What If Christianity Was Never About the Rules

Ever felt like you had to sort your life out before God would want anything to do with you? This week Will Sopwith looks at a story where Jesus does the exact opposite. Speaking on Mark 2:13–17 in the Jesus the Revolutionary series, with Anna Kettle and Matt Edmundson hosting, it is an honest conversation about grace, belonging, and being welcomed as you are.

Key points

• Jesus calls Levi, a tax collector nobody respected, straight from his booth, then sits down to eat at his house with the very people polite society had written off. Sharing a meal meant friendship and acceptance, and that is what made it so shocking.
• Right across these early chapters, Jesus refuses to stay in his lane, a run of moments that upend what everyone expected of a religious teacher.
• Will draws two pictures of who we sit with and why. The tyranny of the school cafeteria, where your standing hung on the table you chose. And Pandita Ramabai, born in India in 1858, who met Jesus, crossed every social line of her day, and founded a home for widows and orphans of every caste.
• The religious leaders were not bad people, Will suggests. They just had bad assumptions. They had no story for people changing. Everyone was stuck in their lane.
• Jesus meets Levi exactly where he is. No bar to clear first. No demand to drop his friends. As Jesus puts it, it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.
• A closing challenge. Are you a shocked righteous one, an awkward companion, or a grateful sinner? And do not let your expectations of Jesus get in the way of really seeing him.

Conversation Street highlights

Where the talk ends and the real conversation begins. Here is some of where it went once the community joined in.

• Nobody actually has it together. Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy, and as Matt put it, everyone is sick. So which camp do you put yourself in, fine or honest?
• You do not have to fix yourself first. The idea that you must tidy up your life before coming to Jesus gets turned on its head. Levi is invited mid-mess, and Jesus never asks him to drop his old friends.
• Faith is more like a marriage than a rulebook. Vows take thirty seconds, Matt noted, but you spend a lifetime working them out.
• A free man gets to choose what binds him. Everyone is tied to something: approval, salary, work. Following Jesus is choosing your yoke, and his is the one that is meant to be easy and light.
• Get to the story. Behind every hot-potato belief there is a story. Loving people well means getting past the surface to what Matt called level three, and the reminder that we are asked to love everyone, not to like everyone.

The community brought some of the most honest moments:

• Ellis shared, "In regard to rules, I've often been caught out thinking if I do or don't do X, Y and Z then I'm in the wrong — but even though something feels that way, it doesn't mean it's true," and later pointed the room to Jesus' words on the yoke.
• Alicia opened up about a hard season: "Because my father was so ill during my teens, I remember craving some influence over the situation, and falling into the trap of trying to follow divine law to the letter in the hopes God would show mercy. All that ended up doing was making me feel afraid of and distant from God — and then I had to work my way back to the innocent closeness I'd felt to him in my childhood." She also reflected on loving your neighbour as yourself: "one of the simplest to understand, but one of the most difficult to put into practice."
• Jenny, back on the livestream after a while away, said, "I definitely thought that Christianity meant rules — you had to follow the rules and be a certain way before you could be a Christian."
• Anna was honest too, about the pattern of over-performing for God, trying to prove herself faithful through hard seasons in the hope he would act.
• Marco summed up the night simply: "Excellent topics discussed tonight."

About Crowd Church

Crowd Church is an online community for people who are not sure about church. Whether you have been part of one for years or have never stepped foot inside, you are welcome here. We are figuring this out together, asking honest questions, wrestling with real life, and making room for everyone at the table. Come and join the conversation at crowd.church.

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

https://crowd.church/talks/what-if-christianity-was-never-about-the-rules

Stop Shrinking to Fit In

Ever quietly edited yourself down so you'd fit in with the room? This one is about what that costs you.

About this talk

Matt Edmundson opens with a confession. On a packed London Underground escalator he walked straight past an elderly man who looked like he was having a heart attack, because everyone else was walking past too. From there he digs into why we take our cues from the crowd even when the crowd is wrong, and what Jesus had to say about it. Part of the Jesus the Revolutionary series, this is a look at Matthew 5 and the idea that following Jesus was never about blending in. You are here to change the flavour of the room.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome
• 05:44 Why we walk past
• 08:47 The bystander effect
• 11:44 The hidden cost of fitting in
• 12:59 Salt was never meant to blend in
• 16:52 Who gets to decide who you are
• 20:02 The car crash and the Hulk
• 22:29 You are the light, don't hide it
• 26:17 Conversation Street — being salt in real life

What the talk gets into

• Why we walk past. The bystander effect isn't cruelty, it's conformity. We model our behaviour on the people around us, so if nobody else steps in, we usually don't either, even when it cuts against everything we believe.
• The quiet cost of fitting in. Most of the time it's not life and death. It's the laughing emoji on a group chat dig at your faith, or mentioning everything about your weekend except the thing that actually shaped your life. The research on masking is sobering. The more you hide how you think and feel to fit in, the more anxious, disconnected and lost from yourself you become.
• Salt has one job, and it isn't to blend in. Jesus called his followers "the salt of the earth". Salt changes the food it touches. The moment it tastes like everything around it, it's just powder. The word for salt losing its taste is mōranthē, the root of our word "moron". Dial yourself down far enough and there's nothing left to taste.
• This isn't a sentence, it's a direction. Peter denied even knowing Jesus three times and was still restored. The whole story of the gospel is people getting their saltiness back.
• It's not "just be yourself" either. The real question is who decides who you are. Your taste, your gut, your sense of what matters were all shaped by your family, friends and what you watched at fourteen. Jesus doesn't tell you to go find some unfiltered version of you. He says you already are salt, like it's a fact, not a target.
• An identity you were given. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5). There's a version of you that culture didn't create and culture can't destroy, because it was given to you by God.
• You don't have to rescue the room single-handed. In the car-crash story, Matt points at the biggest bystander and says "you, I need you", and the man springs to life and rips a car door off to help. He had it in him the whole time. He just needed one person to call him into it. That's what salt does. It amplifies the flavour that's already there.
• The point isn't you. Let your light shine "so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven". The flavour you bring makes people curious, and the curiosity points straight past you to God.

The challenge this week

Pick one conversation where you don't make yourself smaller to fit in. Let one true thing about you stay in the room, whether that's your faith, your conviction or just your kindness. Don't file it off. Then watch what happens, because when people taste something genuinely different, they don't end up staring at you. They start asking about the One you point to.

Scripture referenced

• Matthew 5:13–16 (ESV) — salt of the earth, light of the world, a city on a hill that cannot be hidden
• Jeremiah 1:5 — "before I formed you in the womb I knew you", identity given rather than achieved
• Hebrews 11:6 — without faith it is impossible to please God (Conversation Street)
• 1 Corinthians 13:9–12 — "I know in part", we get to know God as we walk with him (Conversation Street)

Quotes from the talk"You're not here to blend in. You're here to change the flavour of the room." — Matt Edmundson"If I get to be me, I belong. If I have to be like you, I fit in." — Brené Brown, quoted by Matt Edmundson"He was always able to do that. He had it in him the whole time. He was just waiting for one person to break the spell and call him into it." — Matt EdmundsonConversation Street highlights

Will Sopwith and Sharon Edmundson picked the talk apart with the community in the chat.

• A stranger who changed the room. Sharon shared how, before an operation last year, she sensed her anaesthetist was a woman of faith the moment she walked in. It turned out to be true, and the anaesthetist sang worship songs over her and changed the whole atmosphere before surgery. Will added a quieter one, about a humble older colleague on a teenage building project who stayed silent while everyone else fought to be heard, but had the answer when asked, and made everyone around him slower to speak.
• Who is Jesus actually talking to? Sharon asked whether "you are the light of the world" is for everyone or a specific group. Matt's answer leaned on a car-keys analogy. Sharon could hold the keys out, but he still had to reach and take them. There's a flavour on offer for every person, but it has to be received. Sharon's neat summary: his followers are the light of the world, but he wants everyone to be his follower, and not everyone currently is.
• Isn't this just striving? The group agreed the command is "do not hide", not "become". Matt brought in Caesar Kalinowski's "do-to-be lie", the idea that you have to do something to be someone. Will pointed out Jesus said this to ordinary, overlooked, low-status people. It was never about positional power.
• Is faith just an illusion? A viewer watching from India suggested God is to be known, not believed, and offered Buddhism as a peaceful example. Matt reframed faith as trust, the way his marriage to Sharon works because he trusts her rather than checking up on her every twenty seconds.
• What's our job when the room is wrong? Will told the deck-chair story John shared this weekend, where a film crew drew a square on a packed beach and nobody dared step inside it all day. Being salt and light isn't only being nice, it's sometimes calling out the wrong flavour rather than getting swept along.
• Simple, non-preachy ways to be salt. Matt's ideas included paying for the meal of the person behind you at the drive-through, or buying a homeless person a sausage roll from Greggs instead of walking past. No "God told me to" card needed. Underneath it all, the old "What would Jesus do?" question, and his answer is almost always to love the person in front of him rather than win the argument.
• Masking in church. Catherine asked how you tell who's being authentic when church culture can pressure people to look like "the good Christian", always having the testimony, never admitting worry or sickness. Will offered "judge the tree by its fruit", without getting hung up on grading people. Matt added that people often mask because they don't know any other way, and when you're real and vulnerable yourself, you give them permission to drop the mask too.
• And the question everyone wanted answered. Was the man on the escalator okay in the end? After a bit of teasing, yes. By the time Matt left, they were okay.

Want to go further

There are hundreds of conversations like this one over at crowd.church, and if you'd like to explore the basics of the Christian faith, you can join an Alpha course through the site. Come and say hello.

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

https://crowd.church/talks/stop-shrinking-to-fit-in

Stop Trying So Hard to Be Good Enough

Worn out from trying to earn your place with God? This conversation is about putting that effort down.

About this episode

Dave Connolly joins Matt Edmundson and Anna Kettle to look at the moment Jesus calls his first followers — four ordinary fishermen mending their nets by the Sea of Galilee. The talk sits inside the Jesus the Revolutionary series and opens a run of conversations about the community Jesus gathers around him.

The thread running through it is simple and a bit of a relief. Following Jesus isn't about getting yourself sorted first, working harder, or being impressive enough to qualify. When Jesus says "I will make you fishers of men", the work is his to do. Our part is surrender, not striving — and Dave is honest about how easily we get that the wrong way round.

Timestamps

1. 00:00 Welcome and Father's Day
2. 04:00 The calling of the disciples in Mark 1
3. 06:00 Why "immediately" matters — responding to the call
4. 09:00 The cost of following — leaving the nets behind
5. 11:00 Jesus chooses ordinary people, not experts
6. 15:00 Walking with Jesus, not just believing in him
7. 18:00 "I will make you" — surrender, not striving
8. 22:00 What are the nets you won't put down — fear, pride, comfort, self-reliance
9. 26:00 Conversation Street — "God hates me"
10. 29:00 "Was Jesus just a myth?"
11. 33:00 Anna's coming-to-faith story and the Alpha Course
12. 40:00 The unforced rhythms of grace — Matthew 11
13. 48:00 The invitation — come, follow me

Key references

1. Mark 1:16–20 — Jesus calls Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John
2. Mark 3:13–19 — Jesus appoints the twelve
3. 1 Corinthians 1:27 — God chooses the ordinary and overlooked
4. Matthew 11:28–30 — "Learn the unforced rhythms of grace" (The Message)
5. The Alpha Course — a relaxed, no-pressure space to ask honest questions about faith (crowd.church/alpha)

A few things worth carrying home

Jesus didn't pick religious experts, leaders or well-known names. He picked working people with no special qualifications. As Dave puts it, that's good news for anyone who feels overlooked — the focus was never on what they could do, but on what God could do through them.

There was a cost, though. The fishermen left their nets, their boats and the family business with no plan to go back. Dave's question lands gently on the rest of us, in that the nets might be different for each of us — fear, pride, comfort, self-reliance — but the call to put them down is the same.

"It's not about being perfect, it's about being surrendered." — Dave Connolly"It's not a striving, it's a surrender. God will make you." — Anna Kettle"The question is not whether Jesus is calling. The question is whether you're willing to respond." — Dave ConnollyWhere the talk ends and the real conversation begins

After the talk the three of them stayed on for Conversation Street, working through the comments coming in live.

One viewer wrote that God hated them — too much bad luck, too much stress. Dave answered it head on. God doesn't hate you. He came looking for the people who feel furthest away, not the ones who already had it together. If you're carrying the thought that God hates you, that hasn't come from God.

Another question came up a couple of times, the idea that Jesus was just a myth. Matt and Dave talked through why the evidence points the other way — there's more documentation that Jesus existed than for many famous figures of the ancient world, and the people closest to him went to their deaths rather than walk away. As Dave put it, if Jesus is a myth, then who is it that has changed so many lives, including his own?

Anna shared her own story of coming to faith. She grew up going to church with her parents, but it became real for her at university when no one was making her go. She read the Alpha Course book to chase down her honest questions — is the Bible true, was Jesus real, how can anyone know — and decided to give it a proper go and see. The more she looked, the more she found. Both Anna and Dave nudged anyone wrestling with the same questions to do the same. You've nothing to lose by checking it out.

The conversation kept circling back to Matthew 11:28–30 in The Message — "Are you tired? Worn out? Burnt out on religion? Come to me… Learn the unforced rhythms of grace." Matt added a useful caution, that "my yoke is easy" still means taking the yoke. There's a real walk involved, real resistance at times, but it's lighter walking with God than without him.

Thanks to everyone in the comments who made it a great conversation — Ellis, Alicia, Ros and the rest of you.

Links

1. Join the conversation at crowd.church
2. Curious and want to ask honest questions? Try the Alpha Course at crowd.church/alpha

Join the conversation at crowd.church

For more info, please visit https://crowd.church/talks/stop-trying-so-hard-to-be-good-enough

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

Worry hums away in the background of most of our lives, so it's strange to hear Jesus tell anxious people to go and watch birds. In this talk from the Jesus the Revolutionary series, Sharon walks through Matthew 6:25–34, where Jesus points us at the birds and the wildflowers as evidence of a generous God who provides. It's an honest look at how to stop striving, seek God's kingdom first, and take life one day at a time, with real stories of provision, suffering and trust woven through.

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Welcome
• 01:51 Sharon's Hobbies and Jesus' Two
• 06:19 Look at the Birds and the Flowers
• 11:06 Seeking a Kingdom That Provides
• 13:27 Real Stories of God's Provision
• 17:52 Taking Life One Day at a Time
• 19:26 Conversation Street — Trusting God
• 44:29 Why Stay With God Through Suffering

Look at the Birds and the Flowers

The teaching comes from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' manifesto for life, and the fourth of four short sections on money and possessions. The instruction is simple. Look at the birds, who don't store food in barns and yet are fed. Look at the wildflowers, dressed more beautifully than Solomon. When we actually look, we see something of God's character, a God who is generous and cares for what He's made.

"He could have just made them functional, but instead He put such beauty and detail and care into their creation." — SharonSeeking a Kingdom That Provides

Jesus doesn't only say stop worrying. He gives us somewhere else to look, telling us to seek the Kingdom of God above all else. A kingdom is simply where a king rules, and seeking it means trusting His way in every area of life rather than picking the bits we like. The world keeps shouting the opposite, that security comes from buying more, being someone, and holding on to what you have. The toilet roll panic of 2020 showed where that instinct leads.

Real Stories of God's Provision

Sharon shared two. Her friend Sue, shopping the yellow-sticker reductions, told a stranger at the till it was a blessing, and the stranger paid for her shopping. Facing the cost of a family funeral, a former lodger who knew nothing of the situation sent £100 he'd felt prompted to give. At the other end of the spectrum, Mark Mitchell runs a thriving car business that closes on Sundays so staff can rest with their families, calls his people colleagues rather than employees, and lost just two part-timers out of 106 last year against an industry average closer to 30 to 40 per cent.

"Those who honour me, I will honour." — 1 Samuel 2:30, the verse Mark Mitchell leans onTaking Life One Day at a Time

Jesus is honest that life won't be trouble-free. He tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because today's trouble is enough for today, and then gives us a way to carry it. Focus on today. Sharon found this during her cancer treatment last year, bringing each day's worry to God honestly and choosing to trust Him with what came next. In Conversation Street, Dan, Ade and Sharon each shared times they'd trusted God with their work and finances, and Ade spoke openly about his wife Sonya's severe ME, why he keeps going with God even though the healing hasn't come, and how he took up bird watching in the hardest season of his life.

"Whatever the reason for our circumstances, it's not that God doesn't care." — SharonAbout Crowd Church

Sharon is part of the Crowd Church community and shared from her own recent cancer journey, which gives the closing reflection on living one day at a time a particular honesty. Crowd Church is an online community based in Liverpool for people who might not see the point of church, hosted on this talk by Dan Orange and Ade Birkby.

Join the conversation at crowd.church

For more info, please visit https://crowd.church/talks/why-jesus-tells-worried-people-to-go-bird-watching

Why God Doesn't Just Fix It

When you're in real pain, you don't want company. You just want it gone.

About this episode

Mike Harris looks at John 11, where Jesus hears his friend Lazarus has died and then waits two whole days before going to him. Instead of rushing in to fix things, Jesus enters the grief, gets angry at death itself, and weeps. It's an honest conversation about why God sometimes sits with us in our pain rather than taking it away, and what real comfort actually looks like.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome to Crowd Church
• 03:53 The Talk Begins — John 11
• 04:30 Four Questions to Sit With
• 06:30 Why Jesus Waited Two Days
• 13:00 Why Jesus Was Angry at Death
• 16:30 Why We Rush Past Sadness
• 18:30 Mike on Losing His Dad
• 23:00 Don't Fix It, Be Present
• 25:43 Conversation Street
• 39:40 Just Tell Me a Story
• 57:12 Closing Thoughts

Key references

• John 11 — the raising of Lazarus, with a focus on verses 33 to 36 (New Living Translation). Mike suggests the chapter is less about the miracle and more about how Jesus relates to people who are grieving
• John 11:35, "Jesus wept" — one of the shortest verses in the Bible, with no explanation attached
• Genesis and the creation story — death was never God's intention; Jesus' anger is anger at death itself
• Lamentations — Jan's recommendation for anyone walking through grief

Quotes from the talk"Jesus doesn't rush through the grief. He walks into it, remains there, pauses in the sadness, becomes sad himself." — Mike Harris"Faith has to be in the character of God, not in the outcome." — Mike Harris"What I struggle with is not wanting God to be with me in the pain. I just want him to take it away. When he doesn't, I think, well, you raised Lazarus, why not just fix this?" — Ellis (in the comments)"You don't have to fix a grieving person's problem. And if you're grieving, you're not a problem that needs to be fixed." — Matt EdmundsonConversation Street highlights

Mike asked four questions:

• Has anyone ever said something to comfort you that actually made things worse?
• Why do you think we're so uncomfortable with sadness?
• What does this story tell us about how God views our pain?
• Is there grief in your life you've never given yourself permission to feel?

A few moments from the conversation that followed:

• Jan admitted she'd never understood why Jesus was angry until Mike framed it as anger at death, and that the two-day delay used to annoy her. "I'd have been Martha on the warpath."
• Matt suggested dropping the line "let me know if you need anything", because it quietly hands the burden back to the grieving person. Be proactive instead. Go round, go for a walk, bake a pie.
• Mike and Matt agreed the most healing thing is often "tell me a story", asking someone to talk about the person they lost, then listening without jumping in with your own version. When people feel heard, it makes a real difference.
• Jan, drawing on years as a midwife, said grieving mums never wanted answers or platitudes. They just wanted someone to be there.
• Alicia offered that laughter is a blessing, and that you don't have to shy away from helping someone laugh in a season of sadness.
• Sharon talked about how people often stay quiet because they've heard stories of someone saying the wrong thing and making grief worse.

The mourners in John 11 walked two miles to be with Mary and Martha. Mike's challenge was simple. Presence costs more than a text, and it's usually exactly what someone needs.

Links

• Visit us at crowd.church — there are forms and an email there if you'd like prayer, want to get in touch, or are interested in joining a small group
• Link to this livestream: https://crowd.church/talks/why-god-doesnt-just-fix-it

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

When Having Everything Isn't Enough

What if you've worked hard, achieved a lot, and still feel like something's missing?

In this episode, Crowd Leader Ade Birkby — engineer, physicist, and Bible college student — takes a fresh look at one of the most recognisable stories in the Gospels and asks what success is actually for.

Timestamps

• 00:00 Welcome to Crowd Church
• 02:13 Tonight's Topic — The Purpose of Success
• 04:00 What Does Success Actually Look Like?
• 06:49 Introducing Zacchaeus
• 16:00 What Happened When Jesus Showed Up
• 19:00 Honest Success Is Not Unbiblical
• 22:00 Conversation Street — Where the Talk Ends and the Real Conversation Begins
• 51:30 Closing Thoughts

Key References

• Luke 19:1-10
• Matthew 25:14-30
• Ephesians 4:28
• Leviticus 19:9-10
• 1 John 3:17
• Hebrews 10:25

Quotes from the Talk"Only when our hearts are changed do our feelings begin to change."— Dave Connolly"Success has been defined as something almost no one achieves."— Ade Birkby"Generosity isn't just about money — it's skills, time, an open diary, an open home."— Anna KettleLinks

https://crowd.church/talks/when-having-everything-isnt-enough

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

Have you been pushing for so long you can't remember what rest feels like? Fuel light on for weeks, still driving? This one's for you.

About this episode

Dave Connolly opens up Matthew 11:28 — Jesus's invitation to everyone who's worn out and weighed down. In a culture that treats hustle as a virtue, Dave names what a lot of people quietly feel — plenty of Christians are running on empty, trying to serve God on fumes. The way out isn't more effort. It's movement toward Jesus.

What's covered

• Why "try harder" stops working — and what burnout actually is
• The difference between being tired from a good day's work and the soul fatigue that hollows you out
• Jesus's yoke isn't extra weight — it's two oxen walking together, the older one bearing the load while the younger learns the way
• Rest as a gift, not a reward you earn by being spiritual enough
• Why discipleship means walking with someone, not just listening to them
• The potter's hands shape the clay — your identity is formed by him, not by your effort
• Practical anchors — Sabbath, getting into the Bible, asking someone to read it with you

From Conversation Street

• Mike on burnout from 15 years of teaching — wearing busyness like a badge of honour, then realising it was pride dressed up as hard work
• Dave on the moment he saw what was coming and wept — the pride underneath his effort, and the grace that caught him before he crashed
• Sharon on twisting Scripture into responsibility — taking something good from God's Word and turning it into a job she could never finish
• The community landed on Sabbath, reading the Bible slowly, and the freedom of an identity you didn't have to build

Verses referenced

• Matthew 11:28-30 — Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden
• Acts 3:19 — times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord
• Galatians 6:2 — carry one another's burdens
• Psalm 55:22 — cast your burdens on the Lord

Books mentioned

• Running on Empty — recommended in the Connolly household for anyone heading toward burnout
• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer
• Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer
• Dallas Willard — John Mark Comer's discipler, the older voice behind the modern rewrite

Links

• crowd.church — join us live next Sunday
• This livestream -> https://crowd.church/talks/when-trying-harder-stops-working

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

Ever found yourself genuinely busy — and quietly relieved? Dan Orange on Mary, Martha, and the excuse we all hide behind.

About this episode

Dan Orange takes the well-worn Mary and Martha story and lifts a question most of us would rather not answer — what if our busyness isn't the problem, but the disguise? Through three moments at Jesus' feet (Mary listening, Mary anointing, Jesus washing the disciples'), Dan walks us through what it looks like to serve without hiding behind the serving. Honest, scriptural, and gently uncomfortable in all the right places.

In this talk

• Why "are you a Mary or a Martha?" might be the wrong question
• The "Martha, Martha" moment — tender attention, not a telling-off
• Dan's own story — being told he had the "gift of helps" and wondering if it was a bit of a lame one
• Three feet, three lessons — sitting, anointing, washing
• Martha's second appearance (John 11) — busy and the one who confessed Jesus as the Christ
• What Ephesians 5:15-16 actually means by "making the best use of the time"

Conversation Street highlights

Anna and Ade picked up Dan's talk with a few honest threads worth rewinding for.

Ade — listening isn't the whole of it. Ade brought in Matthew 7 (the wise and foolish builders) as a counter-balance. Listening matters. So does acting. "We have to both listen and act and not use listening as almost an excuse not to go and act."

Anna — both women grow. Anna noticed something she'd never seen before — both Mary and Martha move in the story. Mary goes from sitting at Jesus' feet to extravagant worship. Martha goes from busy-busy-busy to expectant faith and one of the clearest confessions of who Jesus is in the whole Gospel. "There's a growth in both of them from spending time with Jesus."

Dan — hiding in plain sight. Dan got specific about what hiding looks like for him. End of a church service, prompts to go and get prayer, and instead — "I need to do the PA, I need to turn these mics down." Real jobs. Genuine needs. And also, a place to hide.

Ade — the buzz of being busy. "There's a popular, almost social misconception that if you're busy, you're important because you've got lots of stuff to do, rather than, well, actually, maybe you're just not very good at organising your time."

Alicia in the feed. Alicia commented that she'd just been doing a Bible study on overwhelm, and added a thought that reframed the whole moment — "I think the Lord was showing compassion to Martha in the way, in that moment." Anna picked it up and ran with it. The "Martha, Martha" wasn't a ticking off. It was compassion.

Key references

• Bible: Luke 10:38-42 (Mary and Martha); John 11 (Lazarus and Martha's confession); John 12 (Mary anoints Jesus' feet); John 13 (Jesus washes the disciples' feet); 1 Corinthians 12:28 (the gift of helps); Ephesians 5:15-16 (making the best use of the time); Matthew 7 (wise and foolish builders — Ade in Conversation Street)
• Background: The seven Marys of the New Testament — Mary mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, Mary mother of James, Mary wife of Clopas, Mary of Rome, Mary mother of John Mark. The name Mary means "bitter".

Quotes from the talk"In that moment they could have waited. In that moment they should have been second. In that moment I could have been sat at the feet of Jesus." — Dan Orange"It's good to serve, but we need to be present. We need to be listening to God's prompting. Perhaps some of us hide behind our activities." — Dan Orange"Let's learn at his feet, worship at his feet, and serve at the feet of others." — Dan OrangeNext Sunday

Dave Connolly — "When You're Running on Empty". Hosts Sharon and Mike. A natural continuation of tonight's theme — if Dan named the hiding, Dave is going to talk about what happens when you can't keep it up any more. Worth being here.

Links

• Find out more or get in touch at crowd.church
• New to faith or full of questions? Alpha is running on Tuesdays — informal, no wrong questions. Sign up via the form on crowd.church.

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

When God Seems Too Calm About Your Crisis

You've cried out for help and God seems… relaxed. Will Sopwith on Mark 4 and the storm Jesus slept through.

About this episode

Why does God sometimes feel completely unbothered about the thing that's wrecking you? Guest speaker Will Sopwith opens up Mark 4, where the disciples are bailing out a sinking boat while Jesus is asleep on a cushion at the back. Through some honest stories — a cycling holiday in Glencoe, Elijah on Mount Carmel, and three weather miracles at Dunkirk — Will makes the case that faith isn't a magic charm that lifts you out of the storm. It's the steady presence of someone who's with you in it.

Timestamps

1. 00:00 Welcome and intro
2. 02:08 Will reads Mark 4:35–41 — Jesus calms the storm
3. 04:30 Glencoe — the prayer that lifted the clouds
4. 09:00 Elijah praying for rain (1 Kings 18) and Dunkirk's three weather miracles
5. 14:00 Point one — Jesus is God (he commands the wind and the sea)
6. 16:00 Point two — Jesus cares (not a god needing to be buttered up)
7. 17:30 Point three — Jesus does not abandon us to our fears
8. 18:30 Faith isn't a magic charm or an insurance policy
9. 20:30 Conversation Street — Dan and Jan unpack the talk with Will
10. 31:15 Jan's broken-down car and the stranger who vanished
11. 35:30 Why we still need to pray when God already knows
12. 40:30 Closing prayer — "Jesus, who are you?"

Conversation Street highlights

A few moments worth rewinding for.

Dan, on a God who isn't too busy for you. Will's line "surely God has got better things to do" landed for Dan. His response: "No, he does. He wants to know our situation. He cares particularly about our situation… He wants to focus on you, on Jan, on me, on Will."

Jan, on the lifestyle thing. Jan names the gap most of us feel — we run to God in emergencies, then drift back to managing on our own. "It's just like childlike faith, isn't it? A little child will cry and ask mum or dad to pick them up. Who better to go to than our Father? But we don't do it as quickly as we should."

Dan, on the ferry he missed. A family trip home in the late '80s — truck kept breaking down, they missed the ferry, and that ferry sailed into the storm that hit Kew Gardens. "Sometimes God doesn't stop the storm. He just stops us getting in the way of it."

Jan, on the stranger in the fog. Student nurse, borrowed her dad's car, broke down in fog at 6:30am in a rough area. She prayed. A man appeared, told her to lift the bonnet, got the engine going — and then he was gone. No footsteps. "It could have been an angelic thing. It could have been a God moment. But he does care. He really does."

Will, on praying anyway. A direct word to the cynics in the room: "Turn off your little cynical voice for a moment and say, well — what if God answers that? What if it is a really stupid thing? And what if it might have happened anyway? Just pray anyway."

Key references

1. Bible: Mark 4:35–41 (Jesus calms the storm), 1 Kings 18:41–45 (Elijah and the rain), Matthew 28:18 (Jesus' authority), Psalm 89 (God stilling the raging sea)
2. Historical: The Battle of Dunkirk and the National Day of Prayer called by King George VI on 26 May 1940
3. Quoted: Mike Tyson — "Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the head"

Quotes from the talk"He is a solid rock in a storm. He's not flustered by what threatens to tear us apart, but he does care and he is able." — Will Sopwith"Jesus knew the storm would come and yet still told his disciples to row across the lake. Following Jesus' instructions didn't keep them from danger." — Will Sopwith"I encourage you not to stop asking. I encourage you to ask Jesus his perspective on it." — Will SopwithLinks

1. Find out more or get in touch at crowd.church
2. New to faith or full of questions? Alpha is running on Tuesdays — informal, no wrong questions. Sign up via the form on crowd.church.

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.

When You’ve Prayed for Years and Nothing’s Changed

You’ve prayed and prayed, and nothing has shifted. You’re not the only one.

About this episode

This week on Crowd Church, guest preacher Mark Buchannan walks us through Mark 5 and the woman who’d been bleeding for twelve years — broke, exhausted, ceremonially unclean, and shut out of community. She’d tried everything. She had every reason to give up. Instead, she pushed through the crowd to touch the corner of Jesus’ cloak.

It’s part three of our series Jesus the Revolutionary, and the conversation that follows on Conversation Street goes somewhere honest. Sharon, Dave, and Mark sit with the question most polished sermons skip — what about the people who’ve been praying for years and haven’t seen the answer yet?

Timestamps

1. 00:00 Welcome and intro
2. 02:30 Mark’s talk begins — Bumping into Jesus is not enough
3. 04:00 Twelve years of bleeding, broke, and rejected
4. 07:30 The risk of being in the crowd at all
5. 10:00 The tassel, the wings, and Hark the Herald Angels
6. 13:30 Faith plus action — why she had to reach out
7. 16:00 The only woman Jesus ever called daughter
8. 18:30 Go in peace — not just healing, but shalom
9. 21:00 What this means for the rest of us
10. 25:00 Conversation Street begins
11. 26:30 Sharon’s question — have you ever had to push through?
12. 27:30 Dave’s Brecon Beacons story — broken in body, healed overnight
13. 31:00 Mark on his divorce, Graham Kendrick, and the Empire State Building
14. 36:00 Ellis asks — how do you actually push through?
15. 41:00 The hardest question — what about people who’ve prayed for years and nothing’s happened?
16. 43:00 Dave’s chronic illness — I haven’t been healed yet
17. 46:00 Mark on his mum, MS, and the woman in the wheelchair next to her
18. 48:00 Sharon’s instrument-flying image — when you can’t feel anything, fly by the word
19. 49:30 Mark’s closing — Jesus doesn’t have a VIP list
20. 50:30 Zoe’s comment — this gives me hope

Key references

1. Mark 5:21-43 — Jairus’s daughter and the woman with the bleeding (also in Matthew and Luke; Mark gives the most detail)
2. Numbers 15:38-39 — the tassels (tzitzit) on the corner of the prayer shawl
3. Malachi 4:2 — the Son of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings
4. James 2 — faith without works is dead
5. Mark 10:46-52 — Bartimaeus and what do you want me to do for you?
6. Daniel 3 — even if he doesn’t, yet will we praise him
7. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — risen with healing in his wings
8. Derek Prince — proclamations (mentioned by Mark as a way to put God’s word in your mouth when you’re desperate)

Quotes from the talk“Bumping into Jesus is not enough.” — Mark Buchannan“It’s not just an instantaneous healing. He’s saying, from now on, you’re going to live in my shalom.” — Mark Buchannan“He may not have healed you yet, but he’s not abandoned you.” — Dave“Jesus doesn’t have a VIP list.” — Mark BuchannanConversation Street — what came up

The Q&A this week sat with the hardest version of the question. Sharon kept pushing past the easy answers, and Mark and Dave didn’t dodge.

1. Dave told the story of falling in the Brecon Beacons in his thirties, being helicoptered off the mountain, and being told he wouldn’t walk normally. The church elders broke into his house to pray. He woke up the next morning completely healed.
2. Mark went somewhere quieter — the period around his divorce when his daughters were moving to another country. Praying with Graham Kendrick, who suddenly prayed in tongues with unusual force about God’s protection over his relationship with his girls. Thirteen years later, on the top of the Empire State Building with one of his now-grown daughters, Mark realised they’d made it.
3. Ellis asked the practical question live — how do you push through? Mark’s answer was to use what we have, and to put the right words in our mouths — thanksgiving, scripture, proclamation. Dave’s was to camp in what God’s word actually says, and not to walk it alone. Sharon shared her own — sometimes pushing through is physically moving, like she did when God led her to Liverpool.
4. Alicia added that for her, pushing through means praying first instead of panicking first.
5. Matthew noted that in Eastern Orthodox tradition the woman is named Fotina — the luminous one — though that comes from church tradition, not the text itself.

Then Sharon asked the question that had been sitting in the room. What about people who’ve been praying for years and haven’t got the answer?

1. Dave went first. He has an ongoing illness. Hasn’t been healed yet. Nobody wants to be healed more than me. But I trust him. He talked about the moment he was angry with God for months — and what he heard back in his inner being — Dave, you’ve never healed anybody. It’s me who does the healing.
2. Mark told the story of his mum, who lived with MS for as long as he could remember. She was at Spring Harvest sat next to a woman in a wheelchair who was healed and walked out of the big top holding her chair. His mum was not. To the day she died, she was adamant God is a God who heals. The response, Mark said, isn’t to heap guilt on the person who hasn’t been healed — it’s to keep positioning ourselves toward the Jesus who is the healer.
3. Sharon offered her own image — when emotions can’t grasp anything, fly by the instruments. The instruments are the word of God.
4. Mark closed with the line that landed loudest. Jesus doesn’t have a VIP list. The synagogue ruler with social standing and the unnamed woman with none get exactly what they need from the same Jesus.

A community member named Zoe (not the Zoe doing the tech) added a comment near the close — I’ve had a debilitating illness for 5 years but only just come to God. I’ve prayed for healing but not received it yet. This conversation is good to hear and continues to give me hope.

That’s the whole point of Conversation Street. Real questions, honest answers, and hope that hasn’t been polished into something less true.

Links

1. Watch the full service and join the conversation at crowd.church
2. Catch up on the rest of the Jesus the Revolutionary series at crowd.church/talks

Crowd Church — a community for those who might not see the point of church.