Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

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

• Matt starts off by talking about how ordinary life can feel at times but reveals that the Bible tells us a different story - that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things. 

• Matt dives into the story of Philip, an ordinary man who took the Gospel to the Samaritans - a group marginalized by the Jews at the time.

• Just like Philip, we too can make extraordinary impacts, even if it seems unexpected. Matt references a few modern examples, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who stepped out of their comfort zones to bring God's message to people in unique and powerful ways.

• The main takeaway from Matt's message is that God can use all of us, no matter how ordinary we may feel, to make a significant impact. He encourages everyone to think about one specific way they can "tell and show" the story of Jesus this week. Matt wraps up his message by reminding us that even in tough times, we can bring joy to those around us and make a difference in the world by sharing Jesus' story.

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💬 CONVERSATION STREET --

Dan + Claire discuss:

• What are some examples from the Bible where you’ve seen God use ordinary people to do extraordinary things?

• How does the disruption of our comfort do us good?

• Is it true that in serving God, we sow and we don’t always get to reap?

• What is the most inspiring Christian book you’ve read recently?

• What can we do this week to share the gospel and the love of God with others?

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• Complete Transcript

  Matt: Have you ever asked yourself, am I truly making a difference in the world? Because life around you points to the same old routine and it just feels a bit. Ordinary. Maybe you are struggling to work or maybe struggling to find work. Maybe work is not your problem and you're driving around in your Volvo with your 2.4 kids, or perhaps you're still single, but climbing the corporate ladder at the pace that you planned.

  Life might not be okay. Life might actually be okay, but it all just feels a bit ordinary. Maybe like me, you've read stories of amazing people doing incredible things. I've read books like on Churchill can't be inspired by Uh, I watched recently the Michael J. Fox documentary. What an incredible story that was.

  And if you're a Christ follower like me, maybe you have well been inspired by stories from missionaries that have escaped death, or people that have transformed communities and witnessed continuous incredible miracles like they're standing under an outpouring of heaven every day. Let me ask you a question.

  What was in fact the most inspiring book that you have recently read? Mainly cuz I'm on the lookout for new books, new suggestions, new things to read and be inspired by. You know, I like books like on people like Smith Wigglesworth and all kinds of crazy people like that where they see the miraculous every day.

  And whilst I do feel inspired by these books. I also have this habit. Maybe it's just me of comparing their story and my story. I'm wondering if I'm missing it somewhere, especially because my life doesn't mirror what I read on those pages. It kind of makes me feel just a bit ordinary and I wonder, I just wonder if you have ever felt the same, maybe.

  You were brought up in a house or that wonderful generation that was constantly told that you were special and a history maker, so you had big dreams and big plans, and you enter the labor market ready to change the world, but it doesn't deliver what it promised. Work delivers something well ordinary, boring even.

  And so you start to actively disengage quietly quitting is the modern phenomenon. Of course there is some good news in all of this though. There's a golden thread that seems to weave its way through every page of scripture and a truth that can be found in just about every story. And it is this, that God uses ordinary people to create an extraordinary impact.

  If life just feels a bit flat. Well, let me tell you, you are in great company. Everyone we come across in the Bible, it seems, feels the same. They too had to deal with the ordinary. They had to deal with this tension that we face every day. That tension between feeling inadequate in some way versus the limitless potential of God that lives within us.

  It's incredible, really. I mean, can you think of a time when you've seen ordinary people do extraordinary things? I would love to know the story. Write it in the comments below, because today we are gonna carry on our study through the Book of Acts. We're gonna see this tension unfold before our eyes. And we're gonna get into it.

  Oh, yes, we are. Now, over the last three weeks, we have discovered, uh, discovered we have discussed Stephen, who was martyred for his faith. And at this point in the story, the Bible introduces us to a rascal called Saul. And the chapter opens up with this statement that Saul approved of their killing him.

  Saul approved of the killing of Stephen, tells you everything you need to know about Saul. This is important as we are gonna see Saul's name come up a lot in the next few chapters. He is gonna have an astonishing conversion, uh, fairly soon to the Christian faith. That's not happened yet. And we, people in this story don't know that's gonna happen.

  And so what we are gonna see is the full force of his hatred towards Christians. It says that on that day, a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered through Judea and Samaria. Now in this story then a great persecution breaks out against the church, and this point is critical because the backdrop for God creating extraordinary impact through ordinary people is persecution, is tough times, is things going wrong,

  is life not going down a course that we had planned it to go down, how tough were they? That's the question though. It's not going well. How not well is it going? Well it says that Saul began to destroy the church going from house to house. He drags off both men and women and puts them in prison. It's not going well, is it?

  I mean, he's totally taking it to the next level. Uh, his mission is to destroy the church. It's not a great mission if you're in the church and he seems to be entering the most sacred space people's homes and dragging them off to prison, men and women. But Paul, it seems has got it all wrong. He thought that he could destroy the church by unleashing a torrent of persecution.

  But instead, that is not what happens. The the church refuses to sink. It doesn't merely survive in this time. It thrives. God seems to have other plans and it grows stronger with every wave of persecution that seems to crash against it. It seems that if you want the church to grow, remove its comfort. And we discover this actually, uh, later with Constantine, the emperor who converts to Christianity.

  And he, it changes the whole culture around Christianity and what happens, the church gets, sort of falls into a state of comfort and it inadvertently ushers in the dark ages. And in today's western society, I wonder if we've fallen into a similar trap, uh, constantly pursuing a better lifestyle and more comfort.

  That's not always a bad thing, let me tell you, but part of me does wonder if it is always a good thing. Every memorable tale in history, every hero's journey begins with a disruption of comfort. Something happens that knocks them sideways. And that's what we see in Acts. Heroes are thrust into unfamiliar territory and their response to this disruption, uh, and discomfort, shapes their destiny.

  You take Abraham, for example, right back at the beginning of the Jewish faith. A pretty wealthy guy living, just hanging out in Haran. Uh, and one day God calls him out of his homeland. Well, this disruption of comfort was a radical shift for Abraham. He didn't actually know where he was going. Uh, but still, Abraham rose to the challenge and God uses this ordinary guy to create an extraordinary impact on history that still resonates today when you think about it, thousands of years later.

  But Abraham chose to obey God there. But sometimes the disruptions in our lives aren't a choice that we make. You look at Joseph, for example, he was sold into slavery by his brothers, or Ruth, a beautiful woman in the scriptures who was forced to navigate a path of uncertainty following the death of her husband.

  Now, these weren't choices they made for their lives. Yet when you read the end of the story, they turn their trials into triumphs. They didn't just survive them, they thrived in them, and their extraordinary impacts are woven into the very fabric of our faith, ordinary people having an extraordinary impact.

  And this isn't just a tale confined to the pages of the Bible either. Oh no. There are people literally scattered throughout history, uh, like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor and theologian who defied the horrors of the Nazi regime. Good on him. He chose to disrupt his comfort leaving the safety of the United States to join the resistance in Germany, and he was arrested and he was executed by the Nazis, but his legacy still lives on.

  He still inspires Christians worldwide with his writing, reminding us the cost of discipleship and the power of faith. It may be then for some of you, God is calling you out of something comfortable and into something that feels a bit uncomfortable, like Abraham. For others events may have happened to you in life that you didn't plan for, that you didn't ask for, that may have even knocked you sideways like Joseph or Ruth.

  Either way, let me tell you, you are in the perfect place for God to create an extraordinary impact through you. Ordinary people having an extraordinary impact, and it might not impact a whole nation of people like Abraham did. You might actually just impact the lives of a few people around you. Maybe you're a parent and you are impacting the lives of your kids, but that's

  awesome. Let me tell you, because remember we are in the New Testament. We are in the Book of Acts, not in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers. It's not about the numbers, it's about the acts. So whether God uses you to reach the 99 or the one, it is still just as extraordinary. That is a beautiful thing.

  Now, we all face moments when we doubt our worthiness for God to use us like this, right? We do. We just do. It's human nature. We might face the fear of failure, rejection, or simply feeling that we are not qualified to make a difference. That internal belief that that resonates through our heads that whole time that we don't have enough and that we aren't enough.

  Do me a favor, grab a bit of paper, uh, or pick up your phone and write down that internal belief that you have that you feel holds you back. Or if you're brave enough, put it in the comments, uh, and share it with the rest of us. But name that belief. We all have them. Give it a name, and then let's repeatedly remind ourselves that the key to overcoming these obstacles is not found in our own strength.

  It's not found in our own abilities. It is not about what I do have. It's not about what I don't have. It's not about the job or the state of my house or the assets I have or the resources I have at my disposal, but it is about trusting Gods who work through our weaknesses and discomfort because he is bigger than all of them.

  And the church in Acts knew this. Even as Saul was persecuting the church, pulling people out of their homes and putting them in jail. It's kind of a tough time. It's not an easy time, is it? It's not plain sailing for the believers at this point, and it does seem like and feel like everything is falling apart as you get torn out of your home and thrown into jail and then they scatter across Judea and Samaria.

  That is not great, you know, having to scatter your homeland. So what does the Bible say happens next? Will those who had been scattered preach the word wherever they went. And let me tell you, this sentence for me beautifully tells us everything that we need to know about having an extraordinary impact.

  And that's this. The church had a mission that transcended the suffering that they were enduring. They had something that they believed in, something that they were so committed to, and that mission is to tell the story of Jesus wherever they go. His story is what kept them going, telling and spreading that story, and persecution couldn't stop it because his story is steeped in divine love and grace, isn't it?

  It holds the power to transcend anything life throws at us. It's a story that doesn't just touch lives. It radically alters them, cramming hope into uh, every harsh circumstance and light into the deepest of darkness. His story brings his life, which rejuvenates us and transforms us all. The tale of Jesus isn't just a regular old story. It's an unstoppable force of change impacting the world around us. It's an awe inspiring mission.

  And this is what they carried in the Book of Acts. How does God use ordinary people to have extraordinary impact? Well, we trust that God will move even when our life is disrupted and we have a mission that is bigger than we are. We have a mission that is not about us, but about him. A mission to tell the story of Jesus.

  So now we have scattered people on a mission and they are sharing the story of Jesus. And as a result, the church grew quicker than it had ever grown. What Saul and the enemy trying to destroy, uh, the church with ended up causing it to flourish and to shine and to grow.

  Now, Up until now, we just know this is a group of believers, and here's the thing about God, have an extraordinary impact through ordinary people. We don't always know the names. They don't always write books about us, but history bears testimony to their impact. Most of us in those stories are faceless.

  We don't have our names, but in the Bible, It does center in on one chap called Philip, and I think it does this not to make him, uh, to elevate him more than the others, but just to give us a flavor of the extraordinary happening in ordinary lives at the time. And it says this, Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.

  So Philip, right? He's one of the guys who's tightly scattered. He's one of the original seven that was serving in the church. His life has turned upside down. He seemed to have it all together and it was all going great, and it all goes a bit pear shaped. But regardless of all of this, he still has his mission and he takes the gospel, the story of Jesus across cultural and ethnic boundaries.

  To the Samaritans, this is important. Because the Samaritans were a group of people. Philip as a Jew would've grown up marginalizing and looking down upon, and maybe this is why the Bible brings us into the story of Philip, because maybe just maybe God wants you to start in a place you wouldn't expect to. Where people don't expect God to do stuff like Philip with the Samari, uh, Samaritans.

  Maybe like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who ended up in the Nazi concentration clamps or maybe like Mark Lutz, who's, uh, a pastor planting a church, a digital church into the gaming community using Twitch. I think it's awesome. Now, you might think, I don't have a theological degree, I don't have any special skills, and I definitely don't wanna run a church. Matt.

  Can God really used me to do extraordinary things? Remember the story here centers on Philip, but there are hundreds, thousands of ordinary people doing extraordinary things at this point in time. And look at the disciples, right? They were a ragtag bunch of fishermen, weren't they? Tax collectors and everyday ordinary people.

  Yet Jesus chose them to be his closest followers. They weren't educated or particularly skilled, but they managed somehow to turn the world upside down with Jesus' guidance and the power of the Holy Spirit. So we need to confront, I think, our fears of failure and rejection. Feeling kind of apprehensive about stepping out in faith, I think is totally natural, especially when sharing our beliefs might expose us to ridicule or judgment.

  But we read in this story about our brothers and sisters here in the Book of Acts who faced far greater persecution than I'm facing right now, and they remain faithful to their calling. So if they can do it, So can we. You see, it's about us being willing to step out in faith, trust God, and let him work through us to accomplish his purposes.

  And what happens when we do that? Ah, let's read the rest of the story, shall we? When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. Sounds amazing, right?

  They all paid close attention to what Philip said. So what did he say? He simply proclaimed the Messiah. In other words, he told them the story of Jesus. But they also saw people getting healed and lives getting transformed. So Philip told them the story of Jesus, but he also shows them the story of Jesus.

  Ordinary people having extraordinary impact involves people telling the story of Jesus. And showing the story of Jesus. Jesus isn't just an empty story from pages past. He's still real and relevant and alive today. He's not just something to hear about. He's someone that you can experience and connect with.

  And Philip tells these guys, these Samaritans that they can experience Jesus, they, he tells them his story, Jesus' story. And he shows them his story that this God in heaven is interested in their lives and wants to come and transform them. And the result of all of this, what do you think happened? So there was great joy in that city.

  Well, of course there was. How do you transform a city? We've just had the Eurovision here in Liverpool, brilliant. Transform the city for a weekend. There was great joy, a lot of good stuff going on. But let me tell you, three or four weeks later, it's all forgotten about how do you transform a city? How do you transform nation? God.

  The city was filled with remarkable joy here in Acts. The persecution hadn't ceased. The trials and tribulations hadn't been magically whisked away. They were still there, still real and still raw. But the joy it seems, wasn't dependent on the persecution ending. Because it was born in God's unrelenting grace.

  There was great joy in that city, all because Philip told them the story of Jesus and he showed them the story of Jesus. And as a result, people had this personal encounter with Jesus and became part of his story, ordinary people having extraordinary impact. And this isn't just a story from the past.

  Like I say, this truth is real and it is relevant today as it was in the early church. Each of us, you, me, everybody watching has unique talents and gifts and callings from God. They are irrevocable and he wants you to use them to serve others. Now, I know many of you serve already. You serve in, I know people that watch this.

  You serve in food banks. You feed the homeless. Outreach to sex workers. Some of you give lifts to your neighbors or take around cakes to your local school just because you can, and that brings joy to the people that you serve. Now if you're a Christian watching this, let me encourage you to trust in God's ability to use your ordinary life for extraordinary impact. Look for the opportunities to share his story and to show his story to the world around you, knowing that he is gonna guide you every step of the way.

  And if you're not a Christian watching this, let me encourage you to consider the positive impact you can make on the world around you as well, and be open to exploring this faith that underpins this principle and how Jesus might offer meaning and purpose to your life. This week I want to challenge each of you to identify one specific way that you can tell and show the story of Jesus.

  Maybe it's by volunteering at a local charity or by offering to pray for a coworker who's going through a tough time. Whatever it is, commit to it and take that step in faith, write it in the comments, share it with all of us, and bring your stories in the next few weeks. Can we do it? Can we rise to the challenge? I genuinely think we can.

  So let's embrace the extraordinary potential God has placed within each of us and commit to using our ordinary lives for his extraordinary glory. Together we can make a real difference in our communities and beyond following in the footsteps of people like Philip, you know, and countless others throughout the history, uh, records other ordinary people who were used by God in extraordinary ways.

  If times are tough, if events have knocked, uh, our control and have knocked us sideways. And we've had a huge disruption of comfort in life. If you struggle with that tension between the relentless grace of God and that internal belief that you don't have enough and that you aren't enough, just remember we have a mission that transcends the suffering, that we are enduring. A mission to tell his story and to show his story to people like you and people that you.

  People that aren't like you, people that you know, people that you don't know, communities maybe that you've never been to before, to bring great joy to those around you. Imagine a church that does that. Imagine where every member, regardless of their background or stage in life, steps out in faith to serve others and to share his story and to show his story. Imagine the joy and fulfillment that would be experienced by each of us as we allow God to use our ordinary lives to create an extraordinary impact.

  Coming up, we have Conversation Street. But before we get into that, here's a clip from our podcast. What's the story which you can subscribe to on all your favorite podcast apps?

  Evelyn: And I just felt God whisper to me, Evelyn. Well, even if you didn't get here on time, if the outcome is not what you hope it will be, will you yet praise me. Do you really trust me? Am I worthy? Do you believe I'm good? And I broke cuz in a split second. I wasn't out there very long. It feels like when eternity and our, if our timeline collide, it felt like a long time, but now it was just seconds.

  That all those questions came flooding in and in the car I just raised my hand and said, God, I will praise you. I will love you because you are my all in all. You are enough.

  Dan: Well, welcome back. Um, yeah, great talk from Matt there wasn't it.

  Claire: I loved it. I really loved it. There was, um, just a little Bible verse popped into my mind while he was talking. Can I share it, Dan? Is that alright?

  Dan: Yeah, please.

  Claire: And it was, um, it's from one of the Psalms, which I think are a great place to go when you have been, when you are distressed and you are out of comfort. Um, and this one is Psalm 56:8, and it says that God keeps track of all our sorrows.

  That he has collected all our tears in, in his bottle, and you've recorded each one in your book. And I just thought, you know, um, when I've been just distraught or, you know, in despair, you know, that verse really brings me. Uh, solace and real comfort that yeah, God knows he's, those, those tears aren't, um, shed in vain.

  He's, he's, he, he collects them. He, they're, they're, they're precious to him. And so I think that that should be something that we're maybe mindful of as we, as we have our conversation. I don't know, you know, but there's so much in there. I thought it was a brilliant talk from Matt. But some of these comments as well, uh, are amazing. So,

  Dan: Yeah.

  Claire: know over to you.

  Dan: That's great. I. We probably say this every week, but the Bible is ordinary people. It's extraordinary God, ordinary people, which means we can be included. It just makes me go, ah, that's okay. He can use me.

  Claire: Yeah. What is it? There's, there's a verse, isn't there? The scum of the earth. Sometimes feel a bit scummy.

  Dan: yeah. I was, um, at church today. The, there's a Polish church that's linked to our church and they've had a conference and the, and the bishop from Poland came over to do a talk and he was speaking and talking about ordinary people. He talked about being on fire for God, but he talked about Moses and the burning bush, and he said this bush was in a wilderness.

  There was nothing around. Just bushes. And in his, in his sort of polish English, and he said, I looked up the word bush to see what type, and it was just bush. It was very ordinary, but it changed history and I like that. But you know, even this ordinary bush, if a bush can change history through God, then I think we can change history as well.

  Claire: Yeah, and there's donkey, the Balaam's donkey as well isn't there, which is always a real encouragement to say to me if I've spoken outta turn, oh, there we go.

  Dan: Yeah. Yeah. Brilliant.

  Claire: Um, I mean, I, I just thought, um, you know, there's, I mean, another verse that had come to mind about considering it pure joy whenever we face our trials, you know, and it, it, for me, it's that, uh, there's a question. I think Sharon had put it in the comments as well about what that internal. You know, Hope is, I think Matt had asked and Sharon wrote it hopefully in our comments.

  Well done Sharon. Thank you for that. Um, uh, the, for, for me, I think it, you know, the disruption of comfort drives me to Prayer and I think that can only be a good place. But for me it's probably that sense of that actually my vision of God, my understanding of God's character. I. Whether it's his goodness and his love for people who don't know him yet or whether it's his, um, the power that he makes available to us as followers of Jesus or whatever, you know, some aspect of his character just isn't in my head and in my heart enough to, cuz I think, you know, it is the love of God that compels us, isn't it?

  And um, you know, I don't think particularly it's. You know, it's other things that I think it's that and that saddens me and I, I, you know, you know, you know, we, um, we do, we do need that to be disrupted, don't we? To, to, to hunger after, after God and his way and his character, his presence in our lives. How Yeah. about you Dan? Did you have any thoughts about that?

  Dan: Yeah. I think like you, that, uh, is interesting what you said there. It, it, it saddensyou. It is, isn't it, that sometimes we have to be in, often we have to be in a harder place to, to, to rest more or trust more in God and find out more about him when things are going well. He's just like, oh, and we just miss out on the stuff that we learn.

  When we really get into, oh God, what's going on? And yeah, do really miss out on that. It was, um, Matt, um, said what as actually name it and what hold you back, give it a name. Um, and Matt Crew, um, wrote rejection and, and I put down fear of failure. Similar thing that sometimes that that's what can hold us back.

  Claire: Yeah. Yeah. And you. Yeah, and, and and yeah. There's nothing to fail, is there that like cuz.

  Dan: it's

  Claire: A, if we fail, like God can pick it up and you know, and we all know, don't we? That actually, what is it? Um, was it Edison and his light bulbs? I think he'd tried to, tried to do it like 300 times or whatever, but you know, it was on the 301st. I know that that's not accurate. Whatever. Somebody, somebody Google it and find out for me. But I, but you

  Dan: And he said it was something like, it's just a, it was just a 367 step process, isn't it? That's the quote, whatever the number was. Yeah.

  Claire: yeah, yeah. And, and you know, and we aren't perfect are we? We, you know, you know, we just really aren't and, and, and, but it is God's power made perfect in us, isn't it? In our weakness. And, and I, I, you know, I mean, I, I was thinking of some of the, you know, incredible things over the years I've seen and, you know, so often, you know, I think, I think sometimes we, our view of success or what is incredible is, is a bit skewed, isn't it?

  You know, cuz straight away, I think back to. You know, when I've been on missions abroad or you know, different times where I feel like I've really been living like, so, like a really exciting fi, faith-filled life. But actually, you know, uh, you know, Fri on Friday at work, I was crying with a patient in their living room and that actually is.

  Showing God's compassion, isn't it? In a, you know, in a, in a really valuable and in a real way. And, and, and that's just as important, you know, it is just sometimes our brains sort of make things more important than they are, don't they?

  Dan: Yeah,

  Claire: Yeah.

  Dan: Graham's put in the comments that in serving God, we want to sow. We don't always get to reap. Um, and I think that's very true, that it's just our,

  Claire: Hmm.

  Dan: it is our job to sometimes reap and sometimes sow. I remember, like you said, uh, on mission. I used to do, um, giving out teas or coffees in Liverpool city center until about like, I dunno, it was two, three in the morning, just, uh, anybody that would want it and to talk.

  And we talked to loads of people and it was only years after I found that we talked to a lady and, uh, I dunno if you. Might be sure my age, but adverts, remember the, um, the crumbliest flakiest chocolate and Yeah,

  Claire: Only the crumbliest, bit of karaoke.

  Dan: was a, a famous, um, model who was in that and she, um, yeah. And she, she was in the bath and the bath was all running over.

  Um, but she really had a hard time and went into drugs and stuff. And she was one of one of the ladies that came and spoke to us. And found out years, a few years later that she'd come back and she became a Christian. You know, not just lots of people having that impact in someone's life and you don't hear, you might not ever hear, but we've got to just do that little

  Claire: Yeah.

  Dan: step, haven't we? And, um, and say,

  Claire: Yeah. And, and I think that is, that's a, it is a really good reminder, Graham, thanks for that because it is, It, it's, it's, it's that it's not having delusions of grandeur. It, you know, like the, we're the, the big one or whatever it is. We, we are that step in in someone's journey. I, you know, but it might be really important for us.

  It might be dead scary. We might have to, it might feel like a real step of faith to say. Oh, hi. I was just da da, da da thinking about this. Or Can I pray for you? Or, you know, whatever it might be. Or, you know, can I give you a hug? Or, you know, Jesus loves you, or something really, you know, whatever. But actually that can, that, you know, God's changing us through that as well as being part of that other person, isn't it?

  By us being obedient and humble and dependent on him. Um, yeah. Yeah.

  Dan: Absolutely. Matt and I, I wrote it down. He said, you, you are in the perfect place for God to use you. You know, you might not know that, and the situation you might think, is it, it's not possible, but he can use us when it's really tough. He can use us when it's going really well as well. Mm-hmm.

  Claire: Yeah.

  Dan: Yeah.

  Um, the. Although I just wanted to jump back to right back to the beginning and, uh, Matt was saying, have you, have you read any books that have inspired you lately? Um, only because I'd, I've read a good book and I thought, oh, I want to share, share It's, it's really old book, but if you are, if you're, if you are looking at the Christian faith and you've got loads of questions, there's a book called The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel.

  Brilliant book. And he was a, a journalist in Chicago in the seventies and eighties, like, um, and he was on all the big cases and there's lots of corruption and stuff in Chicago. So he, he's his thing was looking through all the details, looking through the files, um, and his wife becomes a Christian. It's like, oh, what, what, what does that mean?

  And um, he goes on this journey to look through the Bible and is it, is it true? Well, how true is it? Which bits are true? Which bits aren't true? And, um, brilliant, brilliant book. I've, I've really enjoyed just, um, listening to his journey

  Claire: Hmm.

  Dan: spoiler alert, he becomes a Christian, but, but also just, uh, I love, I love facts and I love, um, little, you know, details about things and just, yeah, really put that there.

  Claire: Fab. That sounds really good. I, uh, confession. I've, I've not read a Christian book, so sorry. Nothing springs to mind.

  Dan: Well, Well I,

  Claire: trying to keep on track with the Bible.

  Dan: Yeah, I haven't for a while, but I do a lot of driving with work, so I just have, um, audio books and, um, and listen that.

  Claire: I'm so, I'm so old fashioned that I was like, imagining you with, you know, a book at the wheel. Like, yeah, don't do that. Very dangerous. Testing God to the extreme.

  Dan: Yes, yes. We don't advocate that.

  Claire: No. Yeah. Oh no, that's good. Yeah. Anybody else? Did anyone say if there was any books? I didn't remember seeing anybody. Oh. Um, I think Sharon had, um, put up the Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, haven't she? Um, so, yeah, again, I think I've read some of his stuff and, uh, and it

  Dan: Graham's put the biography of Eric Liddell. Oh. Would like to read.

  Claire: Oh, chariots of fire guy. Yeah. Yeah. No, I, yeah, I, I can imagine that that would be really good.

  Dan: Yeah. I love, there's nothing more inspiring, isn't it? Just hearing of, and again, ordinary people, we do build them up. Like I love John G Lake. He was a,

  Claire: not heard of him.

  Dan: in the ah, as a preacher in the 1900s in Spokane, Washington.

  And the, the federal government declared Spokane as the healthiest city in the world when he was there cuz so many people got healed. Yeah. But he was an ordinary man that just loved God and, and trusted God that he could heal, and it just, yeah, just spirals, doesn't it? Mm-hmm.

  Claire: Yeah. Yeah. And, and, and I think that is the, that's, that's always the, the, um, the desire, isn't it? It's like, oh, we, you know, and, and staying, um, Trusting and not losing heart and dis being disillusioned when you know, you think, oh God, you are so powerful, why don't you just do it all now? You know, uh, uh, just wave that magic wand.

  Um, but um, but it is that process, isn't it? And, and, and that trusting and, you know, God's timing. Um, and, and us being obedient, you know, I think there's not very many, um, And the Bible talks about how all the nations of the world will be, uh, will have heard about, um, Jesus. And then the end will come. And with, with that, my, my revelation understanding is, is limited, but I, I hold onto that and, and there aren't actually that many nations of the world that haven't had the opportunity to hear about Jesus yet.

  But whenever I, um, is it Wickliffe or, um, that do Bible translation? And I always just, I always just think, ah, Come on, you're doing an amazing thing there. To, to get the word of God into people's hands. That, that, that then they can hear for themselves in their own heart language. And cuz I, I think like, like what Philip was doing, You know, he went to the Samaritans, didn't he?

  And he went to people who were different from him and, um, and, but he spoke to them in a way that they could hear it. Um, and, you know, yeah, I mean that's, that's how we need to communicate, isn't it, in a way that people can hear. And I guess Crowd, Church is, is part of that, isn't that in a, in a, in a digital age.

  Dan: yeah. Well, Matt, Matt left us with that challenge, didn't he? To what can we do this week? What can we do with this week? Just to share, share God's love, whether it is, like you said, whether it's just saying God bless you to someone, or whether it's helping out somewhere, or whether it's praying for someone.

  Um, I, it doesn't have to be. I love that Prayer is, I was thinking about this when I was thinking about Crowd, Church, and today I was thinking some people are watching us live and we can, we could, you know, we can pray for you now. Some people are watching us in a month, a year's time. God's not outta time.

  Claire: Yeah.

  Dan: constrained by time.

  Claire: Is the ultimate time Lord, I love a bit of Doctor who,

  Dan: Yeah. So he can do stuff now and that now is wherever you are. Yeah, whenever you are. He's still there for us. He's there that week and that day and yeah,

  Claire: mm mm

  Dan: he's amazing. Thanks, Matt, for that talk. That's really

  Claire: Yeah.

  Dan: inspired me.

  Claire: Yeah, yeah.

  Dan: For this, for this week, and for the, just what's coming up ahead.

  Claire: Yeah, me too.

  Dan: Mm-hmm. We've got, well, that segues on quite nicely, isn't it too? What? What's coming up next week? So Matt and Sharon will be hosting next week. Matt is back from his, I was gonna say Jollies, but he had to. He's been working. He has seen lots of friends and traveled around, but he's back. So really good to have him back next week in the UK with Sharon.

  And if I press the right button here, I can actually find, uh, and Dave Connolly will be doing the talk and that's

  Claire: Fab.

  Dan: yeah, walking in step with the spirit. To the next part of acts. So looking forward to that.

  Claire: Mm-hmm. Sounds good. Great.

  Dan: Well, thanks very much for, um, getting involved, for putting your messages on the chat and thank you Claire, so much for, for joining us and helping to

  Claire: been lovely. Thanks. Thanks, Dan. I think we've, we've not had any echos and buffering this week, so that's really good. Well done. You've done a good job.

  Dan: Big, big thumbs up. Cause that was such a, it was only right to, I didn't even know till the next day that that was happening to. I put my, I put my phone on do not disturb, which was good, but then the texts I was getting about echoes I didn't see, so I'm very glad that stopped.

  Yeah, thanks very much. Uh, everyone, if you've got any, um, anything you want to find out, any Prayer requests, please do send them in. Um, we'd love to pray for you and love to see you next week.

  Claire: And is there a zoom?

  Dan: Yes, uh, there's a midweek zoom as well. So if you just fire an email, then, um, if you go to Crowd Church, um, and have a look on there and all the contact details, you can, uh, fire an email in and make contact and there's a midweek zoom on a on a Wednesday.

  Claire: Amazing. Have a great week guys.

  Dan: Thank Thank you Claire. Thanks everyone. Bye.

  Matt: Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. Now you are watching on YouTube, make sure you hit the subscribe button as well as that little tiny bell notification to get notified the next time we are live. And of course, if you are listening to the podcast, uh, the Livestream podcast, make sure you also hit the follow button. Now by smashing the like button on YouTube or writing a review on your podcast platform.

  It helps us reach more people with the message that Jesus really does help us live a more meaningful and purposeful life. So if you haven't done so already, be sure to check out our website, www.crowd.church, where you can learn more about us as a church, more about the Christian faith, and also how to connect into our church community.

  It has been awesome to connect with you and you are awesome. It's just a burden you have to bear and hopefully we'll see you next time. That's it from us. God bless you. Bye for now.