Finding Peace in Difficult Times

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Here’s a summary of this week’s sermon:

• We live in a frantic world at the moment. We have unjust wars that cost lives and bring misery; we have the cost of living crisis, high-interest rates and inflation. Politicians seem to be doing things that don't make sense...making this Christmas particularly difficult for many of us.

• For those searching for peace amidst worry and anxiety, trying to find peace in a frantic world, and looking for hope in times of uncertainty, stress, and chaos, join us as we look at the very first Christmas.

• The Bible tells us that Christ's mother, Mary, was greatly favoured and that God was with her (Luke 1:28), yet Christ came in very difficult times, where politicians and leaders did unspeakable acts of evil for their own self-gain. In this story, we find hope and the underlying truth that we too can find peace in difficult times, even at Christmas.

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💬 CONVERSATION STREET --

Matt + John talk about:

• How the message of peace is relevant to current events.

• Experiencing Jesus as peace in difficult times.

• How Prayer and Gratitude helps us find peace in difficult times.

• Jesus is the Prince of Peace and he can fill us with His presence and peace.

• Journaling as a way to tell God what we need and reflect on His plan for us.

• How simple obedience leads to God’s peace in our lives.

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More from this series

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• Complete Transcript

  Matt Edmundson: 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. Our service, uh, will last about an hour and in a few seconds you'll meet our hosts, uh, for our service, who will introduce today's talk.

  After the talk, we will have a time of worship and reflection after which we head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the comments.

  Now, we want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church, and we've got a few ways in which you can do just that.

  Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during our livestream, and if you're up for it. Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together? You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others, and one of the easiest ways for you to do that is join one of our midweek groups where we meet online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of Christ.

  You can also subscribe to our fairly new podcast called What's the Story, uh, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people.

  More information about all of these things can be found on our website, www.crowd.church, or you can reach out to us on social media at Crowd church. If you are new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith, and would like to know what your next steps to take are. Well, we're not head over to our website, www.crowd.church/next for more details.

  And now the moment you've been waiting for is here. Our Online Church Service starts right now.

  Matt Edmundson: Well, good evening and welcome to Crowd Online Church with me, uh, Matt, Edmundson, and beside me, the beautiful man known as John Harding. How are we doing, John?

  John Harding: I mean, that's a great introduction, Matt, to be called a beautiful man. Well, uh, so thank you for that. I'll take that. Um, it's a hello and it's a happy Christmas to you. Yeah. Are you much of a Christmasy person? Matt, are you into Christmas?

  Matt Edmundson: Are you serious? I absolutely adore Christmas.

  It's, it's my, perhaps my favorite time of the year. Um, with the exception of the, I mean, I, I even like the cold weather, uh, but I, I love the Christmas jumpers. I love the gifts. I love the whole run up to Christmas. I love the Christmas story.

  I love the nativity. We had the nativity at church this morning, which was just great. I love how kids get excited about it. I mean, yeah, there's what's there not to love. Right?

  John Harding: Yes. There's a lot to love and if ever there was a time to be thinking about Jesus and church, it is this time of year, I think people are really, um, aware that our present moment is shaped by something 2000 years ago.

  So, um, yes, a happy, joyful, peaceful Christmas to you and to everyone tuning in this evening.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, absolutely. Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas to you and the family. Uh, s pj, it's um, it's just a great time of the year and you've actually got a Christmas tree behind you, whereas I haven't, I'm just wearing the Christmas jumper.

  John Harding: Yeah, I mean, we've got our minimalist tree here. I was always a little bit averse to Christmas decorations. Um, I think what with my mom. Doing the house up like a Hindu shrine, you know, like with streamers everywhere. Literally dizzying, dizzying amounts of shiny Christmas, um, tack for want of a better word.

  Yeah. Um, but, You know, like you say, once you start to capture with your own kids that sense of, uh, Christmas joy and fun again, you sort of get back into it big time, don't you?

  Matt Edmundson: You do. Totally. You do. And my mum was the same way. You know, God love and just stuff everywhere and it's, uh, we, we've, we've, we don't, oh, we don't have the same, is that your phone buzzing?

  We don't have the same taste, uh, in Christmas decorations, I think in the different generations. I wonder what my kids will do.

  Uh, did

  John Harding: you, did you remember we used to have those sort of concertino ones? Mm-hmm. that then pulled out streamers?

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah. every year the same. Just

  John Harding: You don't see them a lot these days, do you?

  Matt Edmundson: No praise the Lord. there are just some things which should just stay in the eighties. Uh, and that for me would be one of them. And like you say, all the, all the bits of tinsel, uh, and all that stuff everywhere. Do you do the real tree or do you do like the, the, the reusable tree?

  John Harding: Well, um, since you ask, um, I have an actual allergy to real trees.

  Matt Edmundson: No, seriously.

  John Harding: Um, so, um, five or six years ago, it kicked off really bad.

  Um, I, and I ended up just dragging the tree decorations and all out into the garden because it was just really flaring up, breathing it was giving me hives, no way if I get, if a tree touches me. So I didn't have that growing up. Um, it's a more recent thing, but um, since how you ask, no, we are fake tree all the way.

  Matt Edmundson: Wow. I did not know that way.

  It's a good job. I mean, normally you host round at our house, so it is a good job. You're not. Cause we have this massive real tree in our front room. Uh, so yes. Stayed at home. Uh, so Matt in the comments, where's John's Christmas jumper? Are you allergic to those as well?

  John Harding: Uh, well, I am allergic to my pure acrylic jumper.

  That puts me at a high fire risk Matt Crew. Um, I'm going for a more sort of toned down Christmas. Yeah, I, I think it's Christmas Lumberjack Chic. That's how I think it looks.

  Matt Edmundson: I love it. Own it man. Own it and work it. That's what I say. Christmas lumberjack chic. Uh, Sharon's in the comments on Facebook, which reminds me if you are watching the livestream on Facebook, uh, why not come over and join us on YouTube? The link is in the comments. The reason I suggest this is we are gonna, from the new year, just be live streaming on YouTube and not YouTube and Facebook for a number of reasons, which I won't bore you with. Uh, but that's what we are gonna be doing.

  So come over and join us on youTube where, uh, people are watching and commenting those that haven't, uh, sort of hung around to watch the end of the World Cup, uh, cuz when the, when we were go warming up, uh, as I like to call it before we hit the go live button. We were actually watching the penalty shootouts, you were watching it yours, I was watching it in mine. Uh, so what a World Cup final.

  John Harding: Indeed, indeed. And, um, lots of lessons in there for, um, life in general.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure we can wangle one or two sermons out of there. Out of the final.

  Brilliant. So coming up today, let's tell you what's happening today. We are gonna have a talk, uh, called um, finding Peace in Difficult Times. I should know this cuz I did the talk. Uh, we've got finding peace and difficult times. We've got the new, the brand new Christmas Carol in the Bleak MidWinter. I mean, it's not a brand new Christmas Carol, but it's a brand new arrangement of the Christmas Carol and by uh, John Farrington and Josh Edmundson.

  Uh, so if you know Josh, my son, he likes, uh, he's got one of these fancy pieces of software, John, and he, he likes to throw in orchestras and brass and flutes and all kinds of stuff. Uh, amazing really, uh, what you can do these days. So full orchestral version. Uh, so we've got that coming up. And then myself and John will be here for Conversation Street.

  I think I've got everything there I've mentioned, uh, on Facebook. If you're on Facebook, come join us on YouTube. Uh, and so without further ado, let me, uh, let me find the right thing to push on my computer here. We'll get into the talk. Like I say, that will follow, be followed by Carol and then John And I, John and I will be back after that.

  We'll see you uh, in a few short minutes.

  Matt Edmundson: Christmas is a time of the year that we traditionally associate with happiness and peace and potentially Christmas jumpers, although not sure how traditional they are. But for many people it can be a difficult and stressful time. And this year especially, it just feels like the bleakest mid-winter we've had for a while. For many, this Christmas season will not be a merry one at all.

  There will be families both in the Ukraine and in Russia sitting down to dinner looking at empty spaces around them, which is assuming they still have a home to have Christmas dinner in. All thanks to an illegal war that should just not be happening. Here in the UK, we may also be looking at an empty table, empty of food, shivering in cold, as we can't afford to put the heating on.

  Listening to the first ever King's Christmas speech, wondering if this will be the last year we have Christmas in our family home, thanks to the crazy interest rates driving up mortgages and rents. And I wonder how many prime ministers we will actually have in 2023. Well, the bets are in. You see, the famous Christmas Carol talks about a bleak mid-winter where frosty wind made moan and the earth stirred hard as iron.

  Well, it kind of feels pretty apt, doesn't it? Uh, so can it really be a Merry Christmas this year? Well, I think it can, and I think it can not just because of the unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian families or the bravery of Russian citizens standing up to the leadership of their country or because of those who invite others into their homes this winter to share their heating load, or because of those living in tough times determined to be more generous.

  I think we can have a Merry Christmas because if there is anything, the first Christmas story teaches. It is that finding peace in difficult times is actually possible, albeit that peace may come in the most unusual of ways. So the first Christmas story was told at a time of darkness for the world, a time when the world needed a hero.

  Cue the I need a Hero Music. Uh, they needed a hero to come and rescue it. A savior. And so the story starts with hope, a promise that change would come. In Luke, we read that God sends the Angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee to a Virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David.

  The Virgin's name was Mary and the angel went to her and said, greetings, you who are highly favored, the Lord is with you. Now, Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be, but the angel said to her, do not be afraid. Mary, you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the most high. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever. His kingdom will never end.

  Wow. I mean, what a way to start the story of Christmas, with a visit from an angel. And not just any angel, I might hasten to add. This is the Archangel Gabriel appearing and telling you that you, Mary, are highly favored, that God is with you, and that you don't have to be afraid that the Savior is coming, one who will rule and reign, and that his kingdom will never end. Doesn't that sound amazing? The hero is coming.

  The one person who can transform, transform everything and make everything right is on his way. And Jesus is born and the angels of God get so excited about this that they all just sort of appear in the sky and start singing. Uh, in Luke we read there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah. The Lord.

  This will be a sign to you. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying, glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth. Peace to those on whom his favor rests. Imagine that, right? Imagine you are a shepherd in the field, minding your own business.

  We used to sing at school, washing their socks, you know, the angels would wash their socks coz it rhymes with flocks? Uh, so, but whatever they were doing, you're just kind of minding your own business, and then angels start appearing in the sky and singing. Hello. I mean, that's pretty intense, right? But notice what the angels are singing about at the birth of Jesus.

  Peace. They sang about peace. The angels knew that Jesus coming would bring this one key thing, peace. And it wasn't just the angels that understood this. Isaiah understood this 700 years before that first Christmas day. Isaiah wrote for unto us, a child is born. To us, a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful counselor. Mighty God, everlasting Father, prince of Peace.

  Wow. The Prince of Peace, that's who the angels were singing about. Christ. The Prince of Peace would bring peace to all men and all women that please him, on whom his favor rests. Oh my. Now the Christmas gift of Christmas then is peace. Finding peace in difficult times is all about finding Christ.

  And Christmas reminds us of that fact. Jesus even said this of himself. He said, I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart, and the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. That sounds amazing, doesn't it? I mean, he's leaving us with a gift. Hello? It's Christmas.

  Christmas gift. Peace. A peace that is literally out of this world so we don't have to be troubled when in trouble or afraid when in times of fear. So how does that peace come? I mean, it sounds great, right? But how does it come? How does the Prince of Peace, the savior, the hero, the one whose kingdom will last forever, give us this gift of peace. Uh, well that's the second thing, isn't it? The Christmas story teaches us. The way that this divine, heavenly peace comes might not be what we expect. You see, when Christ came, the Jews were expecting him to come and rule to take charge of the earth, to oust the evil dictators and overlords, and to rid the world of injustice and suffering.

  Peace, at least in their minds, would come by a ruling conquering Messiah. So well, it was a little bit shocking that Messiah spent his first few hours on Earth in a manger. and if we're honest, I think many of us still want the same thing today. God, if you are real, come and put an end to this suffering. Bring peace by being that overriding all conquering God and stop the wars and the evil and the pain and the suffering.

  Surely that is what a God of love should do. Right? Yet somehow in the midst of all this, we're faced with a baby in a manger. We are faced with the truth that peace is possible in spite of the world events and even the suffering that we are living through. And at the time of Jesus' birth, their world was run by a delusional evil tyrant that was so afraid of losing power.

  He ordered the slaughter of all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of 2. He too carried out an unjust war, and the only reason that Jesus wasn't one of the slaughtered was because, well, Matthew tells us that God's angel showed up again in Joseph's dream and commanded, get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt.

  Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child and wants to kill him. Well, hang on a minute. I mean, let's just think about this, right? Mary is highly favored of God. She is nursing the Christ, the Messiah. Why should she have to flee? Surely God should send angels to slap, you know, Herod around a little bit, to knock some sense into him.

  This would solve it surely, but it seems that God doesn't override Herod's free will of craziness. But rather tells Joseph how to respond as a result. Basically, get out of there. So sometimes, just sometimes the way that God gives us peace is to get us out of the situation that we are in. Sometimes we have to leave where we are to find peace.

  You see, God doesn't always change the situation. But he will often change our location. And this is the story of the Christmas Gospel, of this baby king that would be called Messiah, the Prince of peace. He doesn't bring an iron rod to the rulers of the earth straight away. It's coming. It's just not yet. And as much as we want God to change the economic climate and the wars, and as much as we pray for peace and restoration and we do, our transformation might not be a change of situation, but a change of location.

  God told Joseph to take his family to Egypt. So let me ask you a question. What is Egypt for you? Where is God leading you to, in order to find peace in difficult times? It may be time to flee that relationship, that house, that toxic job, to flee those things that are slowly killing you and choking you.

  It may be time to flee that attitude and way of thinking, which means you are always angry and bitter. Or maybe we need to flee the need to always be right or your perfectionism or need to control everything. For Mary and Joseph Bethlehem was a place where the story of Christ started. It was the right place to be in at the beginning, but now, well, it was time to move on. And it may be for some of us, we've got stuck.

  Stuck in places where God took us at the beginning, but now it's time to leave. But we find it hard because God was moving there once. What's also interesting in this story is the move from Bethlehem to Egypt. That was, that was an interesting one, wasn't it? What? What was that like? Well, it's a bit like God leading you from your nice suburban life to the inner city.

  Maybe he's leading you to downsize or to take a lower paid job. Maybe he's actually leading you to a different country, I don't know, but finding peace in difficult times. Well, well, that may mean moving on and moving forward. It's definitely, definitely about following the leading of God to where he will take you, but where he takes you.

  Might not always seem to be a promotion. Just want to put that out there. I know for me, one thing that is definitely on my radar of things that I need to flee at this particular time is fear. Especially because we are in these particular times, these difficult times, it's easy for me to get caught up in the dread of the unknown, the stress, the anxiety, the hopelessness.

  You know, stuff that kind of strangles the life out of us, it could easily cause me to shrink in and protect what I have, you know, to become selfish. And you know what? It would be easy to justify that too. I could spend all my time moaning about the government or policy or leaders, or whatever villain is popular at the time as a way of distracting me and those around me.

  From the fear in my own heart, I could easily become a victim here. but it doesn't have to be that way for us at Christmas, especially if we are Christian on whom God's favor rests. And that's what the angel preached at the first Christmas, the first Christmas sermon. My transformation might not be a change of my situation, but a change of my location.

  I can follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and flee that position of fear to a position of divine peace. So instead of shrinking in, instead of selfishness, I believe that God can lead us to a place where we can be generous. When things are tight, he leads us to give and to do so with a merry and cheerful heart.

  And this is not just with our money, but our treasure and also our time, and also our tongue, and also our talents. So my encouragement to all of us this Christmas, especially to the Christians, is understand what it is you need to flee from. Follow the Holy Spirit at this time. Increase the time you spend rejoicing and praying and being grateful, and allow the peace of God to guard your heart as Philippians four, seven tells us.

  We don't know what will happen. And you know what? It might well get worse yet, just like it did in Bethlehem all those years ago. The government is not the answer that is for sure. And we have to be really clear where we are looking for answers. Remember where your hope is placed, and remember who it is you serve.

  Remember who your provider is, who your comforter is, and remember this Christmas that Jesus is your prince of peace. We are of a different kingdom, and that is the point, isn't it? I said that our transformation might not be a change of situation, but a change of location. and that's true. But ultimately, even though it took a while, the situation did change for Mary and Joseph and they returned to Nazareth.

  Eventually Herod was no more. And that's the final point here that I wanna mention about the Christmas story and finding peace in difficult times. The rulers of this world are temporal. Their kingdoms are temporary. Situations all eventually change because we pray to and we serve an everlasting king and an everlasting kingdom.

  And his peace is eternal. And whilst the situation changes, We can pray that God changes our location to one of peace. So the Carol in the bleak mid-winter ends with these words. What can I give him? Give him my heart. You see, this is the antidote to bleakness. Finding peace in difficult times is all about giving him, Jesus our Christmas peace our hearts, giving him all our fear and anxiety to a Christ, knowing that he cares for us, allowing that Christmas rejoicing to rise up within us, to sing with gusto, the Christmas carols, you know, let all the earth rejoice. Joy to the world and we can reach out and share that joy with a hurting world.

  So let me end this talk the way I started it by wishing you a merry Christmas, knowing that regardless of what your situation is, God can change your location to a joy filled. Full of peace. Peaceful, merry, very merry Christmas. So sincerely, Merry Christmas and Peace on Earth.

  Matt Edmundson: So, and we're back. We are back.

  John Harding: I'll tell you what, Matt, if you weren't feeling Christmassy, You would be after that song, wouldn't you?

  Matt Edmundson: Oh, you would, you would. It's got to be like the third or fourth time I've heard it today. Cause we had to put the lyrics to it really quickly this afternoon. And when you listen to it in your headphones and you get the full surround sound effect of everything that's got, man, you get sucked into that. Definitely.

  John Harding: So they need to do, um, they need to do like a little boy band type of video, like in a snow globe.

  Matt Edmundson: Can you imagine?

  John Harding: Tell you what, Matt. Great talk. Great talk. I've gotta say like, I have done dozens, 20, 30 different Christmas talks. I love that so much. Oh, bless that. You can listen to another Christmas talk every year and still get so much out of it, because that's the richness of the story, isn't it? Great talk.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, thank you.

  And like, and, and you know you're right, aren't you? Every, I've done a Christmas talk now for quite a few years. Uh, whether Frontline or whether, you know, on Crowd or whatever. And every time you, you never come to it and think, but what am I gonna talk about this Christmas? Cuz there's always so much in there, isn't there?

  Yeah. And it always just feels so relevant to the time in which you are living, when you look at what's going on.

  John Harding: Absolutely. And I'll tell you what, you, you made some big claims in there, Matt. You know, we're not talking about.

  Matt Edmundson: Go big or go home, right?

  John Harding: And rightly so. But, you know, we're not talking about a little bit of peace when you're feeling a little bit down, a little bit of peace when you've got a little bit of a cash flow issue. We're talking about. You used examples like Ukraine and Russia. You used examples of, um, global economic hardship that's affecting people with fuel poverty and, and that sort of stuff.

  Um, I mean, really pe people who are watching this today and thinking, could that really be true? Could I really experience deep, profound lasting peace in my situation in what I'm facing? Um, really do we, do we believe that Matt?

  Matt Edmundson: Well, I know I do John, uh, but it's a great question. I absolutely do. I do. Yeah. well, I think we both do. Or we wouldn't be here. Um, but I, and I think that's the point. I think I was talking to someone in our office about this the other day. I can't remember a Christmas that, where it felt as bleak as it does this year. I mean, I know we had the coronavirus stuff, but I something about this year, I think for a lot of people, feels worse.

  I fully understand that and I fully appreciate that. It is really hard, but for me, in these hardest times is where the gospel shines the brightest. Do you know what I mean? It's the, it's where the Christmas message absolutely can transform a situation. And I, I believe it because I've experienced it Do you know what I mean?

  Yeah. I, I, it's, it's, it's, it's the reality in which I live, you know, is, is every day, God, I, I know I need your peace. Outside of that, I'm not sure what I'm gonna do. Do, you know what I mean? Yeah. And so, um, so yeah, I, I like you, John. I, I fundamentally believe it. Yeah.

  John Harding: Yeah. And I, I completely agree. I think if we're not talking about the sort of peace that could be relevant in all circumstances of life than what we'd pack up and go home. Mm-hmm. And yeah, it is, it does feel like a, a bleak winter, doesn't it? You know, with the cost of living and conflicts in the world. And then you hear on the news about different tragedies that are taking place in people's lives.

  I suppose in some ways it depends a little bit where you are on the arc and curve of life. I, I was just thinking when you were talking about it, how, um, for us as kids, we were, um, jumbled sale, close secondhand gifts at Christmas. I remember sitting down numerous times and mom saying, um, well, we're gonna pray for food cause we don't have any yet.

  And you'd get a, a, a knock on the door and you'd get like, um, a bag of food left outside. So, so when you were talking about it, I was, I was just saying here yes and amen, because that is my story and that is my experience. That is my history, uh, that actually we can, for me now, life has never felt as comfortable.

  For myself and my wife both working in full-time employment. Uh, and yet for both of us, we know that we've experienced Jesus as peace. Mm-hmm. Uh, and our families have had some very challenging times in life. That's the hope that we cling to, isn't it?

  Matt Edmundson: It is. And I think, I think it's one of those where, um, well, actually I would say yes financially.

  I mean, everyone's feeling the pinch, but oh, do we feel comfortable? Yes. And I think the challenge there becomes well, to not, to not sort of sit back and protect what you have. I think, you know, we, we can become a little bit, kind of like this Do, you know, what I mean and put our arms around that and sort of go, well, hang on a minute.

  Um,God, what are you challenging me to do here? If I really feel peaceful, I won't try and protect what I have. I will still go, God, what do you want me to do with what I have uh, and I think it's a really interesting challenge.

  John Harding: Well, that's what I loved about the talk because it was as practical and as rooted as I would expect from you, Matt, because you know, there's that one level. Peace is not passive.

  Mm-hmm. you, you don't just. Access this sort of peace in the, the, the challenges and darkness of life by doing nothing. Yeah. And, and then that first level that people start to think about accessing peace tends to be a little bit more of the sort of modern therapeutic world type of peace, which is if I just get enough yoga classes in and if I just, um, are able to listen to the right type of music or if I'm just able to have

  um, that person not talk to me in that way or demand that of me, then I'll achieve peace. Mm-hmm. And, and I think that as Christians we do have spiritual disciplines that help us to access peace because they able, uh, enable us to access the presence of Jesus. Mm-hmm. And so Prayer and being in community with one another, I think helps sustain us in peace.

  But actually I think there is a growing trend when you listen to, when you listen to, um, the radio, when you listen to, um, experts talking about the mental health crisis that we are undoubtedly in. The quest inward to explore our own feelings, um, has not led people into breakthrough in their sense of peace.

  Matt Edmundson: No, it hasn't.

  John Harding: Habitually people who, um, reach outward are people who tend to have much more, uh, resilience and much more peace in life because of the perspective that, that that brings. And so I, I know I'm overly simplifying and we would never give any, um, advice like that on Crowd Church. All I'm saying is, I think there's a growing body and weight of evidence that says that those who look outwards to live and serve others, like you said about generosity, tend to find more resilience and more peace in life.

  So yeah, I loved how rooted it was.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, I, I agree. And one of the things that I found, and I, I mentioned, I think in the talk, the scripture in Philippians four six, we put it on the comments where it says, don't worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need. And thank him for all that he has done.

  This is from the New Living Translation, and there's this thing whereby it's like, uh, as a Christian I can pray. I know that God has heard me. I know that he cares about me. And then there's this other sort of step isn't there of gratitude, which sort of, which I think a lot of us can miss, especially in difficult times.

  Uh, and there's, there's something about the ability, To give thanks. Not for everything, but in everything. Right. I dunno if you found that, bud?

  John Harding: Yeah. Well, I completely agree. Uh, but I say that acknowledging just how difficult it is. Mm-hmm. and I, I can see from the comments that people have, um, posted things about, um, loss and grief.

  Mm. There's nothing that I would want to say that would minimize or detract from that. We have to be really honest about the pain of life, the grief of life, the bitterness of life. But because peace is a person, peace is Jesus. and he has promised to always be with us. Then it's a very precious, beautiful thing when we find Jesus' presence and peace.

  Mm-hmm. , um, in those moments, um, I, I tend to have a little bit of a, a bit of a now word, um, for Christmas each year probably because I'm prepping a Christmas talk. This is the first year not on a Christmas talk. Uh, Matt, um, I was thinking a few years ago when it says from Isaiah about the government is on his shoulders.

  Yeah. Just how, and if you've got any sense of government or authority or leadership, how that rests. It feels like it can be on your shoulders and you carry that weight with you and I, so in my prayers, I keep saying, Jesus, the government, um, the church is on your shoulders. It's not on mine. It's not on some politician.

  But this year what I've been really, um, reflecting on is that normally when you have the prince of, it's followed by a place. Prince of Wales. Yep. Or the Prince of Persia, or so on and so forth. And, and you said it so well about from situation to location, the Prince of Peace is a person and peace described almost like, like a place.

  That we find in Jesus. And so what peace is there outside of him? And I would just encourage anyone who's experiencing grief and loss and sadness, and fear, and fear at this time just to invite Jesus to come and fill your life with more of his presence and more of his peace. I'm confident that he would do that.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. And you would draw close to you. Yeah, no, very true. Very well said. Um, very well said. And I, I totally agree. I think it's, it's hard, I think for a lot of people at Christmas, um, Christians included, right? Just cuz you're a Christian doesn't mean it's not gonna be hard. Um, especially with loss or grief, um, you know, those kind of things.

  Or if there's, uh, loss of work or any of those kind of things. It doesn't, as a Christian, you're not excluded from the, what the Bible would call trials and tribulations, right? Um, but. But what the Bible does give us is it does give us this promise of peace, uh, and favor and grace and hope, uh, which I, it's not always easy to hold onto, uh, as you say John.

  Uh, but it's, it's, it's one of those things where you're kind of like so grateful for Jesus. I love that the peace is a person. Peace is not passive. It's a person. I don't know if you, you meant to alliterate there, John, uh, but you did.

  John Harding: It's the spirit of alliteration. It's just a preacher's thing. Yeah,

  Matt Edmundson: yeah. No, absolutely.

  John Harding: So, so for all of us, peace can be quite a fleeting thing, but that's the, the, that we can't be passively, that we have to be active with that. And, and that doesn't mean, that doesn't mean like we're faking it in any way. We're not about faking it. We're on a, we're, we're about reality and honesty before the Lord.

  And, and so I, I, I tend to just say that out loud to God. Mm-hmm. Um, even when I'm walking the dog, I, I tend to say, Lord, I feel on my own in this. Lord, I feel that I'm really struggling in this Lord. This this thing is really weighing in on my mind. It's robbing me of my sleep. It's robbing me of my peace.

  Uh, and I try to articulate that to Jesus because it is relationship. Yeah. And because he is a person and, and if, if, You or I are struggling. I hope we would say that to each other. Mm-hmm. And we have that sort of honesty and vulnerability and, and for me, that's a really good first step into accessing the peace of Jesus.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, no, that's very true. Very true. Well, it's what Paul said was it, and in Philippians, don't worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need. Um, that's that simple statement. Tell God what you need. It's just that, it's that self-reflection. It's that cataloging of where you are at, isn't it?

  I find for me, I'm not gonna lie, I find journaling really, really helps with that. Um, just writing stuff down and getting, just praying on paper for want for better expression, uh, works really, really well for me. And, and just telling God what I need, where I'm at, what I'm thinking about, um, and just, just then creating space and time just to listen to what he has to say in that situation.

  John Harding: I would highly recommend some old school journaling. You see, when you, when it says, tell God what you need, that's not because God doesn't know. Mm-hmm. , it's not for God's benefit. It's because of the impact it has on us. Mm-hmm. , then you took that to that next step, which I think is why we need community and relationship and others in our life, which is.

  Make changes. Yeah. And it is within our power, isn't it? To make changes. Often it doesn't feel like it is. Um, but actually we can put things in place, even if it's a slow, gradual process of either the stewardship of our resources or, um, or the development of relationships and bringing around forgiveness and healing in relationships.

  Mm-hmm. um, just to have that sort of plan in place. I just don't think that God is opposed to a plan. I think he's opposed to us doing it on our own, in our own strength, for our own motivation. Mm-hmm. But actually we can bring that plan too and ask him to give us wisdom and divine strategy to, um, make breakthrough in those areas that rob us of our peace.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah, totally. Absolutely. Absolutely. It's interesting, isn't it? When, um, the thing that I, I just, I'd never really seen before in the Christmas story, before doing this talk was that, um, there was this massive problem with Herod, uh, you know, and his unjust war, uh, on boys under two. And you, you are told, Joseph is told in a dream to, to head off to Egypt, um, and you kind of think.

  It's a really interesting thing for me. It's like, why did God just not go well, that's my son. Angels around him. Herod, you know? Sorry bud, but no, you're off, you're outta here. Uh, and that didn't happen.

  Um, and it was all about then, uh, well we say, I said change in location, but it's, it is that kind of, you've gotta go from. Bethlehem to Egypt. You've gotta, you've gotta move, you've gotta get out of where you're at, into a new situation.

  Uh, that, that would not have been easy, I don't think, for Mary and Joseph. It's, I I said in the talk, it's not a promotion for those guys. Uh, and they've got the son of God with them. Do, you know what I mean?

  John Harding: It's the, the vulnerability of this story is unreal. The, the. and we can get quite philosophical in all of that, and I'll avoid doing that, but, uh, I'd seen someone had posted recently, if you were to remove the Jews, the Arabs, the refugees, and the ethnic outsides from the Christmas story, you'd be left with a donkey and a star.

  You wouldn't be left with much. Yeah. You know, so we have here, um, a teenage girl who is pregnant and the the choices that each one is making. The right choices at each stage, despite the risk, despite the cost, despite the, the vulnerability, despite the reputational risk. And, and each time we see these choices that are being made because what we learn, as you've said so well, or perhaps I'll put it in my own words, God is not about just zapping people and fixing for people. He Is about using it to draw us into deeper intimacy and relationship with himself.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, it's an interesting one, isn't it? They always used to say, and they still do. I, I, maybe I've just not heard it for a while, cause I've not been in Sunday school for a little while, but they always used to say, you know, you need to pray that God changes you before you ask God to change others. Uh, and it's that kind of attitude, isn't it?

  That kind of, God, what is it you want me to do here in this situation? You know? Yeah. Yeah. I find, I find that, That whole Joseph's ability to have a dream and just do what God said to do, I find it extraordinary. I mean, Joseph's my man, you know, he's, he's, he's not a lot said about Joseph, but the man just follows whatever God says, you know, it's just sometimes at massive personal cost, but he just seems to do it.

  Uh, and so that, that ability just to follow what God says, uh, and go to places where maybe he doesn't want to go leads to peace. I, it seems to me.

  John Harding: Obedience, isn't it? Obedience to the Lord's leading.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Yeah. It's uh, it's a cracking one. Uh, cracking. Love the Christmas story. Peace is not passive. Peace is a person.

  It's great, isn't it? It's great. Anything else, John, on this you wanna say?

  John Harding: I, I would encourage people to pray and you know, Prayer, like you're saying, could be in written form while listening. We, we have such funny ideas of restrictive ideas, what Prayer is. But, um, you know, I, I pray for the church that I lead every day, and one of the things that I pray for is God's peace.

  Um, I ask God for it. um, because it's a gift. Mm-hmm. So I ask that God would displace people's, uh, grief and displace, um, brokenness and displace, um, anxiety and flood their hearts and lives with his light and his hope and his peace. And, um, I, I would just encourage people to, to, to pray and talk to Jesus and to invite his peace into their lives is Christmas.

  And of course, like we say, get in touch with us. If, if that's the case, if you got a story, if that's your experience, if you, if you have a story of Jesus doing just that as we expect he would. And if you wanna know what to do with that, and if you want to take that further, then uh, just get in touch.

  We'd, we'd love to help you in that journey of discovering more of who Jesus the Prince of Peace is and what it looks like for him. Um, to be a prince, i.e.To reign and rule in our hearts and our minds in this kingdom of, um, as it says in Romans love, um, righteousness, joy, and peace in the Holy Ghost. Mm.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, absolutely. Very good. Yeah. Uh, we've put the thing on the screen there, if you do wanna get in touch, if you would someone like someone to pray for you, then we would love to do that. We, uh, we do get Prayer requests from people and we do pray. So we are a praying church. Um, and we can stand with you and pray with you.

  We would love to do that. Um, and we know that Christmas can be a difficult time for a lot of people and the truth of the Christmas story is it wasn't easy for Jesus either, and it was, um, and he's the son of God. But in the midst of that is a story that unfolds, which is unreal and unlike anything that you'll ever hear anywhere else.

  Uh, and that is the truth that Jesus, uh, came for you and for me. To have a relationship, to be able to talk to us, to be able to take away our fears and anxieties, to give us guidance and a hope and a future and a plan. Uh, and so it's a beautiful thing. Uh, it's a beautiful thing in the midst of difficult times and turmoils, we still have a God who is there, always has been, always will be.

  Uh, so yes. Uh, do get in touch with us. Uh, thanks always for your comments. One of the comments. that came up. I'm gonna take a slight left turn here, John. Actually, it's not a slightly turn. Yeah. Called you earlier. Yeah, it's, it's not even off. This is a very different mountain, uh, if I'm honest with you. So Nicola reminded me.

  Now, I've just gotta quickly set up a scene here. Uh, let's see if I can do this. Uh, whereby I play, uh, this video, which Nicola sent in from Nicola, who's one of the crowders, uh, to to bless everybody. This is from, I just wanna say again, this is from Nicola. Okay. So let me see if I can drag, uh, let me try something else while, uh, while I work on that.

  Who are that gorgeous couple? Say again? Who are that gorgeous couple? Well. That's the big question, right? Who are they? So, we'll leave this, uh, we'll leave this up to you to decide. Uh, hopefully the volume comes through this time. Let's try this again.

  Let me bring that back up there. That's uh, that's something to behold, wasn't it?

  John Harding: If that doesn't keep people awake at night. I dunno what will.

  You just sort of wrapped up your entire sermon there, Matt.

  Matt Edmundson: Everybody's like, I need peace now, Matt. I'm gonna have nightmares dealing with that. Uh, it's amazing what artificial intelligence can do with a photo now. Uh, and so yes, uh, that made me chuckle. So, uh, Merry Christmas. Um, Merry, Very, Merry Christmas. Could you hear that?

  By the way? Uh, yeah. Good saying there's no sound. Uh, so hopefully everyone else heard it. Okay. Uh, so there you go. Uh, next week. John, I told you earlier what's coming up next week? Do you remember?

  John Harding: Well, like you said to me, uh, earlier, slightly patronizingly, uh, next week is Christmas , so thank you for that, Matt.

  Um, that, that will be the 25th of December then. Yeah. Yeah.

  So there will be a Crowd service streaming at the usual time, uh, along with the following week, which is New Year's Day. Yes. You can still tune in if you would like to, uh, for those two, uh, online services.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah, you can absolutely, well done John. Uh, the thing to remember about the next two weeks is the live streams are non-live, live streams.

  We call them the non-live, live streams because we pre-record them, just mainly because we're. We'll be doing things Christmas day and New Year's Day, uh, celebrating with loved ones and friends and family and all that sort of stuff. So all the guys involved with Crowd sort of have a couple of weeks off over the Christmas break.

  So we still put content out there. People will still be interacting in the comments. Do come and join us. Uh, we've got a few more carols, uh, for next week coming as well. We've got Anna Kettle sharing a little something, which would be great. Uh, so do tune in for those. If you haven't yet seen this week's episode of What's the Story, check that out.

  That was my interview with Simon Gillebaut. Uh, I'm hope pronouncing his surname, right, Gillebaut, who is an absolute legend, uh, talking about his time in Burundi. The podcast is called Gratitude changes everything. Uh, it was a phenomenal conversation. Loved my time with Simon, uh, and just the way he did. And actually when we did the interview, he said, uh, and I quote to quote Simon, he has just gone through the worst two weeks of his entire life.

  Uh, and that's saying something when you hear some of the stories, uh, about what has been going on in his life. Um, but your heart is just lifted, uh, and edified when you hear that podcast. So that's available on the website, uh, Crowd Church, www.crowd.church. You can check out that podcast. It's available on Apple and spotify, wherever you get your podcast from.

  The livestreams are also going out on podcast as a separate feed, which you can also subscribe to, uh, more information on that website, do check it out. And if you're listening to the audio version of the podcast, I just pointed to the website, which is www.crowd.church, sorry, I've just realized we do audio as well as video here.

  John Harding: Um, if you, if you're listening to the audio Matt's currently wearing a turkey hat on his head.

  Matt Edmundson: I'm not sure which Matt you're talking about. Uh, but yes, brilliant. So John, I think that's it from us. I think all that's left to say. Merry christmas, right?

  John Harding: Merry Christmas. Indeed.

  Matt Edmundson: Yeah. Fantastic. Bless you guys. Have a very Merry Christmas.

  We'll be back again next week, uh, for our non-live, live stream. Our next live, live stream. Uh, John, you are doing, you are doing the talk on the intro to the book of Acts. Indeed. So do join us for that. Do subscribe to Crowd, uh, on YouTube. Hit that notification bell and we'll see you in a few weeks' time.

  That's it from, uh, John and myself. We're gonna end the live stream here. God bless you. Very merry Christmas to you. And if you don't know Jesus, maybe this season is a time to find out more about him, more information at our website. We would love to help you with that. But from me, from John, Merry Christmas. Bye for now.

  John Harding: Merry Christmas everyone.