When Achieving More Leaves You Empty
Have you ever ticked all the boxes and still felt hollow? You got the promotion, hit the target, and maybe even managed that January gym streak for once. And yet, somewhere underneath the achievement, there's this nagging sense that you're running hard but not actually getting anywhere. Matt Edmundson opened up about flipping through his journals from 2016 and finding the same resolutions we all write - get fitter, lose weight, and earn more money. Noble enough goals. But the question he never asked back then was simply why?
Regardless of the messages we may have heard, ambition is not wrong. Setting goals isn't the problem. But what tends to happen is that we end up carrying a weight that was never really ours to carry in the first place. Matt talked about how his business nearly went under in 2013, leaving him staring at the ceiling at 3 am, going over and over things in his mind. His resolution to earn more money seemed logical - even noble. But it turned out God had a different plan entirely.
The Treadmill That Goes Nowhere
Economists have a name for what happens when we finally get what we've been chasing. They call it "lifestyle creep" - where the benefits of a salary increase typically fade within just a few weeks. Not months. Not years. Weeks. We adapt to the new level and start wanting more again. It's a treadmill where we run harder and harder just to stay in the same place.
Paul, writing to the church in Corinth - a city obsessed with the Isthmian Games (think Liverpool and football) - used athletic imagery to describe this phenomenon: "I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air." (1 Corinthians 9:24-26)
And this image of shadow boxing is striking. Lots of movement. Lots of sweat. But no contact. No impact. And Matt suggested that's what self-authored ambition often looks like - training hard, throwing punches, but not actually hitting anything that matters.
From Author to Character
So what is a self-authored life? And what's the difference between being the author of your own story versus being a character in somebody else's?
New Year's resolutions are often about us trying to write a better story for ourselves. We're told we're the masters of our fates, that we should live our truth. So we become resolute, set the goals, and determine what success looks like. But here's what Matt discovered over the years - that's actually exhausting. Because when you're the author, you're responsible for absolutely everything. The plot has to work. The character arc has to make sense. And all the ducks have to line up perfectly.
The Christian paradigm offers something radically different. You're not the author of your story - you're being written into God's story. Psalm 139 puts it this way: "In your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me." (Psalm 139:16)
The days aren't a blank page we have to fill. They've already been written. Not in a fatalistic, no-choice kind of way, but in a "you're part of something much bigger already" kind of way. We don't have to invent ourselves because we've already been written into it.
Paul on the Sinking Ship
This brings us to a remarkable story in Acts 27. Paul is a prisoner aboard a ship heading to Rome, where he'll stand trial. The ship gets caught in a horrendous storm - not a quick squall, but days of relentless battering. The crew throws cargo overboard, lowers anchors to slow the drift, and does everything possible. The Bible says, "the terrible storm raged for many days, and it blotted out the sun and the stars until at last, all hope was gone."
And right at this point - chained, powerless, with zero control - Paul stands up and says: "Take courage. None of you will lose your lives even though the ship will go down."
How do you do that? How do you stay calm when everything around you is falling apart?
Because Paul wasn't the author of this story. He was playing his part in God's story, and God had told him he would stand trial before Caesar. That destination was certain, even in the chaos. Paul didn't control the storm, but he wasn't controlled by the storm either.
The Crown That Actually Lasts
The athletes in Corinth were running for a laurel wreath - leaves that would wither and die within weeks. Their identity, worth, and significance were tied to winning something that wouldn't last. Our modern-day crowns aren't made of leaves; they are made up of pay rises and new cars. But the principle is the same.
Paul said he was doing it all to get a crown that would last forever. He had ambition - serious ambition - but he pointed it towards something with eternal impact. He could do that because he wasn't trying to write his own story or set his own agenda. As he put it: "I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." (Gal 2:20).
This isn't fatalistic. It's trading exhausting self-authorship for something sustainable - playing your part in a story much bigger and better than anything you could write yourself.
Conversation Street
Why do we set the goals we set?
Mike Harris shared how challenging it was to ask "why" behind his New Year's resolutions - because it highlighted insecurities he was trying to cover by getting stronger or fitter. The goals themselves weren't wrong, but the underlying motivations revealed something deeper.
How do we discern what God wants?
Mike talked about his shift from being a PE teacher to a self-employed gardener. The biggest factor? Community. People who could help him think things through, rather than just going with what felt instinctive. There were also moments where someone at church felt prompted to pray for him and share a word - "I think it's time to change." On its own, that wouldn't have been enough. But combined with community wisdom, it eventually gave him the confidence to move.
What about when we're scared of getting it wrong?
One comment captured a common fear: "I often worry that if I do X and God wanted me to do Y, I'll mess something up. So I end up doing neither due to fear." Matt's response drew on football imagery - you run into the space before the ball arrives. You're always positioning yourself, moving, asking, "how can I serve?" Eventually, something connects. What you don't do is sit there paralysed. It's harder to miss God's will than people think.
The Ladder Against the Wrong Wall
Matt shared a personal story about having his career path laid out, sensing God asking him to step back from it. There were no angelic visitations, no writing in the sky - just an inner sense that the ladder he was climbing was leaning against the wrong wall. He could keep climbing, but it wasn't going where God wanted him.
Laying it down wasn't easy. "If you want easy, don't become a Christian," Matt said. "But if you want a peaceful life and a joyful life, then you should definitely become a Christian. Just not an easy one."
That decision opened up something he couldn't have planned. It's what brought him here.
What This Looks Like Practically
So how do we actually find our part in God's story? Matt suggested three things:
Scripture - Most of God's plans and purposes have already been revealed. About 80% of what we need to know is already there. We don't have to invent our mission from scratch.
Community - Life's mission isn't discerned in isolation. It's clarified in community. That's why church matters. That's why doing this alone never works.
Prayer - Not "God, show me my five-year plan" but "God, help me see what you're already doing and show me how to join in."
Running With Purpose
The self-help world tells you that you have everything you need within you. The Christian message says something quite different: you don't. And that's actually good news. Because in that position of weakness, we become strong. Christ becomes our enough.
So here's the invitation as we start the year. If you're exhausted - not from lack of effort but from aimless effort - there's another way. Stop trying to be the author. Simply ask: God, what are you doing? How do I join in? Where do you want me?
Paul was in chains on a sinking ship in a typhoon. Crashing waves. Chaos. Despair among the crew. Yet he was at peace. Not because he had it all figured out, but because he knew whose story he was in.
Let's stop shadow boxing. Let's stop beating the air. And let's run towards something that actually matters.
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# When Achieving More Leaves You Empty
Hello and welcome to Crowd Church, coming to you live from Liverpool this Sunday night. My name is Matt Edmundson, and whether this is your first time or whether you've been part of our journey since the beginning, it's brilliant to be with you. We are a community of people figuring out what it means to follow Jesus in real life, not the polished, perfect version, but you know, the messy, genuine, brilliant reality of this whole thing called Christianity.
So let me give you a little roadmap of what's gonna be happening. Over the next hour. We'll have a talk, lasts about 20 minutes, looking at the topic of relationships, which is the section of our series becoming whole, that we are looking at exploring how Christ makes us whole across every domain of life.
After the talk, we've got conversation streets. Oh yes. This is where we dig into what you've just heard, and you get to be part of that discussion. So if you're with us live, jump into the comments, share your questions, your thoughts, and your stories. And of course, if you are watching on Catchup or listening to the podcast, then thanks for being part of the Crowd too.
Right? Let's meet your hosts and let's get started.
Good evening and welcome to Crowd Tonight. It's good to be back for the new year. This is our first Crowd of 2026, and tonight I'm joined by Mike Harris. Mike, say hi.
Hi. Nice to be here. Um, I am very excited to be here. How are you?
Good. Thank you. Uh, it, I think it's your first time hosting with us, isn't it?
It's
go easy on me.
Yeah. Uh, okay. We'll see what we can do. Can't promise. 'cause we got Edmo here as well. Oh, right. But we'll see. Um, yeah, it's, it, it, it's, um, it's exciting though, like we've known each other. I was just thinking about it for, well I met you when I was 21. Like I just finished uni and we did a gap year together, didn't we?
We did. So how long's that putting it, getting on for 25 years, I reckon getting on for decades. Yeah.
Yeah. I am. I would say a different person to the world that you first met all that time ago, but yeah,
me too, probably. And that's enough said about that, isn't it? Yeah. Um, so tell us a little bit about what's happening tonight then.
Mike, do you know?
Well, Matt is speaking, which I am very excited about. Other little look at his notes. It looks, looks great. And he is talking about, uh, lots of different things to do with, uh, new Year's resolutions, things like that, you know, identity, um, bit from Paul and Acts 27, something like that. So yeah, looking forward to it.
That's fab. Well, we will pass over to Matt in a second and just to remind everyone that you can, um, share your questions and comments as Matt's talking. Um, we will pick them up in Conversation Street at the end and have a bit of a discussion afterwards. But without further ado, we will pass over to Matt to hear his talk.
Well, good evening. Welcome everybody. Thank you for that. And Mike, great to have you hosting for the first time. Thank you. And I love how you asked Anna to go easy on you. It's like you don't know her at all. It's
what that is unfair.
Anyway, happy New Year to you. Mike's right. We're gonna be talking about New Year's resolutions and all those kind of things.
So have you set any, have you set any New Year's resolutions? So in preparation for this talk, um, I flipped through some old journals, uh, and I was reading my journals from 10 years ago, uh, 2016, if you can't do the math. Um, and I wrote down my resolutions. Here's what they were, right? Try and guess what I said in 2016 should be my resolutions, right?
One, I wanted to lift heavier weights. Specifically I was aiming for a 200 kg deadlift. Okay? Um, so I wanted to be fitter, resonates with a lot of people, right? I also wanted to lose about eight kilos in weight. Uh, which you know, was important back then. Uh, I dunno, maybe you wanna lose weight too. Part of your New Year's resolutions.
And guess what else I wanted to do? I wanted to be richer. I wanted to have more money, but for noble reasons. I have to be honest with you because a few years ago, or a few years before. That. So sort of 20 12, 20 13, um, my company almost went under, almost went bankrupt. We were in a massive storm, if you like, the metaphor that threatened to sinkers.
And I was dealing with that still in 2015. And so I wrote this journal, um, in my journal at the end of that year, the start of 2016, I wrote, you know what? I have just had enough of getting smaller and smaller Enough is enough. It needs to grow. Now, it was my exact quote from my journal. I actually at the time was finding it really hard to manage a business that was in d that was in decline.
Managing a business that's in decline for years is, is just heartbreaking stuff. And it was keeping me up at night at 3:00 AM I would be there lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, going over and over things in my mind. So a big part of my New Year's plan was finding new sources of income. Very noble. But if I read my journal, I thought I was overweight, needed more money.
And like most of us, I find that New Year feels like the perfect time to recalibrate life a little bit. It's a new year, it's a new start. But one question I never asked 10 years ago that maybe I should have done, um, is simply why, why did I want to achieve those things in the first place? Why did I want to lift 200 kgs?
Why did I want to earn more money? Why did I want more stuff? Why did I want a bigger company? What was it all for? So I knew what I wanted. I was, and still am, uh, a pretty ambitious guy. And I, I think it's part of who I am and I'm okay with that. You know, the desire to achieve things, to get better, to build something.
And over the years I've heard messages, maybe you've heard them as well, say that ambition isn't a good thing. Uh, that maybe it's toxic, toxic masculinity, a phrase, which I, anyway, or maybe worse, it's not even Christian, right? But the theology of that never sat right with me. I've never seen ambition as something that is un-Christian.
But I did need to understand it better and understand my drive better. Now, if you are like me, the chances are strong that you write things down, right? And you write down goals with very high hopes and very, very good intentions. But by the time we hit March, how many are still there, right? Not many, according into all the stats.
And, but the mad thing is right. Even if you achieve the goals that you set out to achieve, it never actually really impacts your life the way that you hoped it would. Okay? So take my goal of getting more money. What happens when I actually get it? Well, there is an awful lot of research on this topic. Um, economists even have a name for it.
They call it lifestyle creep. And this is where the benefits of a salary increase typically fade within just a few weeks. A few weeks. It's not like a few months, it's not a few years, a few weeks we had, basically what we do is we adapt to this new level of money and start wanting more again. And so it's a treadmill and we run harder and harder and harder just to stay in the same place.
Lemme tell you, it's exhausting. And I think it's, it's not exhausting because the ambition is wrong, right? I really do believe that setting goals is a good thing. Being ambitious is a good thing. But what tends to happen is that we end up, I think, often carrying a weight. There was never really hours to carry in the first place.
Now, this being church, as you would expect, there's a story in the Bible that we are gonna use to help us with this. Uh, and it's about Paul. Um, and Paul is a guy, St. Paul, the Apostle Paul is a guy in the New Testament, and at the time he was a, a Roman prisoner. He was a border ship, and this ship was setting sail to Rome where he was gonna stand.
Trial only this ship got caught up in a horrendous storm, okay? And for days they had been fighting the storm. It wasn't like a quick 10 minute thing. This was going on for days, and the waves were crashing into it and on it, and threw it and around it. And they started throwing the cargo and the ship's gear overboard just to try and reduce the ship's weights.
They lowered the anchor so it would drag along the bottom and hopefully slow down the drift. They did everything that they could do in the face of this relentless typhoon. And the Bible tells us, uh, in the Book of Acts, it says, the terrible storm raged for many days, and it blotted out the sun and the stars until last, all hope was gone.
Till at last all hope was gone. That feels pretty intense, doesn't it? Um, and I'm sure you can picture the scene in your mind. It's been on many a movie, hasn't it? Um, and it's right at this point where all hope is gone. Paul stands up in the middle of it all, the prisoner on his way to Rome and says, take courage.
None of you will lose your lives even though the ship will go down. That's pretty necky, isn't it? It's just, that's quite an impressive thing for Paul to be able to do, I think. But how? How do you do that, right? How do you stand up like that and have that boldness and that confidence? When you have no power, you have no control.
And Paul didn't even have any rights. He was a prisoner in chains aboard a sinking ship that was fighting this nightmare of a storm. How do you stay calm when everything around you is out of control and falling apart? Because if I'm honest, that's what I needed back in 20 15, 20 16. I thought I needed more money, but it turned out God didn't think the same way that I was thinking I was coming at it all wrong.
Just like the sailors on the ship were coming at this thing all wrong. So here's a question I started to ask myself and one that I think. Deserves coming back to time and time again and it's a question which I, I think about a lot. What's the difference between me being the author of my own story versus being a character in somebody else's New Year's Resolutions are often about us trying to write a better story for ourselves, isn't it?
That's what I was trying to do 10 years ago. I was trying to write a better story, better the next chapter, and we are told that we are the masters of our fates. We should live our truth. So at the start of the year, we become resolute and we write the plot. That's what the resolutions are all about. We set the goal and we determine what success is gonna look like for us.
But you know what I've discovered over the years actually, that's really, really exhausting because when you are the author, your you are responsible. For absolutely everything. The plot has to work. The character arc has to make sense, and if it doesn't, that is on you. And just as importantly, all of the ducks have to line up in a row, right?
Like getting in a boat and set and sail for Rome, you assume the environment is gonna play its part perfectly in your story. You don't expect the storm that's gonna sink the ship. Now, I think it's fair enough to say that what I. And it might be a fair question to ask actually, Matt, this just sounds like you are swapping secular self-help for religious self-help.
Like what's the difference? And I get that. But here's the thing, right? This isn't a better technique for achieving your goals. I think it's an entirely different paradigm, which is a fundamentally great word. We should use it a lot more. Uh, it's an entirely different paradigm, um, because in this paradigm, in the Christian paradigm, you are not, and I am not the author of our stories.
We're being written into God's story. And honestly, I think it's a huge relief. So the question isn't what do I want to achieve this year necessarily? The question is more what is God already doing and how do I join in? And that's the shift from author to character. You go from writing your own story to playing your part in a much bigger one.
And so in Psalm 139, which is this sort of super famous psalm, uh, in the Bible, um, about who we are and identity and about what God says us. And it says in there that in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me in your book, God, you have written all of the days that were formed for me.
The days aren't a blank page that I have to fill. He's already written them. They've already been written. Not in a fatalistic, you have no choice. Everything's pre been predetermined kind of way, but more in a, your part of something much bigger already kind of way. You don't have to invent yourself 'cause you've already been written into it.
And here is why I think, well, from my opinion anyway, this is why this is good news. Because when you are the character in God's story, I don't have to manufacture meaning I just receive it. I don't have to justify my existence. I'm already wanted in the story. And whilst it's good sometimes to think about resolutions, it's more about going God.
What are the plans this year? Let's get on that. So if we think about Paul again on his ship, he's in chains. He can't control the storm. He can't steer the boat. He has zero power over everything that is going on, but he fundamentally is not panicking. And so that's the question, isn't it? Why is he not panicking?
Because he wasn't the author of this story. He was playing his part in God's story and God said to him, you are gonna go and stand trial. Before Caesar. That was a destination that was certain, even in all the chaos, Paul knew what the next stage was and it didn't matter what everything else was going on around him.
He was like, guys, we can be of good courage. He didn't control the storm, but he wasn't controlled by the storm either. Which I think brings us nicely to Paul's secret, because if anyone understood this topic of ambition, it was Paul by any measure that you use. He was a very driven man, unbelievable character in terms of ambition and drive, right?
He writes to a church in Corinth, um, and Corinth at the time, you kind of have to picture what's going on. It's a city obsessed with the Ian games, okay? And what, this is basically second only to the Olympic games. And so, and they are, I mean, it's a bit like Liverpool and football, right? These things are joined together.
And so Paul uses this as a cultural reference to point the sort of the, the understanding of all this, about the drive, about the ambition. He uses this cultural reference to help us understand. He says this, do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? So run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get the crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like someone running aimlessly. I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. I do not run like someone running aimlessly.
That's quite an intense saying, isn't it? I do not fight like a boxer beat in the air, which is this really interesting image, isn't it? There's lots of movement, lots of sweat, but there's no contact, there's no impact. It's you kind of like shadow boxing your way through life, and I think for me, that's what self-authored ambition looks like.
Your training heart, you're throwing punches, but the chances are pretty strong that you're not actually hitting anything that matters. So Paul says, I don't run like that. I don't fight like that. I know where the finish line is. I know what I'm running towards. And you know, I love this line. He's like run in situ ways to win it.
He's like, I plan on winning. That's a driven man. That's an ambitious man. Right? And the thing that made Paul unstoppable without it being unsustainable was that he knew what he was running for. Right? The athletes in current were running for a crown, he says, which is this Laurel wreath. You may have seen it in cartoons or imagery.
Um, and this Laurel wreath. Was made out of leaves and it would wither and die within a few weeks. I mean, you go through all of that for a crown that withers and fades and their identity, their worth, their significance was all tied up into winning something that would not last very long at all. Which actually I think transposing that onto modern society.
Sounds familiar. Our crayons aren't made of leaves. They're just pay risers in a new car. Right. But Paul. Uh, he thinks differently. Paul told us that he was doing it all to get a crown that would last forever. So he had his ambition, but he pointed his ambition, his goals, all of that towards this eternal crown.
One with eternal impact. And he could do that because he was part of God's story. He wasn't trying to write his own to set his own life agenda. Paul said this, he said, I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. One of my favorite verses I have been crucified with Christ, yet, uh, Christ lives within me. It's that kind of beautiful picture, but it's not.
It's not fatalistic, it's not a, you have no choice in the matter, but this is trading exhausting self authorship, I think, for something which is sustainable. Paul is playing his part in a story that is much bigger and much better than anything he could have written by himself. So I think the self-help world tells you that you have everything you need within you.
But I think the Christian message and the gospel says something quite radically different. It says, you don't. Not at all. And that's actually good news for us because it's in that position of weakness. We become strong because Christ becomes our enough, right? So how do we know our part in God's story?
How do we practically find it? 'cause it all sounds very good, bad, but you know, how do I figure it out? Well, I think there are three ways, and I think it takes a bit of digging out, right? It's a bit like a treasure hunt. It's not like do X, Y, and Z, and you, you know, you get a ticket with it all written on.
There's no writing across the sky. For most of us, it's a journey. It's something that we discover on the way. So the first thing is scripture, as simple as this sounds right. In the Bible, most of God's plans and purposes have already been revealed. Okay? 80% of what you need to do is in there. So start there.
You don't have to invent your mission from scratch. He's already told you what it is, right? In scripture. It's a beautiful thing. The second thing I would say is get into community. Because here's the thing about New Year's resolutions. Here's the thing often about goal setting. It's done by ourselves, right?
And I don't think our life's mission is discerned in isolation. I think our life's mission is clarified in community, and I think that's why church matters, and that's why doing this thing alone never works. Okay? So getting community, getting scripture, getting community, talk to friends, pray this through people that know you.
And the third thing is Prayer. Not God, show me my five year plan please. Or show me how to make a million bucks this year unless God's called you to that and go for it. Um, but God, help me see what you are already doing and show me how to join in with your story. I remember a few years ago, um, I remember I had my, sort of, my career path sort of laid out the route that I wanted to go, and I remember sensing God asking me to step back from that and it was something that I really wanted to do.
Now, there were no angelic visitations. There was no, no writing across the sky is just this sort of inner sense that everything within me wanted to keep climbing this ladder that I was on. But I felt like God telling me in effect, the ladder was up against the wrong wall. Okay? So I could climb it, but it was the wrong wall it was leaning against.
And so I knew that story wasn't mine to write, so I had to lay it down and I had to make the decision to become part of God's story. And you know what? It opened up something I couldn't have planned. Wasn't easy. Let me tell you, if you want easy, don't become a Christian. I'm just putting that out there, right?
It is not easy, but ultimately it's what brought me here and it's been incredible and joyful and peaceful. And if you want a peaceful life and a joyful life, then you should definitely become a Christian. Just not an easy one. And I think this is what receiving calling a mission looks like. It's not inventing your own future, but it's just sort of sensing God and discerning where God is already leading you.
Now, I'll be utterly honest with you, 2025 has been a hard year in many ways. Um, if you've been around Crowd before, you will have heard me talk about my wife's cancer diagnosis. So we had that to deal with. There were some difficult things I've had to deal with at work. Um, and by the end of it, I felt emotionally drained.
Let me tell you. And I think I'd probably lost my mojo a little bit, if I'm being real. And honestly, I'm probably still in a bit of a process. I've definitely not got it all figured out, but I do know which direction I'm facing, and that's enough for me to take the next step. Okay, so we will face battles this year.
Absolutely. We will face them. We will face the storms, maybe not storms that will sink us, but definitely storms that will scare us. But you know what? I'm not carrying this weight alone. I'm running like Paul with ambition and with purpose. I'm not beating the air. I'm not shadow boxing my way through life, but I know that his grace carries me.
So bringing all of this together, here's my invitation to you as we start the year here in 2026. If you are exhausted, not from a lack of effort, but perhaps maybe it's an aimless effort, you can identify with the shadow boxing analogy. I do think there's another way. Okay. So stop trying to be the author and as I said, simply ask God, God, what are you doing?
How do I join in? Where do you want me? Let's head there, right? And run with others beside you. You know, this year, um, I'm super keen that we go deeper into community. Here at Crowd there are some changes coming, um, which we just need to iron out the technology to get better at. So hopefully it'll be, be soon.
I'll tell you more about it coming up. Um, so if you've been watching Crowd From the Edges, I want to invite you in, connect with one of our community groups, not because it then becomes another thing on your to-do list, right? But because I think you were made to be part of a body, to be part of community, it's how we are wired.
And of course if you are curious about faith, if you've not yet made that leap, um, and you are tired of being your own architect, um, and you're wondering if there is something more, well, in a couple weeks time, uh, 10 days, actually in 10 days time on the 14th. Of January, which is a Wednesday, um, we are gonna be starting our brand new alpha course.
Um, it's a space to ask questions to explore, um, and to see what this Christian faith is all about. We've gotta think about 22, 23 people already registered on it. Um, you can find out more information at the website. Uh, just go to www dot Crowd Church register if you'd like to join us. It's done all online, all on Zoom.
There's no pressure, um, to do anything or perform anything. It's just literally on his conversation. And like I say, it starts in 10 days time. I love, love, love Alpha. So Duke, come join us for that. And of course if you've got any questions about Crowd or about community or anything that we've said, then uh, the best place to start is literally at the end of the service.
We do think we do something, which thanks to aid who I know is watching, uh, we now call Live Lounge. Oh yes. So Live Lounge is where you can come talk to the hosts, um, and me will be on Google meets this week. Um, in fact, Zoe, can you put the link in the comments to that? Um, so the links to live land will be in the comments.
Come join us. Come say hi. It'll be great to see you in there. It's totally informal. It's just great to talk about these things after the service and bring that community. Um, and we're gonna be doing that every week. So come join us in live land. And remember in all of this, Paul was in chains on a sinking ship in a typhoon with crashing waves and chaos and despair amongst the crew.
Yet he was at peace, not because he had it all figured out, but because he knew whose story he was in. So let's stop shadow boxing. Let's stop beating the air. Come run with us and let's hit something that matters. Pray you have a phenomenal 2026 and you find your place in his story this year. That's me.
Done.
Thanks so much, Matt. That was wonderful talk. Uh, just so much content packed into that. Uh, really appreciate it. What, what did you think, uh, Mike, what, what was one point perhaps that really jumped out for you out of that talk?
Well, I think, yeah, I mean, I absolutely loved it. Very inspiring. Um. I, I am the type of person who loves a New Year's, uh, resolution.
I, it, it, it, it fits my personality, I think to, to start again, to have a new goal, um, and to, to set it up and be absolutely committed to it and gutted when I fail at it, which, which I do, you know, almost every single year. And, um, I think just that challenge to, to, to remember and to think, you know what, to ask that question.
Why, why am I setting this as a goal for me? What is the underlying motivation behind this goal? And that is really, really challenging because, because unfortunately, that then highlights maybe some insecurities in myself that, that I'm trying to cover by. Getting stronger or getting fitter or, or you know, or whatever it is.
Um, so yeah, I found that really challenging.
Yeah, I, I agree. And um, I mean I think you're probably a little bit like me in that you are natural lean as a personality type is quite task focused. Yeah. You like to have like a goal to aim for. Absolutely. I mean, you are, you are a sports person, so you are far more like that than I am, but I'm very much the same.
And actually I find it quite releasing to hear Matt say. You know, it's okay to, it's okay to have ambitions, but make sure they're lined up with God's purposes for your life. And it's not just about your own goals and your own kind of, you know, it, yeah. Nothing wrong with ambition, but is it ambitiousness for the kingdom of God and the things that God's calling you to, or is it just for your own success?
And you know, you know, like you say things that you want for your own life and your own story. And I, I, I think for me, the thing that really jumped out was almost that first point that Matt said about how we're not the authors of our own story, but we're characters in God's story. And I think that's something I'll really take away.
Um, yeah. I just find that really releasing and yeah, actually I'm, I'm someone who's moved away from. Trying to like set goals every January. I, I used to do it, and I was saying to Matt before this talk, I don't believe in like New Year's resolutions anymore because I just think I don't find them that helpful.
Like I just wanna be in, in it for the long whole, not constantly setting short term goals that in like you're saying, and in inevitably gonna fail out again. Um, but yeah, I just, I found that really releasing that idea of like, it's not, it's not really our story, it's about being part of a bigger story.
And actually that really changes what your priorities are, doesn't it?
It does. It does. And um, I was only watching today, and this is, you know. Quite, quite sad as well, I think. And that, that idea about, about God being the author and we are in his story, and I watched a video and it was a video that, um, a lady put up.
Um, and she used to come to this church, um, sadly no longer with us, and she used to share some, like, video journals with, with people. Mm-hmm. Um, and um, you know, Prayer requests and things like that. And one of her last videos, she said this, she, and at this point she was not very well, she'd been battling with cancer for a long, long time and um, was unfortunately very close to the end of her life.
And she wrote whatever this story is, he's writing it and we keep walking and I just thought, you know. She became incredibly aware of the fact that she was part of something bigger. That, that, although she didn't understand it, although she didn't fully, you know, although it was still very, very sad, she was aware of the fact that there was an author and that he was in control, that he loved her, and that he was going to, you know, that, that he was the author of the story.
And I just think, you know, that's, that's, it's, it's incredibly liberating to know that it's not all on you. Um, you know, and, uh, you know, as Matt said this, this Christian, life's not easy. Is it? It's not. It's not. The easy path, if you like. Um, but it does mean it's not all on you. Um, there is a bigger God who, who controls the waves, who controls the weather, who, you know, for.
I was reading, uh, acts 27, where, where Paul's in this boat and you know, I was almost seasick by the end of the chapter because it just goes on and on in the minutiae detail of this wind blew us this way and we wanted to go here, but we ended up over here and we got blown here and we got blown there and we were getting battered by the waves and we were trying to keep the boat together and we were getting bashed and battered and all these people with all these plans, but God was just controlling, controlling it all and taking Paul to where he needed them to be.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then so then he gets off the beach. And he's praising God. Then he gets bit by a snake and you're like, you know, I just, this is the ups and downs of the Christian life, isn't it? And it's, it's just great that this Bible understands us. Yeah. It understands our lives. And that one minute we're up the next, we're down.
Um, but it's not all on us.
Yeah, that's, that's so powerful, isn't it? I think, and I love that story about the Lady with cancer that you were telling us about. Um, I dunno, I just, I feel like our culture is so individualistic these days, isn't it? Yeah. It's all about me. And, you know, and Matt was sharing about self-help and, you know, it's all, it's so releasing and freeing to know it's not all on me.
Like I don't have to improve myself. In fact, Christianity says you can do so much, but actually you can't really change your life for yourself. You need a God come in and do and change you from the inside out in a way that you can never do for yourself. Yeah. And I, I feel like when you enter that story.
It's, yeah, it just releases you from all that self striving and effort that it's so easy to get into, isn't
it? Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I know. Um, yeah, I think it was, um, John Mark Homer, um, American author, um, and I, he wrote, um, he wrote, we are all Disciples to something. And so I think you're right.
I think like, you know, especially in the western world, it's all about being an individual and being independent and being, um, you know, in charge of today and tomorrow and your future and stuff like that. But the reality is very different, isn't it? We're all, you know, worshiping something, we're all following something.
And as much as we all wanna be the leader, the reality is that, that that's, that's not the truth is it? And, um, you know, we have chose to disciple under Jesus. And, you know, we we're, we're open and honest about that and, um. Yeah, I'm pleased we chose to do that.
Yeah, I think it, it's that thing about being ambitious the right things, isn't it?
And actually realizing that you can have best will in the world. You can have certain ambitions and desires and hopes and dreams of your life, but it's not all within your grasp book gift, always. And I feel like for me, just that whole thing of like God's the ultimate author, it allows you to let go of some of that stuff.
And you know, listen, it's kind of getting a little bit out of the scope of this talk, but really it also frees you from that sense of disappointment. Like when situations or things that you want in your life don't turn out. And I know both you and I, Mike, have had, you know, you with like a football career that didn't quite go the way you wanted it to.
Yeah. Like me with. Family that we wanted that didn't quite end up looking how we wanted it to. Some of these things are like a bit beyond your own grasp to fix, aren't they? Or to make happen for yourself. Yeah. But actually there's such a hope in Christianity isn't there? That whatever, whatever happens, whatever ups and downs, like you say, whatever storms come along, whatever disappointments come along, that there's a bigger story that you're still part of and there's so much hope in that, isn't there?
Absolutely. And I think it just highlights for me the authority and power that our God has. I think you know the, that we can lie back and we can relax in the knowledge that all authority on the heaven earth is his. And so in Romans where it says that God works all things for the good of those who love him, who've been called according to his purpose.
And that the, the good. In the next verse, it goes on to say that everybody who calls Jesus their Lord is being conformed, being morphed into the lightness of Jesus. So everything in our lives when we submit to God is being used, the good and the bad to make us that little bit more like Jesus, so that Jesus can be the first born among many brothers.
And you know, Jesus actually promises that our lives are going to have ups and downs. You know, when we read the Bible and we read about it, all the ups and downs of the Israelites and all the ups and downs of all the heroes of the faith, and you know, we can be comforted by that, that, that even. God achieved his purposes through this storm, and he will achieve his purposes in our lives.
And you know, if we, if we submit to him more and more, and I'm not very good at this, but the more I submit to him, the more you know, the more like Jesus I can become. And you know it, it's a challenge, isn't it? Because you know you have hopes, don't you? And, and we all have dreams of course. Yeah. And, and they don't come true.
And, um, and that's really, really hard. But we have a bible. That can relate to that. We have a book that can relate to that, that shows us the highs and lows of, um, of people who've been before us. Um, so that's a comfort. Yeah, and
it's, it's funny actually, that you mentioned there, they're like heroes of the faith.
So for anyone who's doesn't know what that is, it's there's this passage in Hebrew is, isn't there? Yeah. And there's a whole chapter, quite long chapter in the Bible, which just lists loads of the Bible characters who did amazing feats, like through their faith in God. And, um, so it just lists them like Moses, David, like all the big kind of characters throughout the Bible lists, loads of them and all the incredible feats they did with God because of their face.
And yet at right at the end of that, that I think it's Hebrews 11, am I right? Yeah. I think, um, I'm never quite sure. Um, the right at the end of that chapter, the last couple of paragraphs, a like all these people did amazing things. And then it says, but not one of them received all that was promised to them.
All that I hope for. And, and I, I, for me, for me, that was such a groundbreaking revelation in my life. 'cause it's like, all right, so these people that you think had such amazing relationships with God and did such exciting things with their faith and we read about through history, not one of them received everything that God promised to them.
I'm like, what is that about God? Like, but it says, because only together with our lives too, and all of our stories brought together in the fullness of time, is that brought into completion. And I was like, all right. It's that thing again of, it's not about individuals. It's it's not about my story, it's about all of our story that God's writing through time in all of our lives.
And yeah. And that was such revelation to me when we, we were getting through hard things in our family, and it was like, I, right. So even where you feel like God's promised something and then it wasn't fulfilled. That's not the end of the story, and it's not the whole story. There's like a bigger perspective.
Um, so yeah, I, I, I totally relate to what you're saying and it's quite, it's helpful and it, it's actually quite mind blowing to realize, isn't it?
Yeah. Yeah. Very much so. Very much so.
What about you, Matt? Did you have anything you wanted to add? I'm aware that this was your talk and we've barely spoken to you about it.
I was taking it personally. You've
already talked enough tonight, really, haven't you? I think that's, that's what it comes
down to. Everyone's heard my voice way too much tonight, but any other thoughts? It's an interesting one, isn't it? Because, um, this idea or this fundamental belief that, um, and it's all over scripture, you know, God's kingdom.
God is king Jesus' Lord. You know, phrases that we use, this is all about submitting what I want to, what he's got for me, right? Not my will, but yours be done is probably one of the most often quoted, um, Bible verses, uh, in that, in that area. And it's like, God, not what I want, but what you want. And it's, it's the easy to roll off the tongue.
It's really hard to live right? 'cause fundamentally, I think we're quite selfish people. So I'm kind of curious for you guys, um, someone might be, you know, listening to this like. How do I, how do I discern then what God wants for my life? Right. How do I, how do I understand that? Um, and I get that there's gonna be difficult times and I can trust God in that and I don't understand everything and I can, you know, trust him.
But it's like you, Mike, you were a teacher, now you're a self-employed gardener.
That's right.
Um, that's a, that's a bit of a, a bit of a shift, isn't it? So this will be something that you prayed about that you felt God was leading you into, how did you, how did you get to that stage? Right. Because this is, I think this is a big question that everybody has.
It's like, how do I know that God's leading me this way rather than me just wanting to go that way?
Yeah. I think, you know, I have thought about this a lot and I.
The biggest thing for me was being in a community because they could help me to, to th fresh out this idea and not just go with instinctively what I felt was the right thing to do. You know, my tendency was to stay in the job that I was in. Almost an, almost like flog myself because I just felt like that was the best thing to do.
And it was only through talking to people in community who were saying, let's just stop and think about this. You know, let's, let's have a look at how are you feeling? Um, how are you doing? What about these verses, what about these verses? And then you've also got the sort of the, the very occasional miraculous intervention if, if you like, you know, not that my community themselves are not a miraculous intervention 'cause they are, but you know, there was occasional times in church where people would, would feel like they'd pray for me and they'd feel like they had a word.
Um, and I remember one of those words from. Great guy who comes to his church and he just said, he just, you might
have to explain what you mean by I had a word.
Okay. Yes, sorry. So this guy, I was in church and um, he came over to me at the end of the meeting and, um, he said that he wanted to pray for me and he knew a little bit about my situation in work and that I wasn't happy.
Um, and he just felt like God had said to him to tell me that it's time to change. Um, and that was also, he came over to me, prayed for me, said Mike, I don't know if this is right or not, but I just feel like God wants me to tell you that I think it's time to change. And, you know, had he done that. And, and I wasn't part of a community, I would've heard it and thought, oh, that's amazing, but it wouldn't have been enough for me.
It was only that I was in a community and other people were sort of sharing the same thing that let, that eventually gave me enough confidence to think this is what I think God wants me to do. So yeah, there was no writing in the sky or anything like that. It's just I eventually came to the point where I had enough confidence to go, I think this is what God is saying.
Yeah.
And I think also you get to a point, don't you, where you're like, like for me, quite often I, I can't be 100% accurate in my, I think this is where, what God wants me to go all the time. Yeah. Right. And there's this wonderful. Um, story in Acts, again talking about Paul, right? The guy that was on the boat.
Um, in Acts Paul goes on lots of what we call missionary journeys. He's going to all these different cities to sort of bring the good news of Christ. And this is Paul, the aged Paul, the Apostle Paul, the guy that wrote two thirds of the New Testament that had the most incredible encounters with Christ and the most insane revelations that you've ever come across.
And he talks about how, um, he kind of, he starts heading one direction and he, as he's going, he goes. The Bible says the Holy Spirit constrained him. It was as he was going. And surely this was Paul, right? This, if anyone knew how to hear the voice of God, it would be Paul. Surely he would've prayed about the right direction to go and he thought he was doing the right thing, but as he went, he felt the Holy Spirit constrained him.
The Bible says, and so then he went, oh, let's try this way. And he went that way and he went, yeah, okay. I think we, we'll, we'll go this way. And so I think it's, life is a little bit like that. You know, it's, it's often easier to turn a car when it's moving is a great phrase. And I think if you're not sure, just start doing something for God that you believe is right and don't come.
And this is where community becomes really powerful because I, being in business, I come across a lot of people that talk to me about business as Christian people. And they're like, I just wanna make lots of money so I can give lots of money to the gospel. And it's like. I, I really want to become rich, but I'm gonna justify that by saying I'm gonna give lots of money to the gospel.
And I, I have to be very kind and to say, I don't think that's true, really. 'cause most of the time it isn't. We're just trying to justify these things to ourselves. But you know what, if that's where you're at, start down that path, but just be open to the Holy Spirit constraining you and taking you a slightly different road.
Do you know what I mean? And,
and it's also like, stop where you are, isn't it? Like, it just struck me as you said that Mark, that if you want to make lots of money and then give it all away, well, how much money are you giving away now before you've got lots? Like, I feel like you don't need to wait till there's a big moment of revelation in your life.
Just be generous with what you have now, and then continue to build that. And I think as you're generous, God will bless you with more probably, um, in your business or whatever else it is. And yeah, I, I feel like we can have. We can have like good intentions, can't we? And sometimes they can be a bit twisted by our own desires as well.
I think you are right if you just step out where you are and start with what you have. And usually for me that means starting quite small. Like I wanted to write books, but before I wrote books I just wrote a blog that about three people read, read ever. And you know, it's just be like faith, be faithful where you are now.
Yeah. With what small thing God's given you. Yeah. And he might give you a bigger platform or a bigger opportunity or more money or more successful business, but just stop where you are and like just take that step. And like you say, God can move you redirect sheet. And yeah. And I think the other thing for me is that it's often about the things that you love and are on your heart.
You know, if you're seeking to honor God and love God and live for him, then I don't think those things are ever wrong. Really. If you are, if you're looking to kind of, if you're genuinely looking to serve God with what you're doing, then I, I genuinely don't think you can go too far wrong.
Yeah. Like, I think it's harder to miss the will of God than people think it is.
Yeah.
Right. Because we have the holy as Christians, we have the Holy Spirit insiders, right. So, and God's not out to try to make us fail at all. That's not his desire. So I think it's quite hard, like you say, to miss the will of God. So, no, I love that. Start with where you're at. There's so many people out there waiting for life to improve before they do what it is they want to do.
And you know that, that Bible verse, if you're faithful in the little, you'll be faithful in the much. And so it's like, okay, I wanna do this. I wanna start writing. I'm gonna start writing blog posts because it's free, it's easy to do on Substack, I'm gonna form my craft. Right? And it may be 20 years before you write the book.
And I also think, you know, listening to you guys talk, I. It's amazing actually, and I'm thinking about my own son as well here, Zach. It's amazing how out of the troubles that he's had that he is having great success in. Right? So Zach has struggled since he was a kid with IBS and it was horrific for him as a teenager.
My, my heart broke in many ways, but his career now, he's a nutritionist 'cause he needed to understand nutrition with his stomach. 'cause what he was being told is nonsense. He's now on Instagram, he's blowing up on Instagram doing videos about how to do nutrition if you str suffer with IBS. Right? So, and he's getting real joy out of helping people that were struggling with what he went through.
Do you see what I mean? And I know you do that right with the whole miscarriage thing and space and stuff like that. And it's amazing how, what we've been through shapes what we end up doing in many ways.
Yeah. Uh, I
mean,
um, I think it's incredible. Yeah, absolutely incredible. And, you know, many of the things that we go through, um, are, you know, potentially for all good and, and for other people's good.
And that, you know, that that's a difficult thing to reconcile. Um, that, that God might allow me to go through something that I can then develop an experience that helps somebody else. Mm. Um, that's, that, that's, that's hard, isn't it? Um. One of the things that, that you said, mark, which I thought was interesting that I just wanted to mention was when you were talking about that verse, not my will, but your will be done.
And I was just thinking about the ups and downs of life.
Yeah.
And how that verse, um, is Jesus, isn't it, in the garden, the Gethsemane. So Jesus has been with his, um, disciples for, for three years and he's just about to be crucified and he's in the Garden of Gethsemane and he is crying out to his father.
And, um, he says, you know, please, if there's another way, um, but not my will, your will, um, if it is your will for me to go the cross, that's what I'll do. But the what the interesting thing I think is that Jesus has been telling his disciples for three years that exactly he is going to die on the cross.
And I think, you know that. The disciples only got off onto this afterwards, but he had been telling them, I am going to the cross to die. I am going to the cross. I'm here as a substitute. I am going to give my life to save you. And I think the reason why these verses are in the Bible is to highlight that even the son of God, yes, would pour out his heart, honestly to the Father saying, this is where my heart is at right now.
My heart is aching right now, and it's important enough for this to be recorded in God's word. You to see that even the creator of the universe at one point cried out to the Father. And I think, you know. When we do go through really, really difficult times, it's not that as a Christian, we sail through them.
We know God's the author and we sail through them. You know, that they're flipping hard. And you know, I, you know, I would just encourage you, if you are going through something that is really difficult to the moment in your maybe questioning where, what is the meaning in the life, you know, is God real? Is, is to take that to God and to say, God, where are you?
My heart is aching. My hopes are dashed. Where are you? You know, Jesus cried out to God. Um, and, and you know, we can do the same. We should do the same.
True. Uh, very good. Um, Ellis has put in the comments, I'm glad you mentioned that. I often worry that if I do X and God wanted me to do y I'll mess something up.
So may end up doing neither due to fear. And I think Ellis, thanks for sharing, man. That's, that's, that's such a powerful thing, isn't it? And I. How often do we not do things? 'cause we're scared, right? Um, and, and because we're outta fear. And I, I mean, you know, as you were talking, Mike, I'm thinking of football.
You know, I watched the Liverpool game, dear Lord. Anyway, that's sad. But in, in football, you run into the space and you know, you, you, you, you kind of, you're running into the space all the time. You're not waiting for the ball and then go into that. Do you see what I mean? Yeah, yeah. You're positioning yourself, you're moving all the time so that you can help that person over there and be in the right place when they play the ball and you're helping the team.
And I think Christianity is a lot like this, Do you know what I mean? And you're always running into spaces. You're going into playing your, as long as you're looking out for your team. And going, God, how can I, how can I work? How can I serve? How can I bless? And I'm moving into this space and for, and then I might go over to this space or whatever, and just sort of playing and moving around.
And eventually, God, something's gonna connect. You're gonna get the ball and God's gonna do something, and that it's gonna end up in the back of the net. But what you don't do is you don't just sit there and wait out of fear, right? You've gotta always be moving. Um, as a preacher now somewhere, Mike, you should probably do that.
You probably, you'd be better right than me. Well, that's a whole
nother Crowd Church, isn't it?
Well, I can't, I can't tell you that I remember, you know, as, as a, as a. Footballer a long, long, long, long, long, long time ago. Um, you know, a as soon as I, as soon as I became a professional footballer, I was, I, I loved playing football up until that point.
As soon as I became professional footballer, it was my job and people's livelihoods depended upon the team that I was playing for doing well. I just became really scared. Mm. And you just become so insular and you just, every time the ball comes to you, how do I not make a mistake here? Yeah. How do I not make, make a mistake?
And I just said I had to been such a better footballer. Yeah. Had I had, I at least got saved and realized that I'm not the author of my story. Yeah. Yeah.
So interesting, isn't it? And I, I was just thinking as you're talking about that, that that verse that like, God hasn't given us a spirit of fear, but of love.
Yeah. And um, and that's the thing, isn't it? It's like God's heart for us is he loves us and he wants to succeed. He, he wants us to do well. He's like cheering us on, like, just like we cheer on our kids, right? Yeah. We want them to succeed and do well at life. And, and I feel like if you know that that's God's heart for you, it, you know, that, that is really helpful.
'cause it helps you deal with fear, doesn't it?
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Oh, it does. It don't let fear rob you. Mm-hmm. You know, it's, it's, it's one of those things, isn't it? That fear, faith is the antidote to. And I think just stepping out and having a, here's the thing. God's not sitting on a cloud waiting for you to mess up.
He is properly cheering for you. There's a whole heavenly host, the great cloud of witnesses going back to Hebrews. They're surrounded cheering you on. Um, it is harder to miss God than you think. So don't be afraid. Have a go and see what God does and see where he leads you. Just my only advice would be nimble and hold things lightly.
Right. If he calls you over to here, go there. Um, l let's put in the comments as we close. Um, and I love this Mike, uh, for his first time hosting. I thought he did extremely well.
Yeah, much.
That's very kind.
We'll have to be tougher on you next time. Hey.
Yeah, that's right. You went easy on it, man. It was just like I was expecting a lot more, but um, you know, there you go.
Uh, so yeah, uh, should, we should probably close the live stream there. You are your lead host, so you
should probably I'm hosting. Yeah. Um. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks for joining us everyone. Matt, do you wanna tell us what we've got coming up next week though? Because I don't actually know, and I don't think you told me not checked.
Or maybe you emailed it and I didn't read it. Yeah. But anyway,
have said I'll, I will fill that gap professionally and without, you know, that was slick how I just passed it straight back to you, wasn't
it?
Uh, no one knew. No one spotted what happened there. This is amazing. Um, so next week we have Dave Connolly talking about leadership, um, which I'm super excited about.
If there's one topic, Dave, well there's two topics Dave knows about. One is knowing Christ and the other one is, is leadership. So he's coming to talk to us about leadership. Um, this week was just me wanting to talk about New year's resolutions. Next week we are back on the wholeness thing. Um, we are finishing off wholeness in relationships.
So we're gonna be talking about wholeness and leadership next week. We've got singleness, we've got courtship. You are doing.
Love thy neighbor.
Love your neighbor. Um, so we've got a few of these coming up and then just to give you a little heads up, going forward a few weeks, which is not Anas, but you know, I've got the mic, um, is uh, as we get towards Easter, we're gonna start to look at money.
And how do we be whole where money is concerned? Talk about, you know, new Year's resolutions, wanting more money, more money's not a bad thing, um, at all. Um, so we're gonna be, but we're gonna talk about that. Uh, we've got about four. In fact, you're doing one of those talks as well.
I am.
You're like signed up for everything.
And I'm hosting as well. I think. Give it toed.
You're gonna get used to Mike a lot. He's, um, he said, sure, I'll do it every now and again.
It's a good, it's a good job. They said that someone said they liked you tonight, wasn't it? Because you're gonna see a lot more of this guy.
Otherwise this would've been the last one.
Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, that's what's coming up. Does Zan see your question, miss Anna?
Yeah. Yeah, that sounds, uh, exciting. In the next few weeks. We've got lots coming up. Um, so yeah, thank you everyone for joining us. Mike, thank you for your first go. Um, yeah, thanks for inviting. Any final thoughts?
Um, my, I, I suppose my only final thought I did hear a good New Year's resolution to think about as we head into money is, um, it's a challenge, but.
Is the overall percentage of your household income that you give away, going up or down, and it's just maybe something to think about. Um, is the overall percentage of your household income that you give away, is it going up or is it going down? It's um, it's, it's usually not staying the same. And so, you know, new Year have a think, how can you be generous with your money?
Yeah, that's a good thought. Good thought. Um, any final thoughts from you, Matt?
Um, yeah, I think don't let what we've talked about tonight dissuade you from New Year's resolutions, but my comment would be understand the why behind them and get God involved. Right? Understand what God's plan. Is, uh, and, and jump on that.
So I know we've overrun by a couple minutes and um, we're gonna open up Live Lounge in just a second. So come join us in there. Uh, we'll open that for a little while, so it'd be great to see you. Um, but no, that's it from me.
Yep. And I would just add, if you have been, um, challenged or just thinking or looking at the Christian faith and yeah, it's something connected tonight with, you know, you connected with something we were talking about.
Then do you think about the Alpha course as well? I just wanna plug it, it's such a great course. I did it when I was a young adult and it's just life changing, a really good opportunity to just understand a bit more about what Christianity is all about and how it applies to you. So yeah, do look at that and I think we'll put the link for signing up in, into the comments books as well, won't we?
Um, but yeah, join us. Join us for the after chat in a second if you are sticking around. Live lounge. That's what it's officially called now. Um, but yeah. Thank you everyone for joining us tonight. It's great to be back and we'll see you soon.
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RECENT LIVESTREAMS
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!
Come and join our in-person service in Liverpool.
Join in with the Church Livestream
Subscribe to Crowd Church Podcast & What’s the Story Podcast
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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