Waiting with Purpose: Why Faith And Patience Inherit The Promises Of God

---

---

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

• The talk delves into the miracles and challenges faced by the early church in Acts 5:12-16, emphasizing the various ways God works in our lives.

• The central point is trusting God and nurturing our relationship with Him, even when life is hard, and miracles don't seem to happen.

• The talk highlights the importance of recognizing God's work in both miraculous events and seemingly ordinary circumstances, as well as the times He operates behind the scenes.

• The message is one of faith and perseverance, encouraging us to lean on God and remain open to His guidance, regardless of the challenges we face in our journey with Him.

---

💬 CONVERSATION STREET --

Sharon + John discuss:

• Is it fair to say that you need to know life fully to find comfort in Jesus?

• How is the Christian faith inclusive, and in what way is it exclusive?

• How is the Bible's definition of oppression different to what we might define it as today?

• "You live your truth, and I'll live mine." How is that modern-day statement self-contradicting?

• How is Jesus' statement, "I am the way, the truth and the life" challenging?

• Can there be such a thing as absolute truth? And is that what Jesus meant when he said that He was the Truth?

RECENT EPISODES

---

RECENT LIVESTREAMS

---

More from this series

---

At Crowd Church, we are committed to creating a space for you to explore the Christian faith, regardless of where you are on your faith journey.

What happens at Crowd Church?

Every week we livestream our online church service and release a new story on What’s The Story Podcast. We have weekly online community groups that meet up and all of that good stuff. You can find out more about everything that goes on at Crowd by browsing through this site, and you can reach out to us via our contact page.

Come and Join In!

Are you interested in joining in with what is happening here at Crowd? We would love to meet you!

• Join in with the Church Livestream

• Subscribe to Crowd Church Podcast & What’s the Story Podcast

• Follow us on Instagram

• Subscribe to the YouTube Channel

• New to church? If so - check out the New Here link.

Any questions? Please connect with us via our Contact Page, or via WhatsApp: +44 7984 530 429

• Complete Transcript

  Matt: Have you ever found yourself waiting in line at the grocery store, you know, checking your phone for the hundredth time. Growing increasingly impatient as the minutes tick by, or, you know, maybe it's just me analyzing the cues to find the fastest way through. Maybe you've had that feeling of anticipation, waiting on a text message that seems to be taking forever to arrive. You see where you live in a world that craves instant gratification, where waiting is often seen as a burden rather than an opportunity for growth. So what if I told you that there is immense power in embracing the wait and that the key to unlocking the promises of God could very well lie in the act of patience?

  The thing that we are trying to avoid at all costs. So today we're gonna explore how to cultivate faith and patience in our lives, transforming our perspective on waiting and discovering the life changing beauty of embracing the wait to inherit God's grace. Now, just over 20 years ago, I was working in a company that sold saunas and steam rooms, and the chat that owned that company decided it was time to sell up and move on.

  Now, caveat, he and I are still exceptionally good friends. He's still one of my best friends on the planet, but it was time for him to sell, move on. That's what God had for him. No problem with that. But I did not really know what that would mean for me and for Sharon who was pregnant with Josh, our first child.

  So we prayed about it. And as odd as it may sound, both Sharon and I independently felt God promised to give us the company that my friend wanted to sell. Now, of course, I did not say anything to my friend about this. I didn't want to try and manipulate this situation in any way because that'd be bang out of order.

  So Sharon and I kept it to ourselves and we just believe that God would do something. We didn't know what, we just had this kind of faith. And to cut a long story short, my friend did indeed sell the business. Just not to me, although I tried to buy it. He in fact sold it to somebody else. Someone else now had the company that I felt God promised me, and it all seemed and felt well, a little bit odd if I'm honest, and then things

  didn't get better. Oh no, they got worse. I'll spare you all the details cuz of time, but I ended up leaving that company brokenhearted and with tears in my eyes. It did not go well. This was the exact opposite of what God had promised me. Ever felt like that, that where your life is and what you feel God has promised you are polar opposites to each other in there.

  Right? But I knew instinctively I had to embrace the wait. I knew this was, this was not gonna be a normal course of action. I knew that where I was was not where I was going to be and I couldn't explain it, but I just knew that God wasn't done with this thing. And sure enough, true to his promises. Five years later, I got that company and it was given to me and I didn't have to pay a penny.

  And today, I still think it's one of the most miraculous stories from my life. You see, when we embrace the wait, we inherit God's grace. We might not like the wait. We might not want the wait. We might even try to shortcut the wait with all kinds of imaginative ways. Uh, but oftentimes it is about embracing the waits.

  Now, Hebrews six tells us that God is not unjust. He will not forget your work and the love that you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised Some amazing verses of scripture right there, right?

  This is the Bible's way of telling us to embrace the wait that we need, faith and patience to inherit what has been promised, which I. Well the quite surprising if I'm honest with you, because while faith is often discussed in the context of the Christian life, the emphasis here on patients as an essential virtue is not something that I really like to think about.

  But you see, we embrace the wait and in so doing, we inherit his grace, we inherit what has been promised. So what is patience? You see, this is all great Matt, isn't it? But what is it? What do you think about when you hear the word patience? You see, when I hear that word, I think of someone sitting there waiting patiently, calmly, demonstrating something, which I'm not known for. You see a patient grandparent. That's a classic example for me. But if I'm honest with you, when I think about the word patience, it all just sort of feels, well, a bit sort of passive, if I'm honest. But the word patience here, uh, in Hebrews is also translated as endurance. You know, a bit like a marathon runner has to have endurance or perseverance, which is another way to translate it.

  The ability to constantly put one foot in front of the other. Another way to translate it, and that doesn't sound passive to me. That doesn't sound passive passive at all. In fact, that requires a bit of tenacity from us, a bit of a bit of spine, as we like to say in England. Some good old fashioned grit. Again, well, not really words that you hear a lot of these days, and I want to push this idea a little further if I can, because patience is not the absence of action.

  But the persistent cultivation of our character, and this is how we embrace the wait. Patience is not the absence of action, but the persistent cultivation of our character. And I wanna look at five ways to do just that, five ways to help us cultivate our character. Five ways to embrace the wait, and the first one is this, embrace delayed gratification and trust in God's timing.

  I mean, that just rolls off the tongue, right? You see, today we can get so many things instantly. We want food. We order in. We want a date, we swipe right, we need a ride. Just uber things are often quick and often easy, and we've become so accustomed to getting what we want when we want it. That the idea, the very idea of waiting for something, well, that can be incredibly challenging to us, can't it?

  But the Bible tells us in Galatians, Let us not grow weary of doing good for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. Great verses, great verses to memorize. But it tells me that there can be a waiting period, that there is a season or two between where I am and where I'm going to be. And what I do in that season really, really matters.

  And actually, Can I just talk to your parents for a second? Uh, this is something I think you really should teach your kids. How to embrace delayed gratification. Zoe, my daughter, my beautiful daughter, is saving up for something at the moment, and if I'm honest, I could buy it for her. I'd quite happily do it because I want her to have it.

  I know. Um, that it's a good thing to have and I know how much joy that would bring into her world. So as a dad, I'm kind of like, yeah, cool. But I know, I know Sharon knows probably more than I do, but collectively we know it is much better for her to save her money that she has had to earn. We've had to teach all of our kids how to delay their gratification.

  And honestly, I see so many parents making this mistake. They give their kids everything they want instantly, but we know this isn't true of the rest of life or in our faith. And so I think we're setting them up a little bit. When our kids don't get that instant gratification later, they can fall apart.

  They can walk away later in life because they dunno how to deal with this. And I think that could be what, well, I think that's gonna be on earth, if I'm honest with you Now, sure, we may be well-meaning, but we aren't doing our kids any favors when all we do is teach them instant gratification. Now, don't get me wrong, there is obviously a balance here.

  I'm not telling you just like, uh, but delaying gratification is an important lesson for our kids and if I'm honest, it's an important lesson for me because I personally can struggle to embrace delayed gratification. And if you are like me, make sure you check out Pete Farrington's talk on the sovereignty of God from a few weeks ago.

  It was a phenomenal talk. It was so challenging and so life giving at the same time. The bottom line. We can surrender control and trust in God's plan, his sovereignty and his provision. After all, he's God and not me. Okay, check out that talk's awesome. Number two, remember. It's not all about you. I don't mean this with all due respect.

  It is not all about you. Hebrews 10 says this. He says, consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Not neglecting to meet together as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another. You see in the wait. I think it's easy not to go to church to become slightly discontent with our walk with God.

  And this is something I think these verses in Hebrews warn us about. So it tells us that embracing the wait means gathering together. And when we gather together, it means intentionally encouraging others. Now this I think, is hard if you don't like the wait because waiting is often synonymous with either boredom or struggle.

  And in both cases, it is easier to become inward focused rather than outward focused to focus on me and me time rather than God and God time. And to we, we end up talking so much about us, about me, about my life, and my problems, but I give no thought to how I may encourage others. Now, don't get me wrong.

  It is not wrong to talk about you and share how you feel. You should be able to do that at church. It's not wrong at all, but church should also be about, um, encouragement. So sharing about what's going on with me, but also encouraging you because it's not all about me. And so you should go to church ready to encourage others and stir one another up.

  No, it might not happen every week. I get that. But on the whole Gods help me stir up other people. Help me to encourage people. It's one of the reasons that I love Crowd Church, if I'm honest with you, you guys share in the live stream comments, all kinds of amazing stuff, you know, share, you share your stories, what's going on.

  You share scriptures, ideas. I mean, they just keep coming and they're super encouraging. You get to share how you feel as well and what's going on in your life so we can pray for you. It's a perfect balance. Keep doing that. My challenge would be keep turning up every week, especially in the wait, and when you come, ask God to help you.

  Encourage others that come, God, show me how to do that, because it's amazing how different the wait becomes when we do. Number three, resist comparison and cultivate contentment. Wow. Resist comparison and cultivate contentment. I mean, in our world of constant connectivity and social media, if you're like me, it's all too easy to fall into that trap of comparing ourselves to others.

  This is true for those who are Christians and those that don't yet claim to be a Christian. It's true for all of us, right? But let me tell you this comparison is a contentment, thief, and contentment is the outworking of patience. Now the Apostle Paul who wrote quite a lot of the New Testament, wrote in Philippians to the Philippian church.

  He was, he was sort of talking to them about this. He said, I've learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance, and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

  Now there's the context of that very famous verse. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. What is it you can do, Paul? Doesn't matter what period of life I'm in, I can be content. So instead of focusing on how our lives compare to others, I can focus on my own spiritual journey and find contentment in God's unique plan for my life.

  Now, I appreciate. That is easier said than done, Matt. Trust me. I know, right? I'm the kind of guy that will tell you that I don't have time to be patient, I don't want to be patient. I want it now especially because you know so and so over there has it, and I find this even easier to do in the world of business, which I operate in, right?

  I see other businesses do well and I compare what is happening in mine and sometimes I can feel a little bit jealous, if I'm honest with you. I want the same success in my business. Well, at least on the surface level, but that can make me discontent. Now, in some ways, that actually might be a good thing, as I might need a kick up the backside.

  Because you know, I may just be meandering on without any sort of sense of purpose, but often it's not the case. The discontent comes because I have been comparing myself way too much with other people rather than what God has got for me, and I have to watch out for that. Especially because my team, who is amazing by the way, are often working really hard.

  So for me, embracing the way is learning like Paul to be content. Whether I have plenty or whether I have need, whether life is going well or whether life is going down The proverbial drain contentment like patience is not inaction. It's not me burying my head in the sand. On the contrary, I am very aware of what is happening around me, but at the same time, I am trusting God.

  I'm working on my character in good times and in bad, and I'm embracing the wait to inherit his grace. Number four, get training. Oh, yes. Uh, in one Timothy Paul also wrote this, train yourself for godliness. For while bodily training is of some value. Godliness is of value in every way-. Every way. Wow. So waiting is often for me about training.

  You see athletes when they go to the Olympic Games, they embrace the wait between where they are and the actual games. By doing what training. So where do you need to train? Where do you need to develop and grow? Now this may be physical training. You know, it's not, it's not wrong to go to the gym at all.

  I go there myself, but Paul tells us that training for godliness is merch better translate that. Let's take the opportunity to develop our character. Let's embrace the wait. Now, if you need to develop, for example, self-control. Hands up or is it just me? Uh, get training in the wait. If you need to develop kindness in the wait, get on it.

  Don't wait for life to be perfect before you start to train because it will never get there. Let the Holy Spirit work with you on your character. Start now with what you can do without creating a huge sense of overwhelm. Why? Because you are gonna need that training at some point, which leads me nicely on to number five.

  Persevere through setbacks and disappointments and grow through trials. Now life inevitably is gonna bring setbacks and disappointments. You know that. I know that. And these things contest our faith and patience. So learning to persevere, there's that word again. Be patient through these trials and continue

  trusting in God's promises for me is a key aspect of spiritual growth and maturity. James, uh, who was the brother of Jesus, wrote this, he said, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces what James, it produces patience. Uh, but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

  Let patients have its perfect work. Now that tells me we can not let patience have its perfect work. Right. So when things aren't going according to plan, according to your timetable, well, we can get indignant about it. We cannot let patients have its perfect work. We can give up, we can become discouraged and despondent or

  we can do the exact opposite because that's what the Bible tells us we should probably think about doing. We should count it all joy. Well, that seems like a bit of a perverse statement in many ways, doesn't it? But again, this is not about ignoring or denying what is happening. It's about thinking about things the way that God thinks about them and his viewpoint slightly different.

  It's about finding God in the midst of our trials and the things that we have to persevere through and let God do his thing, because as I said, he is God. You see for those five years between, uh, God promising me that company and me actually getting it, that waiting period, I just didn't sit at home waiting.

  I didn't have waiting for the phone to ring. Yeah, no, that's not what I did. Right. God still had things for me in the waiting room. God didn't abandon me and I took the opportunity to train and to grow. Sure. I wanted things to be different, but then. I'm not God, and so I have to trust him, and I found God in the midst of the wait.

  I managed to count it all joy. I embraced the wait and inherited his grace. Now, it was not always the easiest decision to make, especially because we're conditioned to seek out instant answers and responses. It can be a hard decision to make in the midst of emotional tur. Start that sentence again. It can be a hard decision to make in the midst of emotional turmoil and heartache, but as difficult and as hard as it is, count it all joy, embrace the wait.

  I think it's the right decision. So to embrace the wait and is inherit his grace, remember number one, embrace delayed gratification. Number two, remember, it is not all about you. Number three, resist comparison and cultivate contentment. Uh, number four, get training. And number five, persevere through setbacks and disappointments.

  And cuz it's, you know, church, let's, let's get a bonus point in as well. Shall, shall we? Let's think about something else you see, whilst God moves us from where we are to where we want to be, whilst we embrace the wait, God's blessing is not on pause. So don't get so focused on what you are in wait for, that you don't see the blessing that God has for you today.

  Right now, in this moment, God is not on pause. He's not hanging out at the finish line. Sort of finally over there, sort of waiting for you to get there. Jesus has made his home in you. He lives in you right now. In this moment, the king of the universe is living in you. So we can take a moment every day in the wait to ponder the awe and wonder of what that actually means. Now I know just as well as you, that life does not go the way we want or the way we plan, right? Sometimes it's a real struggle to maintain any sense of hope. Even if you've been a Christian for many years and seen God do some incredible things, if the battle has been going on for a long time, we can get weary, and day to day is not always.

  It's not always easy, is it? And that's why each and every day we have to realize that inheriting, inheriting God's promises is about faith and patience. It's about being in for the long haul. It's easy as Hebrews tells us to become lazy in ourselves and forget this point. So practically for me, that means getting out my journal, writing out what is going on in my head and my heart, wrestling with God on the pages, but also ensuring that I don't become well narcissistic and make it all about me.

  I write out, I write out what I'm grateful for, and Lord, give me ways to encourage others, especially those in my church. Now, I might not be there by any means. I still prefer instant gratification. I do, I like to buy things as soon as I want them. I don't do well in queues and I even pay extra to board planes quicker.

  However, God has been teaching me and continual lesson about the importance of faith and patience and my Prayer for all of you, uh, watching or listening or reading. This talk is that you would also learn to embrace the wait and in so doing inherit his grace. So if today you have decided to embrace the wait, just write in the comments.

  I am embracing the wait and if you want to write the promise that you are embracing the wait for. So let me finish with this verse from second Peter. it says, the Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. That's a good lesson for patience, isn't it? Instead, he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

  Notice that God himself is patient towards us. You see, he's not asking us to do something that He's not demonstrating himself infinitely more. Patience is how we become Christians. God is patient with us. If you are watching this and you are on the journey of discovering Christ, let me tell you, God is patient with you.

  He is ready for you anytime you go to Him. That's great news. That's the gospel. You see, God provides a way for us to escape death, to find him and embrace both life and the wait in life, if I'm honest with you. And then he is patient with us whilst we find it. And I'm for one, I'm glad he is. If you don't know Christ, let me encourage you to check out the section on our website about how to become a Christian.

  You'll find the link for it on the bottom of any of the pages on www.crowd.church. So for all of us, my Prayer, my hope is that we embrace the wait and inherit his grace.

  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? So three scans and I had a brain hemorrhage. Um, each of us have tens and tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of, uh, blood vessels in our heads, in our uh, one in 30 of us have something called aneurysm. And others one in 30, about one in 15,000 of those folk have a rupture or a hemorrhage or a bleed on the brain.

  Um, and that's what I had, uh, I didn't ask the question of God, why me? Mm-hmm. Um, I was taken into surgery. Uh, there were some biggest risks that there could have been problems so, You know, Anita and I prayed together. We asked for some time together, and we just trusted God that we're doing the right thing going ahead with the surgery.

  Mm-hmm. If I had, and I did ask the, I did ask the medics how about I come back in a month's time? They did say to me, you've got a 50 50 chance of being alive. So, oh, wow. Wow. Um, uh, it, it, it had to happen the surgery, but there were some significant attendant risks that went with it. Mm-hmm. In God's goodness I came through it Matt.

  Sharon: Okay. Thanks for that talk, Matt. Patience, everyone's favorite subject. I feel, uh, for those of you who are new to Crowd, uh, and if you've not worked it out, Matt, that handsome speaker of today. Matt actually is my husband. Um, yeah, I've been writing notes as I've gone along. So many different points we could pick up from.

  Uh, but I dunno if, have you been looking at all the comments, John, as we've been going, trying to keep up with them?

  John: Yeah, I mean, great talk and um, I can see why you would be a patient person living with him. No, sorry. Um, great, great points. I, I always think like, you know, as a pastor, like when you're listening to a sermon, I always think, you know, what, what, what would happen if I really took hold of this? What difference would it make to my life?

  The value of a sermon? And that that's right up there, isn't it really? So yeah, lots of people sharing, um, things that they have found in waiting and patience and life and the challenges of life. So, yeah. Yeah. Keep the comments coming in.

  Sharon: Yeah. And welcome to, we've had Andy and Jenny, also known as Beetle something or other. Uh, I've lost it now. Uh, yeah. Welcome to you. Um, Yeah. Okay. So we've had a couple of questions come up on the screen. So John, I thought we'd start with a couple of those. So, can you recall a time when you experienced God's promise being fulfilled after a period of waiting, and how did that experience impact your faith and relationship with God? Over to you.

  John: Well, great question. And I thought when Matt was sharing about the work thing, um, it did remind me, um, cuz my story slightly connects into his story for just a very brief moment, uh, at 17. I felt God clearly called me into church leadership. This is what I wanna give my life for. I know that God has called me to lead a church.

  So at 18 I went to bible college, did a three year theology degree, where I met my, uh, wonderful wife, um, moved to Liverpool, get involved in a local church, um, didn't have any work at the time. And, um, ended up helping Matt fit some beds in.

  Sharon: I didn't know that.

  John: So my first ever paid, uh, paid day of work in Liverpool was that, um, the truth is Sharon from 17. Everywhere I went at 17, every church I went to every conference I went people like, um, oh, excuse me, you don't know me, but I feel God's saying your called into church leadership. Um, I did not take a full-time paid job in a church until I was 37.

  So for 20 years, um, I felt I was waiting for that. And so a lot of what Matt said deeply resonates with me cause boy was the Lord working on my character in that time. Uh, and so my part, my active way in look like serving, unfortunately we've been part of a church community. Where you can get involved, where you can have a go, where you can serve, where you can lead, where you don't need to have an official title or official job description or be a employed member of staff to use your gifts and be developed in your leadership.

  Uh, and so I really resonated with what Matt was saying there because. I mean, I've still got a long way to go, but I was such an arrogant young man who thought he knew how to do everything. And, uh, God has really knocked a lot of those edges off me in that waiting process. And I've, I've loved it. I felt the Lord sort of.

  Sideways lead me into school teaching for many years. And who would've thought that that would've been my training ground in that in between period? Uh, so yeah, that would be the immediate example that came to mind for me. What, what about you Sharon? Have you got.

  Sharon: Yeah, I have, I just wanted to ask you though, just before we move on from that story, is, during that time did you kind of, were you like, why is this taking so long? Or did you just have a sense that God would bring it about in the right time?

  John: I mean, I've used a big example, um, and I think with an example like that. I did have a sense of God's grace. I know I'm in the right place. And I know at a point in time God will release me into something. And every so often we tried to push a door, and I think it came across in what Matt was saying.

  Um, we have to let God be God. And, and so the engagement was around pressing into God, building intimacy and devotion to God, uh, serving a people's vision, um, you know, fully investing in a community and trusting that there was a door that only God could open. So every so often over those years we'd be thinking, oh, maybe God's leading us to plant a church here, or maybe God's leading us to do this.

  And we explored it and then I felt it was often God say as you were. I, I often think of like, you know, um, Abraham, when God says to him, I want you to take your son and sacrifice him, it's just a really good job that Abraham kept listening to the Lord and kept focused well, my phone's going. So you might as well mute me a moment, but yeah, that'll be my.

  Sharon: yeah. Cool. Yeah, great example. So there's a lot about actually God working on your character in the wait, which like Matt brought out in his talk, didn't he, that sometimes we want stuff straight away, but. There's more important things than the, the destination in a sense. There's that whole character and relationship and all that kind of thing.

  Um, before I interrupted you, you did ask the same question back to me.

  John: Uh, I would love to hear your stories.

  Sharon: Mine is the thing I thought. I think the things that tend to come to mind like this are the one, like the, the big things, the things that we struggle with the most, or. Have had the most impact. So there's probably lots of examples, but the one that came to mind the most was when I first came to Liverpool.

  Um, and at that point I'd been a Christian for quite a while, but my faith wasn't massively working in terms of, uh, Um, like my mind was a mess. I felt I didn't feel free. I read about freedom in the Bible, but I wasn't living it and I didn't know how to live it. So I came to Liverpool as a kind of last ditch attempt of like, God, you've gotta sort me out.

  Um, and. I saw there was a verse, which I, there were quite a few verses I held onto, but one that was really key was, if you hold onto my teaching, you're really my disciples, then you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And that was one where I was like, okay, God's promised freedom for me. I am not experiencing that freedom.

  But he says, if I keep going in his word, then at some point I'm gonna experience. And it was, it was really hard to keep hanging onto that because my mind was an absolute mess. There were times where I felt like, um, that I just wanted somebody to, I wanted to go somewhere where someone just look after me, make all my decisions, where I wouldn't have to think because it was that much of a battle.

  But I, I really had to hold onto those verses and gradually over time, As I did keep, like digging into his word and going, okay, God, you've gotta show me what this means. How do I apply this? That gradually, that actually changed and completely turned around to where I did experience freedom in my mind and just in my life.

  But it was, uh, it was tough holding on for a while, definitely.

  John: Sharing that. Yeah. I mean that's such a, yeah, it's a powerful example, Sharon, because I, I'm talking about an example where, um, I felt I had this goal in the future that was being delayed, and you are talking about those times where you probably can't even articulate that. It's, it's like, where am I?

  What should I be doing? Why is life like those big question moments of life? Both talking about finding more of Jesus in it and more of his presence in our lives through it. And that's gonna be key.

  Sharon: And working on the character. And, um, Matt talked about, uh, it's not all about us, so I think it was his second point in the talk, um, and about, um, we are here also to encourage other people. And I know for me, I, it was from other people's encouragement during that time that actually helped me to keep going. Without it, I think I would've just been like, I can't do this.

  It's too hard. I'm not getting. Uh, but I always remember what somebody said to me and that was, um, many, many people, many Christians never see breakthrough in their life because they give up just as they're on the point of breakthrough. Of course, you never know when that's gonna come, do you? So, yeah, I wonder how many times we are just on the point of God actually bringing us into that freedom or whatever it is, and we are like, we just give up and we're so nearly there.

  You just never know. Do you?

  John: So keep going folks. Keep hanging on in there. Absolutely. Yeah. And actually Sharon, um, I love seeing the fact that you have become that sort of person to others. So you are a person that helps to speak that truth and journey through life with others on that journey. I think that's, uh, uh, an outcome of like the way you've engaged with God in the process.

  I, I have a question because, um, which we've sort of been answering, but Matt's been talking about like the promises of God and so, um, just how we have those folks who are listening understand what, what it is that God's promised. In the future, um, you talked there about, um, freedom, for example, um, or transformation might be a way of putting it. Um, so how do we understand those promises and what, what your thoughts about the promises of God you're holding on to?

  Sharon: Mm-hmm. That's a very good question. I'm, I'm, I'm a bit sad that I've not got there first to ask it, cuz it's quite a, a tricky one, isn't it? Because, um, so we see a lot of God's promises in the Bible, but, and there are a lot of promises. So it is like, okay, where do, where do we start with that? Um, Oh yeah, there are so many.

  I mean, God does promise that if we seek him, we will find him. So if you are somebody who's on that journey and you're not sure if God exists even or if he does exist who he is, I'll just encourage you on that to keep seeking him. And you will find him. It might not be instant, like we've just been talking.

  So many of these things aren't necessarily instant, but, you know, um, keep going with that. And he's promised that when we draw near to him, he'll draw near to us. Um, he's promised that if we, um, believe that Jesus is, um, is Lord and has died for our sins, and we confess that with our mouth, that, uh, he makes as part of his family. Yeah, there's loads. Have you, did you have any particularly in mind when you asked that question?

  John: I was thinking more for the point of view. Um, there's that verse in second Corinthians. It talks about, um, that God has these very great and precious promises. I just think it's important to know them. it, and, and we can say, God, you would promised this. And so part of how I engage with God in the way and is to say, God, you said this in your word and I just wanna hold on to it.

  I suppose on a more meta, bigger level, I tend to think of the promise. Framed in the idea of heaven and what heaven is,

  Sharon: Yeah.

  John: Its like that's my future.

  Sharon: Yeah.

  John: So there'll be one day where I have total unity with Jesus, where I'm completely transformed, where there's no more pain in my body, no more sickness, uh, no more tears of grief.

  And so that's ultimately what I'm holding onto. And in the Day to day I'm saying, Lord, I want more of that in the day to day, which is why I loved Matt's Point about, um, about the blessing. I think many of us will have experienced very precious moments in the trials of life where it's just like God was with us or someone was kind to us, or showed us compassion or helped us, and it became a very holy moment and it became a foretaste of this great reality that we long for.

  Sharon: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. That is, it's great to, I think, have that, um, larger perspective that whatever's happening here and now, actually we can take our gaze outwards and look beyond ourselves and beyond what's going on now to that greater future that has been promised as well. I think it's definitely helpful when we're going through tough times to have something to look forward to. Cool. Cool. Just, uh, realizing I'm not keeping up with comments going on here at all. Um, yeah. Uh,

  John: I'm just, I'm just, uh, Nicholas. Yeah, Nicholas saying about when we try and help God out and it never works well, I, I, Hilary of Poitiers I think was the name of the saint who said, um, a, a, a blasphemous anxiety to do God's job for Him.

  Sharon: Mm.

  John: Um, we gotta let God be God in our lives. But that's an active thing.

  Sharon: Yeah, that is a good point cuz there are examples in the Bible as well where people have tried to help God on his way and actually it's really not gone very well, but it's very tempting to do, isn't it? He's like, oh, come on God, just hurry up a little bit. Yeah, very good. A lot of my comments have disappeared now, John, so if you can, if you can see them more than me to pick up on, to keep with,

  John: I'm, I'm, I'm being taunted with the promise of a pepperoni pizza. So that's a problem on Conversation Street. And you think, oh, pizza in the oven. Yeah. Yeah. yeah, passive in all of this and waiting in God, Matt said brilliantly is not a passive thing. Um, I often say, you know, if being a Christian was just a sit back and God does it all to you, the world would be full of transformed Christians who are changing the world.

  Um, it's not a passive thing. We have to take hold of it and, and engage with it, don't we, and embrace it. And I think there, there is. There is a real, a yield. I I often say an effort of grace is surrender. The effort of a life of grace is to to, to yield and surrender, which is an active process. What about you Sharon?

  Are you waiting for, I mean, aside of Christmas and aside, some good weather and maybe a holiday, are you waiting for anything at the moment? Is there anything in your life that you're thinking you're holding on to God for?

  Sharon: Yeah, definitely. Um, quite a few things. I, I'll just give one example. I think. So for one of our kids has had long-term health stuff for most of his life. So most of his life he's had. Bit well been feeling Ill really, um, and that's really tough. And as a mom, I would love for him to have full health, to have had full health for all of his life really.

  Um, and so at times that's been really hard to wait for and we're still not there. There's improvement, but looking back I can see how. Or, you know, through that experience, character's been built in him. So many times when he was younger and feeling really ill and we were like, okay, um, we'd do things where we'd write out all, um, like what, what, uh, was going on, what his thoughts were, how he was feeling, how that then made him act, and how it meant made him want to not go to school and not do these other things.

  And looking at. Okay, how can we actually change this cycle and about persevering and about, um, looking to God in this situation? And he's got a lot of perseverance now, um, which I don't know that he would've had without that. And that's a, so that is something good to come out of it. I mean, obviously still I'd love to see him well, but I can see how actually good can come out of those tricky situations sometimes.

  What about you?

  John: I mean, that's a great example, isn't it? It's, it's tough when we're waiting and holding on for someone else. Um, I was just thinking we, we months and months ago felt God calling us to put our house on the market. To move into a bit of other end of town, if I may say so. So downsized a little bit and we found a place straight away that we thought, this is fantastic.

  We love this place. So, uh, we put our house on the market, got someone who put an offer in on our house, and then the one we're buying fell through about three weeks ago, and all of a sudden we're like, oh, what do we do? Do we cancel the selling of our house? But we know God was speaking to us about doing that. Will we end up selling our house and not having a house to move into? And um, obviously you've gotta get busy. You've gotta like start to look around, haven't you? And all the rest of it. And God has led us into a place that we're like thinking, this is fantastic. This is even better than the first one that we looked at.

  And it feels like a really vulnerable moment because I mean the UK system at least. It's chains, isn't it? And things could fall through, and people buying from us, the people buying from then could fall through. And well, the place that we're buying, um, work out and all the rest of it. Uh, my challenge in that is, um, the mental energy.

  So like literally it starts to consume every waking moment of my Pinterest board and what colors and what plastering needs doing and what. Radiators are gonna be fitted. And what about the loft space and you know, the flooring and all the rest of it. And I lose sight of the fact that it's Jesus leading us into this.

  And it's Jesus I need to keep my focus on. And it's Jesus I need to keep my attention on. A, a few weeks ago from this was Easter, I wrote a little reflection on Holy Saturday, the, the day in between.

  Sharon: Mm-hmm.

  John: Tragedy of Good Friday in the pain of the cross and the glory of resurrection on Easter Sunday. You have this in between moment, psychologists call it, let's say a liminal moment.

  Um, um, architects and planners talk about liminal spaces in between spaces in cities, um, or the gap between engagement and marriage or between, um, having an offer accepted on a house and moving into the house or between putting a deposit on your holiday and actually going on your holiday. And like for us as humans, these liminal moments, uh, quite difficult.

  Sharon: Yeah. Yeah.

  John: So what I try to do is like keep that focus on Jesus in all of it. Um, and I think that's the challenge.

  Sharon: Yeah, definitely. I'm aware of the time. I think, uh, I feel like we're just scratching the surface cuz out of the, the different points that Matt said about, you know, how to be actively patient in a sense. It's like, oh, there's so many things I wanna pick up. Um, but we haven't got time for that. And in fact, I think after the, um, yeah, during this week, I think I'd like to spend time just looking at those and kind of going.

  God for my situations, all the stuff going on in my life. What are you saying about each of these areas? So I guess I'd really like to encourage other people to do the same as well, cuz this is just. Touching the surface. And I think most people are in situations where they're waiting for something, either big things or small things.

  And it is about, you know, how are we gonna do that wait, what's God's saying to us in that wait? So yeah, I just wanna encourage people to do that. Um, I see a reminder from Matt Crew about next week.

  John: Yeah. So Sharon, I think you need to let us know, um, what is happening next week and also how people can continue to connect through the Zoom and through the, um, what's the Story podcast and that sort of stuff. So what, why don't you tell us what's happening next week? Coz I know.

  Sharon: Yeah. Uhhuh. Well this week you've had, um, Matt speaking, you've had me and John hosting. Next week you have us again, but we're swapping roll slightly. So John speaking a meia, Matt hosting. So, uh, double whammy. I mean, what more could you want? Um, and

  John: back in action next week. So, um, thinking about like some of. Some similar stuff. The disciples are thrown in prison, everything's going gray, and then it crashes in prison, then the back out of prison again. So it's that rollercoaster of life type of journey.

  Sharon: Yeah. Great. Um, yeah, and we do have, uh, we meet on Zoom midweek if you wanna connect with us. I think there's a link somewhere. Uh, it should appear. Uh, yeah, it'd be great. Uh, it's just a good encouragement. We don't, we really, we catch up with each other and we pray together. It's very low key, but it's just an encouragement really, uh, as we've been talking about encouraging each other today.

  So do join us for that. Um, I think, is there anything else you'd like to say, John?

  John: Uh, just, I think it's really precious the way folks are saying some of the things that they've been, um, believing for and holding on for. Keep holding on guys. Keep trusting in the Lord. Keep believing for breakthrough.

  Sharon: Cool. Yeah. Great. Thank you so much for joining us and I hope to, uh, see you next week. Goodbye.

  John: Thank you folks. God bless.

  Matt: Thank you so much for joining us here on Crowd Church. Now if 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.