How A Biblical Worldview Transforms Our Perspective

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

• 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.

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💬 CONVERSATION STREET --

• Dan + Will discuss how Paul, in the story from the Book of Acts, focuses on his message rather than personal offenses or mistreatment, showcasing humility and dedication to his mission.

• They reflect on the talk's message about worldview, particularly how one's worldview can drastically alter the interpretation of events and perspectives.

• Dan and Will share their personal thoughts on how understanding and accepting a biblical worldview can lead to better handling of disagreements and a deeper understanding of God’s plan.

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• Complete Transcript

  Matt Edmundson: [00:00:00] 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 will last about an hour and in a few seconds we will start with a time of worship, after which you will meet our hosts for our service.

  After the talk, we head into Conversation Street, where we look at your stories and questions that you've posted in the comments throughout the live stream. I want to invite you to connect with us here at Crowd Church, and there are a few ways that you can do just that. Firstly, you can engage with Crowd from any device during [00:01:00] our live stream, and if you're up for it.

  Why not invite a few friends over and experience the service together? You see, church is all about connecting with God and connecting with others, and one of the easiest ways for you to do that is to also join one of our mid week groups where we meet online together to catch up and discover more about the amazingness of life.

  You can also subscribe to our podcast called What's the Story, where we deep dive into stories of faith and courage from everyday people. More information about all of these things that I've mentioned can be found on our website at www. crowd. church, or you can reach us on social media at Crowd Church.

  If you're new to Crowd or new to the Christian faith, And would like to know what your next steps to take are, well why not head over to our website crowd. church forward slash [00:02:00] next for more details.

  And now, the moment you've been waiting for is here, our online church service starts right now.

  What? But

  Dan Orange: I said, but I said by the van, by the train. I can see that. Oh, we're live. Hello, everyone. Welcome to Crowd Church. Um, so today it's me, Dan Orange, and we'll start with normally behind the non live camera, but you're very excited to be on the live camera today. Yes. Um, we're having to talk about discussions later.

  So we put that little bit at the beginning to set things up. Little teaser. Yes. How you doing, Will?

  Will Sopwith: Yeah, alright, alright, um, Christmas is bearing down on us. Yes. But, um, yeah, I like Advent. Yeah. I enjoy [00:03:00] Advent. Advent baking.

  Dan Orange: I like that. I like Advent. I'm more of a turkey, a turkey man than a

  Will Sopwith: baking man.

  You're saving yourself for the big day. No, it's, uh, it's the baking to keep us going. Oh, I see. Yeah. I most enjoy it.

  Dan Orange: Brilliant. Um, it's great to see everyone joining in. So Matt's having a listen, uh, Matt's been on the train today, a little busy day out. And, um, uh, Matt Edmundson, I don't think he's been on the train, but he has been soaring.

  I called him earlier. Thanks. Bye. I was looking for a file, and all I heard in the background was a circular saw just cooling down.

  Will Sopwith: Okay, nice.

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

  Will Sopwith: talk. Okay. Okay. And who we got?

  Dan Orange: We got Matt Edmundson, not

  Will Sopwith: Anna Kettle. Are you sure? I'm

  Dan Orange: sure. So, okay. Um, recently I've had a bit of a mare with my, my files and I played the wrong talk. This is the right talk. The right [00:04:00] talk. It's not my fault, but the wrong name is on the talk.

  Will Sopwith: Got it. Got it. No confusion. This is Matt Edmundson. It's not Anna Kettle. Indeed.

  Dan Orange: It's pretty obvious from the get go. Here we go. If you've got any questions, please Um, follow them through Facebook, YouTube and we'll aim to answer them afterwards.

  Matt Edmundson: Well, hello Crowd Church. Now for those of you that don't know me, my name is Matt. As it will undoubtedly say on the bottom of the screen. I'm one of the pastors here at Crowd and today I get to do this talk, which is Well it's great and let me tell you, uh, I've found this one challenging to say the least.

  So let me start by showing you a picture. And here's a simple sketch of a young woman. She's wearing an old fashioned bonnet as you can see. Uh, you can see she's looking away from the screen. [00:05:00] She's kind of got this pearl necklace thing going on. Uh, and if we flesh out this drawing it could look a little Like this.

  And so here we see her hair is more defined, uh, the bonnet has been replaced by a slightly more ostentatious hat that's got a feather on it. And it looks like she's wearing a fur coat, but still has a sort of the pearls around her neck. But all is not as it seems. Oh no, how you have interpreted this image that I've just shown you here is based entirely on the first image that you saw, this one here.

  What if I told you that this is actually an image of an old woman? Not a young one. And this is not an existential observation about the anti aging rhetoric that mars our society, but it's actually a genuine statement. What if this picture was of an older woman? To see what I mean, [00:06:00] let's look at this image.

  Now let's look at these side by side. Cause you can see here, this is a sketch, a very rough sketch of an older lady with Rather a large nose looking sort of down, looking sort of rather for loin. And if I put that next to that image that you see, you can see in that image the older woman, not just the younger one.

  Now this is an example from Stephen Covey's book, the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And the, the bottom line here is how you interpret the image. How you interpret the main image is based entirely on the image that you saw first. If I show you the picture of the older woman first, you see the older woman in the main image.

  If I show you the young picture first, like I did, you see the younger woman in the image. And to quote the Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to [00:07:00] depend greatly on our own point of view. It's an interesting exercise that highlights a key point. How we interpret things that we see and experience depends greatly on our worldview.

  Now think of a worldview as a pair of glasses. Just like these, uh, through which you see everything around you. It's more than just a belief. It's the lens that colors your understanding of the world. You see, our worldview shapes our thoughts. It guides our decisions, frames our understanding of right and wrong, truth and falsehood, significance and triviality.

  And each person has a unique way of seeing the world, a different lens through which life is interpreted, all shaped by our beliefs and our experiences. Our world view, if you like, is as unique to us as our fingerprint, and every judgement we make, every relationship we hold, every goal we pursue is influenced by this [00:08:00] underlying Perspective.

  So where does this worldview come from? Is it shaped by deliberate thought and decision? Or has it been handed down by those around us? It's kind of, if I'm honest, it's going to be a mixture of both. And how does your personal worldview align with the teachings of the Bible? This isn't just about judging what's right or wrong.

  It's about seeking alignment and clarity and truth. Of our understanding of life, and we call this a biblical worldview. Now, one example of a conflict between a biblical worldview and a common contemporary worldview is say the differing perspectives on morality and. The apparent purpose of life. You see, the biblical worldview, as understood by many Christians, holds that morality is absolute and defined by God's word.

  You know, the scriptures, the Bible, and this often emphasizes community and [00:09:00] humility and service to others. On the other hand, many contemporary worldviews influenced by things like secularism, postmodernism, and Marxism can often hold very different views. For example, The secular worldview often will inform us that morality is relative and subjective and that the purpose of life is individual happiness, often associated with material success.

  That conflicts with scripture. Postmodernism, with its sort of scepticism towards grand narratives and absolute truths, can conflict with the biblical worldview of absolute moral truth. Now, Marxism, with its materialistic and class based analysis of society, can conflict with the biblical emphasis on spiritual matters and individual moral responsibility.

  Ah, these are, you know, sweeping generalizations, I appreciate, but these differing worldviews can lead to conflicts in various areas. areas of life, ethics, [00:10:00] politics, personal lifestyle choices, sexual morality, abortion, and the pursuit of material wealth. We live in a world where the external pressures of societal norms and expectations are constantly Constantly at play and these forces can be so powerful that exploring a faith perspective, a biblical worldview might feel like defying the very fabric of the secular viewpoints we're surrounded by.

  So standing for a biblical worldview isn't just met with what? It's just not. It really met with adoration and praise, but often ridicule and anger. And this is not a new thing. It's kind of been going on. Since ancient times, as we will see in this week's section from the book of Acts. So let's read, shall we?

  As Paul was about to be brought into the [00:11:00] barracks, he said to the tribune, may I say something to you? And he said, do you know Greek? Are you not the Egyptian then who stirred up the revolt and led the 4, 000 men of the assassins out into the wilderness? That wasn't Paul, but it sounds like a very fascinating story.

  I mean, there's so much we can learn from just this opening verse. So to bring you up to speed from last week, Paul was being beaten to death by a crowd of people that weren't that chuffed with him and his biblical worldview. The Tribune had come and intervened with some soldiers, uh, and was offered a variety of claims by the crowd as to Paul's identity.

  Now, the crowd is very anti Paul's worldview, which is, I would call, a Christ centred worldview, a biblical worldview, to the point, like I say, where they want to kill him. So Paul, knowing that the Tribune will have the wrong idea about him and appreciates, uh, appreciating the worldview of the Tribune, starts by asking a question, and [00:12:00] that question changes everything.

  You see, asking questions is such a powerful tool in a world pretty much hell bent on making statements louder and louder and louder as a way to prove their worldview is right. Be curious. Ask questions. I think most of the time this. is a great starting point. This is what we learn from Paul. You see, for example, people will often say to me, uh, often tell me, often make the statement that science has disproved Christianity or that Christianity is just a fairy tale.

  It's a common world view. And you see, I could, in response, I could make statements like, no, it hasn't, which will quickly fall into the pantomime of, oh yes, it has. Oh no, it hasn't. Maybe a better way is simply to ask questions, questions like well, in what way has science disproved Christianity, or well, if that's true, how do you account for top scientists who have a strong [00:13:00] Christian faith?

  But it's not just a question that Paul asks in this passage, it's how Paul asks the question. You see, he has, he asks, it's not easy to say, he asks the question in high quality Greek, which was the language that the Tribune spoke, and also proof that Paul was educated. Both things conflicted with the Tribune's thinking.

  See, although the Tribune had asked the crowd what Paul had done, he apparently had not asked Paul himself. The crowd was telling him that Paul was associated with the Sicari, which was a Jewish terrorist group. Cool name though. In other words, the Tribune had been shown a picture of a young man, going back to our original example, not even a young woman.

  The facts and information he had caused him to interpret what was happening in entirely the wrong way. Paul was definitely not a terrorist. Far from it, in fact. And this is such an important [00:14:00] point for us in the modern world, bringing it forward. Because so often our views about people, groups, leaders, race are formed by the people around us.

  They aren't formed because we have spent the time to create our own opinions. And it's interesting when you ask folks who believe science has disproven the Christian faith. Where that belief came from, what informed it? Is it something that has been thought through by them? Or is it a belief somehow that has been just picked up from others, from school maybe, from the TV?

  You see, in a world that is plagued by biased algorithms in our social media feeds and news sources with agendas and leaders playing for power or corporations playing for profit, where you get your information from becomes more and more important because we are affected by it. There is bias in social media.

  There is bias in search engine results. We know this to be true and it does affect us and [00:15:00] this is why it's so powerful. But most of the time, we kind of think, you know what, we're okay, aren't we? We aren't actually affected by this. Others may be affected by it, but not us. We're too smart for that, and we definitely shape our own opinions.

  But let me tell you, marketers have known a different story for many years. And for me, this is why it's so important to develop a biblical worldview, to keep coming back to the Bible, to be what we call Christ centered. It has to be our source of truth. Now I'm not telling you to ignore the news, I'm not telling you not to.

  Now, of course, the finances hit a point where you're making a bit of economic money. That put a lot of financial pressure on you as an individual. But you can't be rel fiedon you're rebellious as a single parent. And every bit of money that you make is spent on running the household. And your spendings on that household.

  And every bit of money that you have up your sleeve, Would I turn it back to you if I could, Sounds simple and it can actually lead to [00:16:00] its own set of problems. Like many Christians, for example, I have often looked for things in the Bible to back up my thinking. That's problematic because I'm shaping scripture to fit my worldview rather than allowing scripture to shape my worldview.

  God, please spare us from ourselves. And I appreciate that this is just the opening verse of what we're looking at. There's a few more to go. But there is something else in this verse that we actually need to see before moving on. And that is this. The Tribune is actually insulting, insulting, Paul here. A subtlety we miss in the text in the modern world.

  By associating him with Egypt, uh, the Tribune has insulted him. You see, Egypt was once this sort of great empire, but now it was amongst the most oppressed sort of provinces in Rome's empire. So Greeks, Romans, and Jews typically regarded [00:17:00] Egyptians as uneducated. And this can so often be the case, can't it?

  We insult or demean those that have a different worldview to us. We think of ourselves as better, maybe, than the person in front of us, especially if we're passionate about that part of our worldview, such as our thinking on, say, gender, or politics, or even the Israel Hamas war. We look down on those we disagree with.

  We are the educated. They are the uneducated. And actually, I think insulting those we disagree with is a lazy response. We put people down to make ourselves feel better about the view that we hold, and if I'm honest We can get a little bit ugly with it. We just insult and we can do that because we're right, surely aren't we?

  We can insult them. We are the educated. Let's see how Paul responds. Paul replied, I am a Jew from Tarus in, uh, [00:18:00] solicitor, a citizen of no obscure city. I beg you, pit me, uh, permit me to speak to the people. So Paul deals with this insult with a simple correction. I'm from Tarsus, uh, and I'm super proud, uh, myself of being part of the city of Liverpool.

  On my wall here, if you're watching on video, you see the Liverpool skyline that I made. I think it's a great place to be, and I'm thankful that God brought me here. Tarsus is an ancient version of Liverpool, if you like. It was a great city, and one that had a lot of civic pride, and it told the Tribune, when Paul says, I'm from Tarsus, it tells the Tribune.

  That again, he has spoken without really understanding the bigger picture. Now, if it was me talking to the Tribune, I would most likely get drawn into the fact he just insulted me. I would probably feel anger rising up inside of me and there would be a great need welling within my soul to put him [00:19:00] straight.

  But Paul, it seems, doesn't do that. He keeps the issue the issue. He keeps omission and he turns to address the crowd. So, when the Tribune had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hands to the people. And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying, Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.

  And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew language, They became even more quiet. So much in these verses. Paul is willing to speak to the crowd that has just assaulted him. That in itself is pretty priceless. It shows his love for his people. It shows a willingness to forgive and it shows an openness to debate and conversation.

  Me? Don't know if I'd have been as gracious. I probably would have wanted them locked up for assaulting me. But thankfully, Paul is not like me because this would have been a very different story. [00:20:00] So he opens up with the phrase, Brothers and Fathers. Now this is an interesting phrase. It's both respectful and conciliatory.

  It's the exact. Opposite of the Tribune's insult. Brothers, you see, emphasises an ethnic solidarity, uh, solidarity? Solidarity and fathers, uh, is a respectful title for the elders and people of rank. This is a masterclass on how to deal with not just those who have a different world view but those who are even hostile in their world view.

  You see, Paul speaks to the crowd in Hebrew, a language that they understand, which is Super powerful, let me tell you. I know, for example, that many folks watching, uh, the crowd church streams, or maybe you're watching on catch up, maybe you're listening to the podcast. I know that many of you consuming the content are unchurched.

  So there's no point in me sitting here, [00:21:00] uh, and talking about something like, I don't know, the sanctification that comes through the atonement. It's language that won't make sense to many, it's, even though it's sort of in English, it's not accessible. So what Paul is doing is he's making what he is saying accessible, a lesson we have tried to learn here at Crowd.

  And because it got that crowd quiet, because it was accessible, they got even more quiet, scripture tells us. They sort of leaned in a little bit further, it was ready to listen. But. As we are going to see, it's not that easy to listen well to those we disagree with. We engage in, uh, what my mum, uh, calls selective hearing.

  Apparently I suffer from this, according to my mum. Uh, hearing only what I want to hear. Listening for things that will support my worldview. or support my arguments. So Paul takes this opportunity to [00:22:00] simply tell the crowd his story. See, when it comes to faith and standing for a biblical worldview, sometimes the best thing to do is just tell your story.

  So Paul did just that. After asking questions, after being conciliatory and respectful, and using accessible language, after not getting caught up in the insults or even how badly he was treated, he now has the once hostile crowd at least willing to listen to something. And so Paul takes the opportunity to tell his story.

  I am a Jew, born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, but brought up, uh, in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers being zealous for God. As all of you are this day, I persecuted this way to the death. Binding and delivering to prison both men and women as the high priest and the whole council of elders can bear me [00:23:00] witness.

  From then I received letters to the brothers and I journeyed toward Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. Doesn't sound like he was a pretty nice guy. I mean, if you're a Christian and Paul was like this, you didn't want to be around really. Uh, he's talking to the crowd about how he used to be like them, how he used to.

  think like they thought, how he was zealous for the things of God, like the crowd was. He had the same worldview that they are having at the moment, but then something happened to Paul to change that worldview. You can sort of feel it coming up in the story, can't you? And he spends the next 17 verses telling them how Jesus met with him and radically changed how he Thought about life.

  He talks about how Jesus called him to live a different life, to walk a different path and to think differently about his place in the world and his calling because, well, that's just [00:24:00] what Jesus does, and that's my story too. When I encountered Christ, my worldview radically changed the way I saw life changed.

  And as I've studied the Bible over the years, my thinking has continued to be renewed. That's what the Bible talks about. It talks about how your, your thinking needs to be renewed and it has been. Now that doesn't mean that I'm there. It doesn't mean that I'm right. It doesn't mean that I'm perfect and it doesn't mean that I need to stop being curious, uh, but I have to be about, I have to be curious about the Bible first.

  That's. The basic principle, I know that I'm on a journey and still learning, but it's a decision that I have to make on a daily basis to understand what the Bible says about something and to choose to interpret life through that biblical Christ centered worldview versus. And as I have done this, I've noticed that I've become more curious about the people [00:25:00] that I meet.

  Like Paul, I don't shy away from meeting people that think differently to me. I want to engage with them. I love the conversation. And like Paul, I've had opportunity to share my own story, the story of a God who changed my life for the better and in so many ways. Now, the sad part to this story is that the majority of the crowd only hear the parts they need to confirm their own bias, confirmation bias, or as my mum calls it, selective hearing.

  And so, they call for Paul's death. They didn't listen well. It's a big lesson. And as a result, they miss the awesome life giving truth of Jesus. They didn't get to see a bigger God. Now, I want to have a worldview that has a bigger God at the center of it. I don't know about you, but that's what I want. And the Tribune takes Paul back to the barracks to torture [00:26:00] him.

  Which sounds a bit odd, but it was a common practice at the time to try and get to the bottom of things, because if I torture you, you're bound to tell the truth. But it's at this point Paul tells the Tribune that he is in fact a Roman citizen. And that torture of Roman citizens, well, it's just not allowed.

  It's not cricket. It's not permitted. It's a trim card that Paul held until it was needed, and it's needed now. And so next week, we're going to carry on the story from this point. Bringing it back. There is so much to learn from this story about dealing with those that think differently to you. Those that have a different worldview and see it differently.

  I read this story and I can be like the tribune and go along with what others are saying, not really thinking about it, but just kind of go along. Or I can be like the crowd and only hear what I want to hear. Be selective in my hearing but miss the bigger picture, miss the bigger God. Or, I can be like [00:27:00] Paul and allow Jesus to change my worldview, to allow me to see and experience life through his lens.

  Because that's remarkable. When you have a Biblical worldview, everything changes. You see, you're not surprised by what's going on in the world. We pray for a better world, but our hope is not in political leaders, it's in Jesus. A Biblical worldview is based on a certain and sure hope, an eternal hope. And that hope, that understanding, well, it reframes how I see and experience the world every day.

  I get to see a bigger God and my prayer for me and for you is that we get to see a bigger God every day. So let me end with this question. How can you develop a biblical worldview? One that is very Christ centred. Or, do you even want to [00:28:00] develop a Biblical worldview? Write your answers in the comments, ready for the guys in Conversation Street.

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

  Will Sopwith: Wow. Wow. Yeah. There's a lot in there. There is. So,

  Dan Orange: go on then, Will. What was the first thing that stood

  Will Sopwith: out to you? It's really striking, isn't it, just how current this whole story is, and that whole dynamic of mob rule and mob voice. And everyone just, I mean, not even knowing who Paul was and just kind of joining that bandwagon and it's like, well, yeah, that's just, I'm going to bring

  Dan Orange: this just a little bit even closer.

  Okay.

  Will Sopwith: I mean, that's just magnified all the more, isn't it? By the kind of global network of communication, but also just how. Unphased Paul was by that and how used to that he was in his life and we've been seeing it through the story of Acts, he'd been there, he knew how [00:29:00] to communicate, he didn't jump in as our slightly lame example at the beginning of like, you know, as soon as you get into an argument, you just fight your corner and you stop listening and Paul just doesn't do that, he kind of He stops, he thinks, he steps back.

  So yeah, just just how current that whole kind of dynamic is and how Paul handled it. And I think that's, yeah, that's the wisdom of God, um, through many years of, of living for him. Yeah. So yeah, that, that, that really stood out as well as, uh, yeah, a lot of challenge. I

  Dan Orange: like that. And I, I suspect that it wasn't something that, you know, it might've been God's wisdom instantly then, a word of knowledge, but I suspect it was, he knew.

  About this guy. Yes. Terrorist. He knew potentially that was going through the crowd, going through the tribune. Um, and he'd, he'd researched, not the right, really the right word, but he'd thought that's what they're, that's what thinking about me. Okay. And God gave him that, that wisdom and that [00:30:00] ability to, to bring that message to say, no, I'm coming from this point, sometimes we can jump in without, like Matt says, further on.

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

  Will Sopwith: absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. But it's the message as well. He's absolutely focused on the message. He doesn't care about the fact that he's been insulted. Yeah. He doesn't care about actually the fact that he's been beaten up by this crowd. He cares about the message and he cares about communicating it to this mob.

  And you know, that shows a humility and a focus on What God's called them to do, which is, yeah, just, just remarkable. Yeah, real challenge. Yeah, it is.

  Dan Orange: Um, yeah, there's lots of points in there. I, we were talking about, um, sort of off camera before when you, when you came in, um, that sometimes we can, especially the media and particularly with [00:31:00] friends, um, someone can say one thing, And we react to that one thing and we ignore the past.

  We ignore, ignore all the history that we've got with that person or everything we know about them. And the media does it as well, doesn't it? Yeah. Yeah. One statement. And we ignore the rest. And it, it, the reason I'm saying that takes me a bit to where Matt said about we can, we can try and find one verse in the Bible that, that just meets what we are trying to get across.

  Yeah. Yeah. Without going. Well, no, the Bible, you have to take as a whole, it should all add up.

  Will Sopwith: Yeah. And again, we're more interested in our personal journey or view or opinion than actually, yeah, taking hold of the Bible. There's a couple of, um. shows I've been watching recently streamed and, and in it are these kind of, and you know, the story's hinged on this, but it's people who are responding emotionally to each other, getting there under the end of [00:32:00] the stick, and it kind of, you know, the drama kind of creates, and, and I just look at it going, oh, and then.

  It's kind of, is this just part of our generation, this kind of snowflake, it's like, oh, I'm offended, an easy offence, and then I look at my street WhatsApp, to be honest, and I think, no, no, this is just a human condition, this is nothing generational, how quick people are to take offence, how quick people can be, and we can all be, to stand on opinion and just actually fight, and I just think, you know, just with that moment of stepping back, just like Paul did in this story, Just taking a breath and just thinking about a slightly wider picture.

  Um, you know, it, it makes all the difference. There's a fantastic verse in, uh, Proverbs 15, which says a soft answer turns away much anger. And, uh, and, and that's something I, I, I remember being modelled by my grandfather and my dad actually on the, a couple of times they were stopped by the police for a start and instead of like the window goes down and like, you know, [00:33:00] fighting their corner, just saying, I'm really sorry, I was going a bit fast and it just completely takes the wind out the sails of whoever's about to, you know, lean through the window and, and, and tear a strip off them.

  And, and, you know, growing up, I really learned that lesson. I'm like, do you know, it's worth just stopping. me. Taking a breath, thinking a bit wider, thinking about the person in front of you, where they're coming from, where their opinions coming from, and yeah, it's not always easy to do in the heat of the moment, but, uh, but here we've got a really great example of, of, yeah, the story going in a completely different way as a result of that.

  Yeah.

  Dan Orange: Uh, Ashton has put on the, uh, on the, the question on the, um, comments, am I not correcting that Paul himself did a lot of bad things and he did, and he admitted to it then, didn't he? He said, I. I was doing the same as you. I was, uh, a zealot for what I thought was the, um, the right way. And people died under my, under my [00:34:00] word.

  Yeah. But God turned me.

  Will Sopwith: Yeah. And perhaps that's, that's part of where Paul's humility comes from. He knows he's got absolutely no moral high ground to stand on. It's because of what Jesus has done in his heart and changed that he's able to present the story to the people. Um, he knew he deserved punishment for, actually let's follow up there.

  He knew he was absolutely deserving of God's rejection and anger and wrath. And yet on that road to Damascus, he'd met, he'd met Jesus and he'd been forgiven and that must have completely changed his whole personality from being this kind of real firebrand. This is the thing I was fighting for, to being just a load more humble, I think.

  I think

  Dan Orange: so. Yeah. Yeah. Knowing that, that knowing that we've talked about it so many times because it is the. It's the sort of the pinpoint of the gospel that Jesus took our punishment so that we can have that forgiveness and it's just [00:35:00] huge and transformed Paul's life, it's transformed my life, you know,

  Will Sopwith: and I think because of that understanding, when we see, yeah, when we see how far we fall short, I think it gives us a lot more patience for each other as we kind of, and again, it helps us not dive into that kind of very You know, it can escalate so quickly, the arguments that you see all around you every day.

  Um, but actually that the humility comes from, you know, I, I've got, I've got no moral high ground to stand here. It's all just because of what Jesus has done. But, but what about this, this worldview then? Worldview is a kind of a, this is a quite a complicated topic that, that Matt has kind of just dropped in.

  I

  Dan Orange: wanted to, um, let me see if I can. Is there a question on that?

  Will Sopwith: Yeah.

  Dan Orange: Oh, there we go, look at that, got it working. Um, so Dave Connolly put on one of the comments when the God of the Bible is rejected, ignored, man chooses a new [00:36:00] God and yeah, I really like that because if we don't have a, a God viewpoint, we have a God worldview, we have another worldview and what are we going to choose, where

  Will Sopwith: are we going to have our standard?

  You hear people talking about, I mean, I've had conversations when I'm talking about faith and people say, well, I've just got a neutral kind of worldview. I don't, I don't have a kind of set of opinions. And that's actually a complete myth. We've all got this kind of Um, and it's, it's very complicated. It's a mixture of our culture, our upbringing, um, our colour, our, there's all sorts of things that can, uh, filter through into a worldview.

  And we're not aware of it most of the time. It's only when we really get into debates with people with a completely different view of the world that you realise, oh, yeah, that, that's what I think. But one of the great examples, I think, of what Dave's talking about is, um, Reading a number of years ago, um, uh, a [00:37:00] book about, um, about British culture and actually Western European culture and, and the kind of the argument this guy was using was that the Bible was translated into German, into English, In Western Europe, part of the Reformation, like, you know, two, 300 years ago, and his argument was that actually culture began to be shaped because everyone could read the Bible.

  It became this, the common man could read what it says in God's word. And I've seen that, um, talking to people from other countries where there's not a culture of fairness. There's not an expectation that people will, um, Be honest with you, for example, and, uh, I'm just really struck and go, well, where is that worldview come from us?

  And this guy was arguing, well, that's, that's the Bible. Um, that's because when you read the Bible, God treats everyone equally. You know, we've, we've all sinned. We've all fallen short of the glory of God. Um, but this guy that I was talking to, he's like, well, it's no problem [00:38:00] lying. There's no problem cheating.

  If you get found out, that brings shame on the family. But actually those habits is no problem. It's about getting ahead. And I think that was one of the first times I really became aware that we all have this kind of underlying set of assumptions that from birth we're probably not very aware of. Um, but I think the Bible absolutely has got, uh, yeah, has, has, I'm so thankful actually for our system of law, for democracy, for all this kind of This expectation people have of being treated fairly, that fact doesn't just come from nowhere.

  And actually, that's not a common experience for many people in lots of other places. So I really do see a kind of a biblical ground in

  Dan Orange: that. And I think, yeah, and, um, I always think, well, where do we, if we didn't have that, where would we have a standard? Where would we know where we're heading? I wrote down, um, in court, and I think you sort of alluded to it then, that [00:39:00] You put your hand on the Bible, don't you?

  And say, I'm going to tell the truth, the whole truth, but the truth, where did that, where did that come from that we thought at that time, you know, when this started, that we would, well, that was the basis of the truth. So we're gonna,

  Will Sopwith: but it's my truth, isn't it, Dan? My truth is the thing that matters. And my truth is, and yeah, you very quickly get into this kind of crazy place of like, well, who calls the shots?

  And actually, if you kind of take it to its logical conclusion, well, it's the people with the microphone, or it's the people with the power, or it's the people with the cash, or the platform, whatever, and that's not, that's not the way to define, to discern truth, is it, just the loudest voice, but actually, that's what we see, as soon as you get into a position where there's no, there's no agreement of any kind of absolute truth, it's like, well, Yeah, what are you left with?

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

  Dan Orange: yeah.[00:40:00]

  Um, this is a question here that Ashton's put on. 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. There is, there's only one that's talked about in the Bible. Um, and, and it's, I think it's misinterpreted all the time and I may well do that myself, but it's, it's, It's the sin of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit, so claiming that the Holy Spirit is not God.

  That is the only sin in the New Testament that's, that's, that's talked about as unforgivable. But the reason that is, is because it's a complete denial of Jesus ability to save us. So in a sense, it's like, well, if, if you deny that, then, well, you're never going to accept God's forgiveness. So it's not so much.

  God wouldn't forgive you if you asked. It's like, well, you're never going to ask forgiveness if you're, if you're going completely against what the Holy Spirit does and says in your life, [00:41:00] you're not in a place to ask God's forgiveness. So, yeah, it's a tricky one. To be honest, no, I mean, as a short answer, no, there's nothing that God 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.

  Yeah. Um, I, I mentioned it, um, two weeks ago, so I've just, this been, this week has been a bit of a rollercoaster week for me. So I, on Thursday I led the funeral of my grandma who died. She was 101. Um, and yeah, like I said, I mentioned it two weeks ago that, that. When my mum told my grandad that she died, he basically said, what do I need to do?

  What do I need to say? So he'd resisted for 98 years with grandma, living a life for God, and he'd, for whatever reason, [00:42:00] um, he'd seen. Like a lot of people of that generation had seen a lot of things in the war, a lot of things had gone on, um, but it, it didn't matter that he'd waited that long. No, absolutely.

  God still accepted him, still forgave him. Just amazing that we have that answer in Jesus, isn't

  Will Sopwith: it? Yeah. There's this fantastic story that Jesus tells, this parable of. This landowner, this vineyard owner going out to the market first thing in the morning as the sun's coming up and Um, and I've seen this actually in Tunisia.

  This is how people work You go to the street corner and the the trades people or the people who want to work are sat On the pavement waiting for someone to come along and hire them basically So anyway, the landlady comes along sun's coming up. Will you come and work in my vineyard for a dinaris, you know day's wage And he gets a load of people and they go and start working the vineyard as the sun's coming [00:43:00] up He goes back two hours later, there are some more people there, haven't got a job, he says come and work in my vineyard, uh, and keeps going back through the day, and then right at the end of the day, with like an hour's work to go, he comes back and there's still some people there, sat there with no work to do, and he says, will you come and work in my vineyard?

  So it gets to the end of the day and everyone's queuing up to be paid and the ones who've just worked for an hour are first in the queue and the landowner comes to them and he gives them a denarius, a day's wage. For their work. And the guys at the back are going, Oh, this is great. I've been here since six o'clock.

  I've worked through the day. I've taken the, you know, I've taken the bulk of the labor through the, through the hot sun and everything else. I'm going to get a bucket load here. And he gives the same amount of money to every single worker. And the guys at the back start complaining and say, but wait a minute, I've done all the work.

  And he said, you agreed to work for me for a day's wage. [00:44:00] And that's what I've given you. It What I do with my money is entirely my business and I remember telling that story to someone, um, years and years ago and, and their response was immediately what the crowd would have been. It's like, well, that's not fair.

  It's not fair. And it's like, that is the amazing grace of God. It is not fair. If it was fair, your granddad wouldn't have a hope. It's like, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have a hope. That is too late. And none of us would have a hope. But the fact that, you know, even just in the, in the twilight of life, the forgiveness, the offer of forgiveness is exactly the same.

  That's amazing. And I think

  Dan Orange: that's, I think that really sums up this biblical worldview, because that's not a, uh, current

  Will Sopwith: worldview. No, it's not a cultural word. No, it's not. You want the fair? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah,

  Dan Orange: exactly. And I, I liked, um, Matt just said this right at the end. He [00:45:00] said, we can miss the bigger God.

  We can, if we live our life without basing it on his principles, his, his laws, all that he's shown us, we can miss out. And I've, I've written down here, miracles. If we see God as the God of the Bible and what he's done, we can expect miracles. Can't we, we can expect the supernatural. Mm-Hmm. Because it's there.

  Mm-Hmm. We can see his creation. We get to partake so much more in awe that he's got for us.

  Will Sopwith: Yeah. Yeah. I, I think expectation is really, really important actually, and this is something I was thinking of as a, as Matt was talking, that what our world, our worldview gives us is an expectation of how things will be in a sense and.

  And when I, when I first understood about Jesus offer of forgiveness and grace, um, my [00:46:00] expectation changed. My expectation of how people responded to me or, or, or what life was going to be like changed because I had that perspective that actually God loved me, loved me enough to die for me, forgive my sins, whatever I had done.

  And that acceptance completely transformed my life because every situation, I had a kind of an expectation almost of acceptance, which gave me a lot more confidence in, in career, in my studies, in my relationships, because there was a security of, this is what God says about me. And that's a really good example of, of, of what Matt said at the end of like, how do you develop.

  This biblical worldview, well, it's, it's understanding what the Bible says, and, and, and, and those pictures in the Bible of the fact that I was a child of God and accepted, um, totally changed the way then I live my life. And it can be as simple as that. And again, you're not really aware of it. And then maybe.

  Years [00:47:00] later, you go, what? Why, why am I expecting people to, because sometimes people don't, you , why am I expecting people to gimme a fair hearing or to, um, to, to care about what I think? And it's like, well, 'cause that's, that's what I know God does. Yeah. And so sometimes you, you don't get that and you realize, oh, that's a worldview that's grown up.

  I didn't always think like that. That had that changed at some point. And that's what, that's what worldview's about it. It kind of. It becomes so much part of our experience, our understanding, our perception, our interpretation of everything that we, we don't notice it anymore. And, and, you know, that's a really great challenge for Matt to get to that point with God's truth, that it's so kind of just ingrained in us that we're no longer really aware of it being a, you know, a thing.

  It's just part of us. Yeah,

  Dan Orange: absolutely. I think that'd be my. My prayer this week that, that [00:48:00] us, that you, you guys listening, people that are listening on, um, sort of a rerun of this, that you get to know a bit more of God's view for you. Isn't it great that he has, he, he knows about us and has a plan for us.

  Um, next week, because we're running out of time here. Um, Sharon. Oh, has Sharon finished her talk? So yes, Sharon will be talking next week, taking this on to the next

  Will Sopwith: bit of acts. Fantastic. You left it on a cliffhanger there, Matt. Yeah. A good cliffhanger. What happens? What happens next?

  Dan Orange: Tune in next week to find out.

  Yeah. Brilliant. Thank you so much, everyone, for all the interaction. It's been brilliant. And if you've got [00:49:00] Any questions, please just email in, if you go on the Facebook group or the YouTube, um, there's a WhatsApp number, you can text them in, we'll respond within the week, we'd love to, um, to pray, answer questions, that's why, that's why we do this, because we want to let you know more about Jesus, basically.

  Should we just pray

  Will Sopwith: now? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, Jesus, I thank you for the offer of life, the offer of fullness of life, the offer of your grace and your forgiveness. And I thank you that that really transforms everything. And I pray help us all to take a breath, not to dive in and defend our position, but to try and listen for your voice, to know a little bit more of what you say about a situation.

  Lord, that's what walking in prayer is. It's asking those [00:50:00] questions that Matt has challenged us to. It's asking questions back of you and saying, Jesus, what is going on in this situation? Lord, would we all grow in that understanding and knowledge, I pray, and to know your peace in that journey, Lord. Amen.

  Amen.

  Dan Orange: Well guys, have a great week.

  Will Sopwith: Thanks Matt, great talk, lots to, yeah, lots to digest. We'll see you all next week. Alright, bye

  Matt Edmundson: bye.

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