD Church Livestream • Crowd Church
00:00:00 00:51:46

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Shownotes

  • The talk, titled "How A Biblical Worldview Transforms Our Perspective”, explores the profound impact that adopting a biblical perspective has on our understanding and interpretation of life.
  • It focuses on the significance and influence of a biblical worldview, highlighting its differences from secular and modern philosophies.
  • The talk underscores the importance of applying biblical truths in our daily life choices and interactions, emphasizing their relevance in today's world.
  • The overarching message is one of enlightenment and transformation, urging us to reevaluate our current views and open ourselves to a life guided and enriched by the teachings of the Bible.

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

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us live a more meaningful life.

Matt Edmundson:

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

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where you can contribute and grow.

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Our service will last about an hour and in a few seconds we will start

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with a time of worship, after which you will meet our hosts for our service.

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After the talk, we head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories

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and questions that you've posted in the comments throughout the live stream.

Matt Edmundson:

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

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a few ways that you can do just that.

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

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stream, and if you're up for it.

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Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together?

Matt Edmundson:

You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others,

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

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

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more about the amazingness of life.

Matt Edmundson:

You can also subscribe to our podcast called What's the Story, where we

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deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people.

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

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be found on our website at www.

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crowd.

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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 to know

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what your next steps to take are, well 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, our online

Matt Edmundson:

church service starts right now.

Matt Edmundson:

What?

Matt Edmundson:

But

Dan Orange:

I said, but I said by the van, by the train.

Dan Orange:

I can see that.

Dan Orange:

Oh, we're live.

Dan Orange:

Hello, everyone.

Dan Orange:

Welcome to Crowd Church.

Dan Orange:

Um, so today it's me, Dan Orange, and we'll start with normally behind

Dan Orange:

the non live camera, but you're very excited to be on the live camera today.

Dan Orange:

Yes.

Dan Orange:

Um, we're having to talk about discussions later.

Dan Orange:

So we put that little bit at the beginning to set things up.

Dan Orange:

Little teaser.

Dan Orange:

Yes.

Dan Orange:

How you doing, Will?

Will Sopwith:

Yeah, alright, alright, um, Christmas is bearing down on us.

Will Sopwith:

Yes.

Will Sopwith:

But, um, yeah, I like Advent.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

I enjoy Advent.

Will Sopwith:

Advent baking.

Dan Orange:

I like that.

Dan Orange:

I like Advent.

Dan Orange:

I'm more of a turkey, a turkey man than a

Will Sopwith:

baking man.

Will Sopwith:

You're saving yourself for the big day.

Will Sopwith:

No, it's, uh, it's the baking to keep us going.

Will Sopwith:

Oh, I see.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

I most enjoy it.

Dan Orange:

Brilliant.

Dan Orange:

Um, it's great to see everyone joining in.

Dan Orange:

So Matt's having a listen, uh, Matt's been on the train today, a little busy day out.

Dan Orange:

And, um, uh, Matt Edmundson, I don't think he's been on the

Dan Orange:

train, but he has been soaring.

Dan Orange:

I called him earlier.

Dan Orange:

Thanks.

Dan Orange:

Bye.

Dan Orange:

I was looking for a file, and all I heard in the background was a

Dan Orange:

circular saw just cooling down.

Will Sopwith:

Okay, nice.

Dan Orange:

So, um, I think let's Get straight into this

Will Sopwith:

talk.

Will Sopwith:

Okay.

Will Sopwith:

Okay.

Will Sopwith:

And who we got?

Dan Orange:

We got Matt Edmundson, not

Will Sopwith:

Anna Kettle.

Will Sopwith:

Are you sure?

Will Sopwith:

I'm

Dan Orange:

sure.

Dan Orange:

So, okay.

Dan Orange:

Um, recently I've had a bit of a mare with my, my files and I played the wrong talk.

Dan Orange:

This is the right talk.

Dan Orange:

The right talk.

Dan Orange:

It's not my fault, but the wrong name is on the talk.

Will Sopwith:

Got it.

Will Sopwith:

Got it.

Will Sopwith:

No confusion.

Will Sopwith:

This is Matt Edmundson.

Will Sopwith:

It's not Anna Kettle.

Will Sopwith:

Indeed.

Dan Orange:

It's pretty obvious from the get go.

Dan Orange:

Here we go.

Dan Orange:

If you've got any questions, please Um, follow them through Facebook, YouTube

Dan Orange:

and we'll aim to answer them afterwards.

Matt Edmundson:

Well, hello Crowd Church.

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Now for those of you that don't know me, my name is Matt.

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As it will undoubtedly say on the bottom of the screen.

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I'm one of the pastors here at Crowd and today I get to do this talk,

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which is Well it's great and let me tell you, uh, I've found this

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one challenging to say the least.

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So let me start by showing you a picture.

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And here's a simple sketch of a young woman.

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She's wearing an old fashioned bonnet as you can see.

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Uh, you can see she's looking away from the screen.

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She's kind of got this pearl necklace thing going on.

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Uh, and if we flesh out this drawing it could look a little Like this.

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And so here we see her hair is more defined, uh, the bonnet has been

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replaced by a slightly more ostentatious hat that's got a feather on it.

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And it looks like she's wearing a fur coat, but still has a sort

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of the pearls around her neck.

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But all is not as it seems.

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Oh no, how you have interpreted this image that I've just shown you

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here is based entirely on the first image that you saw, this one here.

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What if I told you that this is actually an image of an old woman?

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Not a young one.

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And this is not an existential observation about the anti aging

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rhetoric that mars our society, but it's actually a genuine statement.

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What if this picture was of an older woman?

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To see what I mean, let's look at this image.

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Now let's look at these side by side.

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Cause you can see here, this is a sketch, a very rough sketch of an older lady

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with Rather a large nose looking sort of down, looking sort of rather for loin.

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And if I put that next to that image that you see, you can see in that image the

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older woman, not just the younger one.

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Now this is an example from Stephen Covey's book, the Seven

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Habits of Highly Effective People.

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And the, the bottom line here is how you interpret the image.

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How you interpret the main image is based entirely on the image that you saw first.

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If I show you the picture of the older woman first, you see the

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older woman in the main image.

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If I show you the young picture first, like I did, you see the

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younger woman in the image.

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And to quote the Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi, you're going to find that

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many of the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

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It's an interesting exercise that highlights a key point.

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How we interpret things that we see and experience depends

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greatly on our worldview.

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Now think of a worldview as a pair of glasses.

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Just like these, uh, through which you see everything around you.

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It's more than just a belief.

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It's the lens that colors your understanding of the world.

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You see, our worldview shapes our thoughts.

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It guides our decisions, frames our understanding of right and

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wrong, truth and falsehood, significance and triviality.

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And each person has a unique way of seeing the world, a different lens through

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which life is interpreted, all shaped by our beliefs and our experiences.

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Our world view, if you like, is as unique to us as our fingerprint, and every

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judgement we make, every relationship we hold, every goal we pursue is

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influenced by this underlying Perspective.

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So where does this worldview come from?

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Is it shaped by deliberate thought and decision?

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Or has it been handed down by those around us?

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It's kind of, if I'm honest, it's going to be a mixture of both.

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And how does your personal worldview align with the teachings of the Bible?

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This isn't just about judging what's right or wrong.

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It's about seeking alignment and clarity and truth.

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Of our understanding of life, and we call this a biblical worldview.

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Now, one example of a conflict between a biblical worldview and a common

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contemporary worldview is say the differing perspectives on morality and.

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The apparent purpose of life.

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You see, the biblical worldview, as understood by many Christians,

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holds that morality is absolute and defined by God's word.

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You know, the scriptures, the Bible, and this often emphasizes community

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and humility and service to others.

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On the other hand, many contemporary worldviews influenced by things like

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secularism, postmodernism, and Marxism can often hold very different views.

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For example, The secular worldview often will inform us that morality is

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relative and subjective and that the purpose of life is individual happiness,

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often associated with material success.

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That conflicts with scripture.

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Postmodernism, with its sort of scepticism towards grand narratives and absolute

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truths, can conflict with the biblical worldview of absolute moral truth.

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Now, Marxism, with its materialistic and class based analysis of society,

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can conflict with the biblical emphasis on spiritual matters and

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individual moral responsibility.

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Ah, these are, you know, sweeping generalizations, I appreciate,

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but these differing worldviews can lead to conflicts in various areas.

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areas of life, ethics, politics, personal lifestyle choices,

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sexual morality, abortion, and the pursuit of material wealth.

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We live in a world where the external pressures of societal norms and

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expectations are constantly Constantly at play and these forces can be

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so powerful that exploring a faith perspective, a biblical worldview might

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feel like defying the very fabric of the secular viewpoints we're surrounded by.

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So standing for a biblical worldview isn't just met with what?

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It's just not.

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It really met with adoration and praise, but often ridicule and anger.

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And this is not a new thing.

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It's kind of been going on.

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Since ancient times, as we will see in this week's section from the book of Acts.

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So let's read, shall we?

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As Paul was about to be brought into the barracks, he said to the

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tribune, may I say something to you?

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And he said, do you know Greek?

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Are you not the Egyptian then who stirred up the revolt and led the 4, 000 men of

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the assassins out into the wilderness?

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That wasn't Paul, but it sounds like a very fascinating story.

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I mean, there's so much we can learn from just this opening verse.

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So to bring you up to speed from last week, Paul was being beaten to death by a

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crowd of people that weren't that chuffed with him and his biblical worldview.

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The Tribune had come and intervened with some soldiers, uh, and was

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offered a variety of claims by the crowd as to Paul's identity.

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Now, the crowd is very anti Paul's worldview, which is, I would call, a

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Christ centred worldview, a biblical worldview, to the point, like I

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say, where they want to kill him.

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So Paul, knowing that the Tribune will have the wrong idea about him

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and appreciates, uh, appreciating the worldview of the Tribune,

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starts by asking a question, and that question changes everything.

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You see, asking questions is such a powerful tool in a world pretty

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much hell bent on making statements louder and louder and louder as a way

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to prove their worldview is right.

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Be curious.

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Ask questions.

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I think most of the time this.

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is a great starting point.

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This is what we learn from Paul.

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You see, for example, people will often say to me, uh, often tell me,

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often make the statement that science has disproved Christianity or that

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Christianity is just a fairy tale.

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It's a common world view.

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And you see, I could, in response, I could make statements like, no, it

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hasn't, which will quickly fall into the pantomime of, oh yes, it has.

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Oh no, it hasn't.

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Maybe a better way is simply to ask questions, questions like well,

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in what way has science disproved Christianity, or well, if that's true,

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how do you account for top scientists who have a strong Christian faith?

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But it's not just a question that Paul asks in this passage,

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it's how Paul asks the question.

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You see, he has, he asks, it's not easy to say, he asks the question

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in high quality Greek, which was the language that the Tribune spoke, and

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also proof that Paul was educated.

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Both things conflicted with the Tribune's thinking.

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See, although the Tribune had asked the crowd what Paul had done, he

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apparently had not asked Paul himself.

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The crowd was telling him that Paul was associated with the Sicari,

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which was a Jewish terrorist group.

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Cool name though.

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In other words, the Tribune had been shown a picture of a young

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man, going back to our original example, not even a young woman.

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The facts and information he had caused him to interpret what was

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happening in entirely the wrong way.

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Paul was definitely not a terrorist.

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Far from it, in fact.

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And this is such an important point for us in the modern world, bringing it forward.

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Because so often our views about people, groups, leaders, race are

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formed by the people around us.

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They aren't formed because we have spent the time to create our own opinions.

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And it's interesting when you ask folks who believe science has

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disproven the Christian faith.

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Where that belief came from, what informed it?

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Is it something that has been thought through by them?

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Or is it a belief somehow that has been just picked up from others,

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from school maybe, from the TV?

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You see, in a world that is plagued by biased algorithms in our social media

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feeds and news sources with agendas and leaders playing for power or corporations

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playing for profit, where you get your information from becomes more and more

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important because we are affected by it.

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There is bias in social media.

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There is bias in search engine results.

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We know this to be true and it does affect us and this is why it's so powerful.

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But most of the time, we kind of think, you know what, we're okay, aren't we?

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We aren't actually affected by this.

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Others may be affected by it, but not us.

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We're too smart for that, and we definitely shape our own opinions.

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But let me tell you, marketers have known a different story for many years.

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And for me, this is why it's so important to develop a biblical worldview,

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to keep coming back to the Bible, to be what we call Christ centered.

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It has to be our source of truth.

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Now I'm not telling you to ignore the news, I'm not telling you not to.

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Now, of course, the finances hit a point where you're

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making a bit of economic money.

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That put a lot of financial pressure on you as an individual.

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But you can't be rel fiedon you're rebellious as a single parent.

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And every bit of money that you make is spent on running the household.

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And your spendings on that household.

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And every bit of money that you have up your sleeve, Would I turn it back to

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you if I could, Sounds simple and it can actually lead to its own set of problems.

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Like many Christians, for example, I have often looked for things in

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the Bible to back up my thinking.

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That's problematic because I'm shaping scripture to fit my worldview rather than

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allowing scripture to shape my worldview.

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God, please spare us from ourselves.

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And I appreciate that this is just the opening verse of what we're looking at.

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There's a few more to go.

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But there is something else in this verse that we actually

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need to see before moving on.

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And that is this.

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The Tribune is actually insulting, insulting, Paul here.

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A subtlety we miss in the text in the modern world.

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By associating him with Egypt, uh, the Tribune has insulted him.

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You see, Egypt was once this sort of great empire, but now it was

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amongst the most oppressed sort of provinces in Rome's empire.

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So Greeks, Romans, and Jews typically regarded Egyptians as uneducated.

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And this can so often be the case, can't it?

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We insult or demean those that have a different worldview to us.

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We think of ourselves as better, maybe, than the person in front of

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us, especially if we're passionate about that part of our worldview, such

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as our thinking on, say, gender, or politics, or even the Israel Hamas war.

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We look down on those we disagree with.

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We are the educated.

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They are the uneducated.

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And actually, I think insulting those we disagree with is a lazy response.

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We put people down to make ourselves feel better about the view that

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we hold, and if I'm honest We can get a little bit ugly with it.

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We just insult and we can do that because we're right, surely aren't we?

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We can insult them.

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We are the educated.

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Let's see how Paul responds.

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Paul replied, I am a Jew from Tarus in, uh, solicitor, a

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citizen of no obscure city.

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I beg you, pit me, uh, permit me to speak to the people.

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So Paul deals with this insult with a simple correction.

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I'm from Tarsus, uh, and I'm super proud, uh, myself of being

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part of the city of Liverpool.

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On my wall here, if you're watching on video, you see the

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Liverpool skyline that I made.

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I think it's a great place to be, and I'm thankful that God brought me here.

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Tarsus is an ancient version of Liverpool, if you like.

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It was a great city, and one that had a lot of civic pride, and it

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told the Tribune, when Paul says, I'm from Tarsus, it tells the Tribune.

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That again, he has spoken without really understanding the bigger picture.

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Now, if it was me talking to the Tribune, I would most likely get drawn

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into the fact he just insulted me.

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I would probably feel anger rising up inside of me and there would

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be a great need welling within my soul to put him straight.

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But Paul, it seems, doesn't do that.

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He keeps the issue the issue.

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He keeps omission and he turns to address the crowd.

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So, when the Tribune had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps,

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motioned with his hands to the people.

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And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language,

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saying, Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.

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And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew

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language, They became even more quiet.

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So much in these verses.

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Paul is willing to speak to the crowd that has just assaulted him.

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That in itself is pretty priceless.

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It shows his love for his people.

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It shows a willingness to forgive and it shows an openness

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to debate and conversation.

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Me?

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Don't know if I'd have been as gracious.

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I probably would have wanted them locked up for assaulting me.

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But thankfully, Paul is not like me because this would have

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been a very different story.

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So he opens up with the phrase, Brothers and Fathers.

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Now this is an interesting phrase.

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It's both respectful and conciliatory.

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It's the exact.

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Opposite of the Tribune's insult.

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Brothers, you see, emphasises an ethnic solidarity, uh, solidarity?

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Solidarity and fathers, uh, is a respectful title for the

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elders and people of rank.

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This is a masterclass on how to deal with not just those who have a

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different world view but those who are even hostile in their world view.

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You see, Paul speaks to the crowd in Hebrew, a language that they understand,

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which is Super powerful, let me tell you.

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I know, for example, that many folks watching, uh, the crowd church streams,

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or maybe you're watching on catch up, maybe you're listening to the podcast.

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I know that many of you consuming the content are unchurched.

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So there's no point in me sitting here, uh, and talking about something

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like, I don't know, the sanctification that comes through the atonement.

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It's language that won't make sense to many, it's, even though it's sort

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of in English, it's not accessible.

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So what Paul is doing is he's making what he is saying accessible, a lesson

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we have tried to learn here at Crowd.

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And because it got that crowd quiet, because it was accessible, they got

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even more quiet, scripture tells us.

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They sort of leaned in a little bit further, it was ready to listen.

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But.

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As we are going to see, it's not that easy to listen well to those we disagree with.

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We engage in, uh, what my mum, uh, calls selective hearing.

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Apparently I suffer from this, according to my mum.

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Uh, hearing only what I want to hear.

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Listening for things that will support my worldview.

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or support my arguments.

Matt Edmundson:

So Paul takes this opportunity to simply tell the crowd his story.

Matt Edmundson:

See, when it comes to faith and standing for a biblical worldview, sometimes the

Matt Edmundson:

best thing to do is just tell your story.

Matt Edmundson:

So Paul did just that.

Matt Edmundson:

After asking questions, after being conciliatory and respectful, and

Matt Edmundson:

using accessible language, after not getting caught up in the insults or

Matt Edmundson:

even how badly he was treated, he now has the once hostile crowd at least

Matt Edmundson:

willing to listen to something.

Matt Edmundson:

And so Paul takes the opportunity to tell his story.

Matt Edmundson:

I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up, uh, in this city,

Matt Edmundson:

educated at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of the

Matt Edmundson:

law of our fathers being zealous for God.

Matt Edmundson:

As all of you are this day, I persecuted this way to the death.

Matt Edmundson:

Binding and delivering to prison both men and women as the high priest and the whole

Matt Edmundson:

council of elders can bear me witness.

Matt Edmundson:

From then I received letters to the brothers and I journeyed

Matt Edmundson:

toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in

Matt Edmundson:

bonds to Jerusalem to be punished.

Matt Edmundson:

Doesn't sound like he was a pretty nice guy.

Matt Edmundson:

I mean, if you're a Christian and Paul was like this, you

Matt Edmundson:

didn't want to be around really.

Matt Edmundson:

Uh, he's talking to the crowd about how he used to be like them, how he used to.

Matt Edmundson:

think like they thought, how he was zealous for the things

Matt Edmundson:

of God, like the crowd was.

Matt Edmundson:

He had the same worldview that they are having at the moment, but then something

Matt Edmundson:

happened to Paul to change that worldview.

Matt Edmundson:

You can sort of feel it coming up in the story, can't you?

Matt Edmundson:

And he spends the next 17 verses telling them how Jesus met with him and radically

Matt Edmundson:

changed how he Thought about life.

Matt Edmundson:

He talks about how Jesus called him to live a different life, to walk a

Matt Edmundson:

different path and to think differently about his place in the world and his

Matt Edmundson:

calling because, well, that's just what Jesus does, and that's my story too.

Matt Edmundson:

When I encountered Christ, my worldview radically changed

Matt Edmundson:

the way I saw life changed.

Matt Edmundson:

And as I've studied the Bible over the years, my thinking

Matt Edmundson:

has continued to be renewed.

Matt Edmundson:

That's what the Bible talks about.

Matt Edmundson:

It talks about how your, your thinking needs to be renewed and it has been.

Matt Edmundson:

Now that doesn't mean that I'm there.

Matt Edmundson:

It doesn't mean that I'm right.

Matt Edmundson:

It doesn't mean that I'm perfect and it doesn't mean that I need to stop being

Matt Edmundson:

curious, uh, but I have to be about, I have to be curious about the Bible first.

Matt Edmundson:

That's.

Matt Edmundson:

The basic principle, I know that I'm on a journey and still learning, but

Matt Edmundson:

it's a decision that I have to make on a daily basis to understand what the

Matt Edmundson:

Bible says about something and to choose to interpret life through that biblical

Matt Edmundson:

Christ centered worldview versus.

Matt Edmundson:

And as I have done this, I've noticed that I've become more

Matt Edmundson:

curious about the people that I meet.

Matt Edmundson:

Like Paul, I don't shy away from meeting people that think differently to me.

Matt Edmundson:

I want to engage with them.

Matt Edmundson:

I love the conversation.

Matt Edmundson:

And like Paul, I've had opportunity to share my own story, the story

Matt Edmundson:

of a God who changed my life for the better and in so many ways.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, the sad part to this story is that the majority of the crowd only

Matt Edmundson:

hear the parts they need to confirm their own bias, confirmation bias, or

Matt Edmundson:

as my mum calls it, selective hearing.

Matt Edmundson:

And so, they call for Paul's death.

Matt Edmundson:

They didn't listen well.

Matt Edmundson:

It's a big lesson.

Matt Edmundson:

And as a result, they miss the awesome life giving truth of Jesus.

Matt Edmundson:

They didn't get to see a bigger God.

Matt Edmundson:

Now, I want to have a worldview that has a bigger God at the center of it.

Matt Edmundson:

I don't know about you, but that's what I want.

Matt Edmundson:

And the Tribune takes Paul back to the barracks to torture him.

Matt Edmundson:

Which sounds a bit odd, but it was a common practice at the time

Matt Edmundson:

to try and get to the bottom of things, because if I torture you,

Matt Edmundson:

you're bound to tell the truth.

Matt Edmundson:

But it's at this point Paul tells the Tribune that he

Matt Edmundson:

is in fact a Roman citizen.

Matt Edmundson:

And that torture of Roman citizens, well, it's just not allowed.

Matt Edmundson:

It's not cricket.

Matt Edmundson:

It's not permitted.

Matt Edmundson:

It's a trim card that Paul held until it was needed, and it's needed now.

Matt Edmundson:

And so next week, we're going to carry on the story from this point.

Matt Edmundson:

Bringing it back.

Matt Edmundson:

There is so much to learn from this story about dealing with those

Matt Edmundson:

that think differently to you.

Matt Edmundson:

Those that have a different worldview and see it differently.

Matt Edmundson:

I read this story and I can be like the tribune and go along with what

Matt Edmundson:

others are saying, not really thinking about it, but just kind of go along.

Matt Edmundson:

Or I can be like the crowd and only hear what I want to hear.

Matt Edmundson:

Be selective in my hearing but miss the bigger picture, miss the bigger God.

Matt Edmundson:

Or, I can be like Paul and allow Jesus to change my worldview, to allow me to

Matt Edmundson:

see and experience life through his lens.

Matt Edmundson:

Because that's remarkable.

Matt Edmundson:

When you have a Biblical worldview, everything changes.

Matt Edmundson:

You see, you're not surprised by what's going on in the world.

Matt Edmundson:

We pray for a better world, but our hope is not in political

Matt Edmundson:

leaders, it's in Jesus.

Matt Edmundson:

A Biblical worldview is based on a certain and sure hope, an eternal hope.

Matt Edmundson:

And that hope, that understanding, well, it reframes how I see and

Matt Edmundson:

experience the world every day.

Matt Edmundson:

I get to see a bigger God and my prayer for me and for you is that we

Matt Edmundson:

get to see a bigger God every day.

Matt Edmundson:

So let me end with this question.

Matt Edmundson:

How can you develop a biblical worldview?

Matt Edmundson:

One that is very Christ centred.

Matt Edmundson:

Or, do you even want to develop a Biblical worldview?

Matt Edmundson:

Write your answers in the comments, ready for the guys in Conversation Street.

Matt Edmundson:

But that's it from me, thanks for listening.

Will Sopwith:

Wow.

Will Sopwith:

Wow.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

There's a lot in there.

Will Sopwith:

There is.

Will Sopwith:

So,

Dan Orange:

go on then, Will.

Dan Orange:

What was the first thing that stood

Will Sopwith:

out to you?

Will Sopwith:

It's really striking, isn't it, just how current this whole story is, and that

Will Sopwith:

whole dynamic of mob rule and mob voice.

Will Sopwith:

And everyone just, I mean, not even knowing who Paul was and just

Will Sopwith:

kind of joining that bandwagon and it's like, well, yeah,

Will Sopwith:

that's just, I'm going to bring

Dan Orange:

this just a little bit even closer.

Dan Orange:

Okay.

Will Sopwith:

I mean, that's just magnified all the more, isn't it?

Will Sopwith:

By the kind of global network of communication, but also just how.

Will Sopwith:

Unphased Paul was by that and how used to that he was in his life and we've

Will Sopwith:

been seeing it through the story of Acts, he'd been there, he knew how to

Will Sopwith:

communicate, he didn't jump in as our slightly lame example at the beginning

Will Sopwith:

of like, you know, as soon as you get into an argument, you just fight your

Will Sopwith:

corner and you stop listening and Paul just doesn't do that, he kind of

Will Sopwith:

He stops, he thinks, he steps back.

Will Sopwith:

So yeah, just just how current that whole kind of dynamic

Will Sopwith:

is and how Paul handled it.

Will Sopwith:

And I think that's, yeah, that's the wisdom of God, um, through

Will Sopwith:

many years of, of living for him.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

So yeah, that, that, that really stood out as well as, uh, yeah, a lot of challenge.

Will Sopwith:

I

Dan Orange:

like that.

Dan Orange:

And I, I suspect that it wasn't something that, you know, it might've been

Dan Orange:

God's wisdom instantly then, a word of knowledge, but I suspect it was, he knew.

Dan Orange:

About this guy.

Dan Orange:

Yes.

Dan Orange:

Terrorist.

Dan Orange:

He knew potentially that was going through the crowd, going through the tribune.

Dan Orange:

Um, and he'd, he'd researched, not the right, really the right word,

Dan Orange:

but he'd thought that's what they're, that's what thinking about me.

Dan Orange:

Okay.

Dan Orange:

And God gave him that, that wisdom and that ability to, to bring that

Dan Orange:

message to say, no, I'm coming from this point, sometimes we can jump in

Dan Orange:

without, like Matt says, further on.

Dan Orange:

Without any research, we can take the moral high ground and

Will Sopwith:

absolutely.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

But it's the message as well.

Will Sopwith:

He's absolutely focused on the message.

Will Sopwith:

He doesn't care about the fact that he's been insulted.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

He doesn't care about actually the fact that he's been beaten up by this crowd.

Will Sopwith:

He cares about the message and he cares about communicating it to this mob.

Will Sopwith:

And you know, that shows a humility and a focus on What God's called them to do,

Will Sopwith:

which is, yeah, just, just remarkable.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah, real challenge.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah, it is.

Dan Orange:

Um, yeah, there's lots of points in there.

Dan Orange:

I, we were talking about, um, sort of off camera before when you, when you came in,

Dan Orange:

um, that sometimes we can, especially the media and particularly with friends, um,

Dan Orange:

someone can say one thing, And we react to that one thing and we ignore the past.

Dan Orange:

We ignore, ignore all the history that we've got with that person

Dan Orange:

or everything we know about them.

Dan Orange:

And the media does it as well, doesn't it?

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

One statement.

Dan Orange:

And we ignore the rest.

Dan Orange:

And it, it, the reason I'm saying that takes me a bit to where Matt said

Dan Orange:

about we can, we can try and find one verse in the Bible that, that just

Dan Orange:

meets what we are trying to get across.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Without going.

Dan Orange:

Well, no, the Bible, you have to take as a whole, it should all add up.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

And again, we're more interested in our personal journey or view or opinion than

Will Sopwith:

actually, yeah, taking hold of the Bible.

Will Sopwith:

There's a couple of, um.

Will Sopwith:

shows I've been watching recently streamed and, and in it are these kind of, and

Will Sopwith:

you know, the story's hinged on this, but it's people who are responding emotionally

Will Sopwith:

to each other, getting there under the end of the stick, and it kind of, you

Will Sopwith:

know, the drama kind of creates, and, and I just look at it going, oh, and then.

Will Sopwith:

It's kind of, is this just part of our generation, this kind of snowflake, it's

Will Sopwith:

like, oh, I'm offended, an easy offence, and then I look at my street WhatsApp, to

Will Sopwith:

be honest, and I think, no, no, this is just a human condition, this is nothing

Will Sopwith:

generational, how quick people are to take offence, how quick people can be,

Will Sopwith:

and we can all be, to stand on opinion and just actually fight, and I just

Will Sopwith:

think, you know, just with that moment of stepping back, just like Paul did in

Will Sopwith:

this story, Just taking a breath and just thinking about a slightly wider picture.

Will Sopwith:

Um, you know, it, it makes all the difference.

Will Sopwith:

There's a fantastic verse in, uh, Proverbs 15, which says a soft

Will Sopwith:

answer turns away much anger.

Will Sopwith:

And, uh, and, and that's something I, I, I remember being modelled by my

Will Sopwith:

grandfather and my dad actually on the, a couple of times they were stopped

Will Sopwith:

by the police for a start and instead of like the window goes down and like,

Will Sopwith:

you know, fighting their corner, just saying, I'm really sorry, I was going

Will Sopwith:

a bit fast and it just completely takes the wind out the sails of whoever's about

Will Sopwith:

to, you know, lean through the window and, and, and tear a strip off them.

Will Sopwith:

And, and, you know, growing up, I really learned that lesson.

Will Sopwith:

I'm like, do you know, it's worth just stopping.

Will Sopwith:

me.

Will Sopwith:

Taking a breath, thinking a bit wider, thinking about the person in front of

Will Sopwith:

you, where they're coming from, where their opinions coming from, and yeah,

Will Sopwith:

it's not always easy to do in the heat of the moment, but, uh, but here we've

Will Sopwith:

got a really great example of, of, yeah, the story going in a completely

Will Sopwith:

different way as a result of that.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Uh, Ashton has put on the, uh, on the, the question on the, um, comments,

Dan Orange:

am I not correcting that Paul himself did a lot of bad things and he did,

Dan Orange:

and he admitted to it then, didn't he?

Dan Orange:

He said, I.

Dan Orange:

I was doing the same as you.

Dan Orange:

I was, uh, a zealot for what I thought was the, um, the right way.

Dan Orange:

And people died under my, under my word.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

But God turned me.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

And perhaps that's, that's part of where Paul's humility comes from.

Will Sopwith:

He knows he's got absolutely no moral high ground to stand on.

Will Sopwith:

It's because of what Jesus has done in his heart and changed that he's able

Will Sopwith:

to present the story to the people.

Will Sopwith:

Um, he knew he deserved punishment for, actually let's follow up there.

Will Sopwith:

He knew he was absolutely deserving of God's rejection and anger and wrath.

Will Sopwith:

And yet on that road to Damascus, he'd met, he'd met Jesus and he'd been

Will Sopwith:

forgiven and that must have completely changed his whole personality from

Will Sopwith:

being this kind of real firebrand.

Will Sopwith:

This is the thing I was fighting for, to being just a load more humble, I think.

Will Sopwith:

I think

Dan Orange:

so.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Knowing that, that knowing that we've talked about it so

Dan Orange:

many times because it is the.

Dan Orange:

It's the sort of the pinpoint of the gospel that Jesus took our punishment

Dan Orange:

so that we can have that forgiveness and it's just huge and transformed Paul's

Dan Orange:

life, it's transformed my life, you know,

Will Sopwith:

and I think because of that understanding, when we see,

Will Sopwith:

yeah, when we see how far we fall short, I think it gives us a lot more

Will Sopwith:

patience for each other as we kind of, and again, it helps us not dive

Will Sopwith:

into that kind of very You know, it can escalate so quickly, the arguments

Will Sopwith:

that you see all around you every day.

Will Sopwith:

Um, but actually that the humility comes from, you know, I, I've got, I've got

Will Sopwith:

no moral high ground to stand here.

Will Sopwith:

It's all just because of what Jesus has done.

Will Sopwith:

But, but what about this, this worldview then?

Will Sopwith:

Worldview is a kind of a, this is a quite a complicated topic that, that

Will Sopwith:

Matt has kind of just dropped in.

Will Sopwith:

I

Dan Orange:

wanted to, um, let me see if I can.

Dan Orange:

Is there a question on that?

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Oh, there we go, look at that, got it working.

Dan Orange:

Um, so Dave Connolly put on one of the comments when the God of the Bible is

Dan Orange:

rejected, ignored, man chooses a new God and yeah, I really like that because if we

Dan Orange:

don't have a, a God viewpoint, we have a God worldview, we have another worldview

Dan Orange:

and what are we going to choose, where

Will Sopwith:

are we going to have our standard?

Will Sopwith:

You hear people talking about, I mean, I've had conversations when I'm talking

Will Sopwith:

about faith and people say, well, I've just got a neutral kind of worldview.

Will Sopwith:

I don't, I don't have a kind of set of opinions.

Will Sopwith:

And that's actually a complete myth.

Will Sopwith:

We've all got this kind of Um, and it's, it's very complicated.

Will Sopwith:

It's a mixture of our culture, our upbringing, um, our colour, our,

Will Sopwith:

there's all sorts of things that can, uh, filter through into a worldview.

Will Sopwith:

And we're not aware of it most of the time.

Will Sopwith:

It's only when we really get into debates with people with a completely different

Will Sopwith:

view of the world that you realise, oh, yeah, that, that's what I think.

Will Sopwith:

But one of the great examples, I think, of what Dave's talking about is, um,

Will Sopwith:

Reading a number of years ago, um, uh, a book about, um, about British culture

Will Sopwith:

and actually Western European culture and, and the kind of the argument

Will Sopwith:

this guy was using was that the Bible was translated into German, into

Will Sopwith:

English, In Western Europe, part of the Reformation, like, you know, two, 300

Will Sopwith:

years ago, and his argument was that actually culture began to be shaped

Will Sopwith:

because everyone could read the Bible.

Will Sopwith:

It became this, the common man could read what it says in God's word.

Will Sopwith:

And I've seen that, um, talking to people from other countries where

Will Sopwith:

there's not a culture of fairness.

Will Sopwith:

There's not an expectation that people will, um, Be honest with

Will Sopwith:

you, for example, and, uh, I'm just really struck and go, well, where

Will Sopwith:

is that worldview come from us?

Will Sopwith:

And this guy was arguing, well, that's, that's the Bible.

Will Sopwith:

Um, that's because when you read the Bible, God treats everyone equally.

Will Sopwith:

You know, we've, we've all sinned.

Will Sopwith:

We've all fallen short of the glory of God.

Will Sopwith:

Um, but this guy that I was talking to, he's like, well, it's no problem lying.

Will Sopwith:

There's no problem cheating.

Will Sopwith:

If you get found out, that brings shame on the family.

Will Sopwith:

But actually those habits is no problem.

Will Sopwith:

It's about getting ahead.

Will Sopwith:

And I think that was one of the first times I really became aware that

Will Sopwith:

we all have this kind of underlying set of assumptions that from birth

Will Sopwith:

we're probably not very aware of.

Will Sopwith:

Um, but I think the Bible absolutely has got, uh, yeah, has, has, I'm

Will Sopwith:

so thankful actually for our system of law, for democracy, for all this

Will Sopwith:

kind of This expectation people have of being treated fairly, that

Will Sopwith:

fact doesn't just come from nowhere.

Will Sopwith:

And actually, that's not a common experience for many

Will Sopwith:

people in lots of other places.

Will Sopwith:

So I really do see a kind of a biblical ground in

Dan Orange:

that.

Dan Orange:

And I think, yeah, and, um, I always think, well, where do we, if we didn't

Dan Orange:

have that, where would we have a standard?

Dan Orange:

Where would we know where we're heading?

Dan Orange:

I wrote down, um, in court, and I think you sort of alluded to it then, that You

Dan Orange:

put your hand on the Bible, don't you?

Dan Orange:

And say, I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, but the truth, where

Dan Orange:

did that, where did that come from that we thought at that time, you

Dan Orange:

know, when this started, that we would, well, that was the basis of the truth.

Dan Orange:

So we're gonna,

Will Sopwith:

but it's my truth, isn't it, Dan?

Will Sopwith:

My truth is the thing that matters.

Will Sopwith:

And my truth is, and yeah, you very quickly get into this kind of crazy

Will Sopwith:

place of like, well, who calls the shots?

Will Sopwith:

And actually, if you kind of take it to its logical conclusion, well, it's the

Will Sopwith:

people with the microphone, or it's the people with the power, or it's the people

Will Sopwith:

with the cash, or the platform, whatever, and that's not, that's not the way to

Will Sopwith:

define, to discern truth, is it, just the loudest voice, but actually, that's what

Will Sopwith:

we see, as soon as you get into a position where there's no, there's no agreement

Will Sopwith:

of any kind of absolute truth, it's like, well, Yeah, what are you left with?

Will Sopwith:

It's whoever's shouting louder, basically, who's going to make that,

Dan Orange:

yeah.

Dan Orange:

Um, this is a question here that Ashton's put on.

Dan Orange:

Guys, can you talk a little bit on if there's a sin that God doesn't forgive?

Will Sopwith:

Well, there's a question.

Will Sopwith:

There is, there's only one that's talked about in the Bible.

Will Sopwith:

Um, and, and it's, I think it's misinterpreted all the time and I

Will Sopwith:

may well do that myself, but it's, it's, It's the sin of blaspheming

Will Sopwith:

against the Holy Spirit, so claiming that the Holy Spirit is not God.

Will Sopwith:

That is the only sin in the New Testament that's, that's, that's

Will Sopwith:

talked about as unforgivable.

Will Sopwith:

But the reason that is, is because it's a complete denial

Will Sopwith:

of Jesus ability to save us.

Will Sopwith:

So in a sense, it's like, well, if, if you deny that, then, well, you're

Will Sopwith:

never going to accept God's forgiveness.

Will Sopwith:

So it's not so much.

Will Sopwith:

God wouldn't forgive you if you asked.

Will Sopwith:

It's like, well, you're never going to ask forgiveness if you're, if you're

Will Sopwith:

going completely against what the Holy Spirit does and says in your life, you're

Will Sopwith:

not in a place to ask God's forgiveness.

Will Sopwith:

So, yeah, it's a tricky one.

Will Sopwith:

To be honest, no, I mean, as a short answer, no, there's nothing that God

Will Sopwith:

cannot forgive and I mean, yeah, I dunno whether you wanted to share the story, but

Dan Orange:

No, I, yeah, yeah, I would say that, yeah, the same thing.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Um, I, I mentioned it, um, two weeks ago, so I've just, this been, this week has

Dan Orange:

been a bit of a rollercoaster week for me.

Dan Orange:

So I, on Thursday I led the funeral of my grandma who died.

Dan Orange:

She was 101.

Dan Orange:

Um, and yeah, like I said, I mentioned it two weeks ago that, that.

Dan Orange:

When my mum told my grandad that she died, he basically said, what do I need to do?

Dan Orange:

What do I need to say?

Dan Orange:

So he'd resisted for 98 years with grandma, living a life for God, and

Dan Orange:

he'd, for whatever reason, um, he'd seen.

Dan Orange:

Like a lot of people of that generation had seen a lot of things in the war, a

Dan Orange:

lot of things had gone on, um, but it, it didn't matter that he'd waited that long.

Dan Orange:

No, absolutely.

Dan Orange:

God still accepted him, still forgave him.

Dan Orange:

Just amazing that we have that answer in Jesus, isn't

Will Sopwith:

it?

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

There's this fantastic story that Jesus tells, this parable of.

Will Sopwith:

This landowner, this vineyard owner going out to the market first thing in the

Will Sopwith:

morning as the sun's coming up and Um, and I've seen this actually in Tunisia.

Will Sopwith:

This is how people work You go to the street corner and the the trades people

Will Sopwith:

or the people who want to work are sat On the pavement waiting for someone to come

Will Sopwith:

along and hire them basically So anyway, the landlady comes along sun's coming up.

Will Sopwith:

Will you come and work in my vineyard for a dinaris, you know day's wage And he gets

Will Sopwith:

a load of people and they go and start working the vineyard as the sun's coming

Will Sopwith:

up He goes back two hours later, there are some more people there, haven't got a

Will Sopwith:

job, he says come and work in my vineyard, uh, and keeps going back through the day,

Will Sopwith:

and then right at the end of the day, with like an hour's work to go, he comes back

Will Sopwith:

and there's still some people there, sat there with no work to do, and he says,

Will Sopwith:

will you come and work in my vineyard?

Will Sopwith:

So it gets to the end of the day and everyone's queuing up to be paid

Will Sopwith:

and the ones who've just worked for an hour are first in the queue and

Will Sopwith:

the landowner comes to them and he gives them a denarius, a day's wage.

Will Sopwith:

For their work.

Will Sopwith:

And the guys at the back are going, Oh, this is great.

Will Sopwith:

I've been here since six o'clock.

Will Sopwith:

I've worked through the day.

Will Sopwith:

I've taken the, you know, I've taken the bulk of the labor through the,

Will Sopwith:

through the hot sun and everything else.

Will Sopwith:

I'm going to get a bucket load here.

Will Sopwith:

And he gives the same amount of money to every single worker.

Will Sopwith:

And the guys at the back start complaining and say, but wait a

Will Sopwith:

minute, I've done all the work.

Will Sopwith:

And he said, you agreed to work for me for a day's wage.

Will Sopwith:

And that's what I've given you.

Will Sopwith:

It What I do with my money is entirely my business and I remember telling that

Will Sopwith:

story to someone, um, years and years ago and, and their response was immediately

Will Sopwith:

what the crowd would have been.

Will Sopwith:

It's like, well, that's not fair.

Will Sopwith:

It's not fair.

Will Sopwith:

And it's like, that is the amazing grace of God.

Will Sopwith:

It is not fair.

Will Sopwith:

If it was fair, your granddad wouldn't have a hope.

Will Sopwith:

It's like, I'm sorry.

Will Sopwith:

I wouldn't have a hope.

Will Sopwith:

That is too late.

Will Sopwith:

And none of us would have a hope.

Will Sopwith:

But the fact that, you know, even just in the, in the twilight of

Will Sopwith:

life, the forgiveness, the offer of forgiveness is exactly the same.

Will Sopwith:

That's amazing.

Will Sopwith:

And I think

Dan Orange:

that's, I think that really sums up this biblical worldview,

Dan Orange:

because that's not a, uh, current

Will Sopwith:

worldview.

Will Sopwith:

No, it's not a cultural word.

Will Sopwith:

No, it's not.

Will Sopwith:

You want the fair?

Will Sopwith:

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah,

Dan Orange:

exactly.

Dan Orange:

And I, I liked, um, Matt just said this right at the end.

Dan Orange:

He said, we can miss the bigger God.

Dan Orange:

We can, if we live our life without basing it on his principles, his, his laws,

Dan Orange:

all that he's shown us, we can miss out.

Dan Orange:

And I've, I've written down here, miracles.

Dan Orange:

If we see God as the God of the Bible and what he's done, we can expect miracles.

Dan Orange:

Can't we, we can expect the supernatural.

Dan Orange:

Mm-Hmm.

Dan Orange:

Because it's there.

Dan Orange:

Mm-Hmm.

Dan Orange:

We can see his creation.

Dan Orange:

We get to partake so much more in awe that he's got for us.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

I, I think expectation is really, really important actually, and this is

Will Sopwith:

something I was thinking of as a, as Matt was talking, that what our world,

Will Sopwith:

our worldview gives us is an expectation of how things will be in a sense and.

Will Sopwith:

And when I, when I first understood about Jesus offer of forgiveness and

Will Sopwith:

grace, um, my expectation changed.

Will Sopwith:

My expectation of how people responded to me or, or, or what life was going

Will Sopwith:

to be like changed because I had that perspective that actually God loved

Will Sopwith:

me, loved me enough to die for me, forgive my sins, whatever I had done.

Will Sopwith:

And that acceptance completely transformed my life because every situation, I

Will Sopwith:

had a kind of an expectation almost of acceptance, which gave me a lot

Will Sopwith:

more confidence in, in career, in my studies, in my relationships,

Will Sopwith:

because there was a security of, this is what God says about me.

Will Sopwith:

And that's a really good example of, of, of what Matt said at the

Will Sopwith:

end of like, how do you develop.

Will Sopwith:

This biblical worldview, well, it's, it's understanding what the Bible says,

Will Sopwith:

and, and, and, and those pictures in the Bible of the fact that I was a

Will Sopwith:

child of God and accepted, um, totally changed the way then I live my life.

Will Sopwith:

And it can be as simple as that.

Will Sopwith:

And again, you're not really aware of it.

Will Sopwith:

And then maybe.

Will Sopwith:

Years later, you go, what?

Will Sopwith:

Why, why am I expecting people to, because sometimes people don't, you , why am I

Will Sopwith:

expecting people to gimme a fair hearing or to, um, to, to care about what I think?

Will Sopwith:

And it's like, well, 'cause that's, that's what I know God does.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

And so sometimes you, you don't get that and you realize, oh,

Will Sopwith:

that's a worldview that's grown up.

Will Sopwith:

I didn't always think like that.

Will Sopwith:

That had that changed at some point.

Will Sopwith:

And that's what, that's what worldview's about it.

Will Sopwith:

It kind of.

Will Sopwith:

It becomes so much part of our experience, our understanding, our perception,

Will Sopwith:

our interpretation of everything that we, we don't notice it anymore.

Will Sopwith:

And, and, you know, that's a really great challenge for Matt to get to

Will Sopwith:

that point with God's truth, that it's so kind of just ingrained in

Will Sopwith:

us that we're no longer really aware of it being a, you know, a thing.

Will Sopwith:

It's just part of us.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah,

Dan Orange:

absolutely.

Dan Orange:

I think that'd be my.

Dan Orange:

My prayer this week that, that us, that you, you guys listening, people

Dan Orange:

that are listening on, um, sort of a rerun of this, that you get to know

Dan Orange:

a bit more of God's view for you.

Dan Orange:

Isn't it great that he has, he, he knows about us and has a plan for us.

Dan Orange:

Um, next week, because we're running out of time here.

Dan Orange:

Um, Sharon.

Dan Orange:

Oh, has Sharon finished her talk?

Dan Orange:

So yes, Sharon will be talking next week, taking this on to the next

Will Sopwith:

bit of acts.

Will Sopwith:

Fantastic.

Will Sopwith:

You left it on a cliffhanger there, Matt.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

A good cliffhanger.

Will Sopwith:

What happens?

Will Sopwith:

What happens next?

Dan Orange:

Tune in next week to find out.

Dan Orange:

Yeah.

Dan Orange:

Brilliant.

Dan Orange:

Thank you so much, everyone, for all the interaction.

Dan Orange:

It's been brilliant.

Dan Orange:

And if you've got Any questions, please just email in, if you go on

Dan Orange:

the Facebook group or the YouTube, um, there's a WhatsApp number, you

Dan Orange:

can text them in, we'll respond within the week, we'd love to, um, to pray,

Dan Orange:

answer questions, that's why, that's why we do this, because we want to let

Dan Orange:

you know more about Jesus, basically.

Dan Orange:

Should we just pray

Will Sopwith:

now?

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah.

Will Sopwith:

Yeah, Jesus, I thank you for the offer of life, the offer of fullness of life, the

Will Sopwith:

offer of your grace and your forgiveness.

Will Sopwith:

And I thank you that that really transforms everything.

Will Sopwith:

And I pray help us all to take a breath, not to dive in and defend our

Will Sopwith:

position, but to try and listen for your voice, to know a little bit more

Will Sopwith:

of what you say about a situation.

Will Sopwith:

Lord, that's what walking in prayer is.

Will Sopwith:

It's asking those questions that Matt has challenged us to.

Will Sopwith:

It's asking questions back of you and saying, Jesus, what

Will Sopwith:

is going on in this situation?

Will Sopwith:

Lord, would we all grow in that understanding and knowledge, I pray, and

Will Sopwith:

to know your peace in that journey, Lord.

Will Sopwith:

Amen.

Will Sopwith:

Amen.

Dan Orange:

Well guys, have a great week.

Will Sopwith:

Thanks Matt, great talk, lots to, yeah, lots to digest.

Will Sopwith:

We'll see you all next week.

Will Sopwith:

Alright, bye

Matt Edmundson:

bye.

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:

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Matt Edmundson:

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Matt Edmundson:

make sure you also hit Now, by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a

Matt Edmundson:

review on your podcast platform, it helps us reach more people with the message

Matt Edmundson:

that 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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