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Facing the Unfaceable
What do you do when life throws something at you that feels impossible to face? In this powerful episode of Crowd Church, Ade Birkby tackles the raw reality of suffering, fear, and what it truly means to follow Jesus through the hardest moments of life.
Ade opens with a disarming question about vulnerability before sharing a gripping story about a kayaking crisis at sea [05:09]. From there, he takes us to the Garden of Gethsemane — not the peaceful park we might imagine, but an olive press where Jesus himself was crushed under the weight of what lay ahead [08:20]. Walking through the Gospel accounts [09:39], Ade draws out three lessons about honesty, crying out, and embracing suffering rather than running from it [11:17]. The conversation then turns to what God actually promises us in hardship [15:04], the role of community in carrying burdens [21:39], and a rich Conversation Street segment exploring Palm Sunday expectations and where God is when everything falls apart [23:44].
The Garden Was an Olive Press, Not a Park [08:20]Ade reframes the Garden of Gethsemane in a way that changes how we read the story. This was not a tranquil retreat — it was an olive press, a place of crushing. Jesus chose to go there, fully aware of what was coming, and his response was strikingly honest. As Ade highlighted from Mark 14:34, Jesus told his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” That kind of raw vulnerability from the Son of God gives permission for every believer to be honest about their own pain.
From the Gethsemane account, Ade drew out three practical lessons for anyone facing something that feels unbearable. First, Jesus was honest about his suffering. Second, he cried out to his Father. Third, Jesus embraced the situation rather than fleeing from it. Quoting Matthew 26:45-46, Ade pointed to Jesus saying “Rise, let us go” — walking towards the very thing that would destroy him, not away from it.
Ade argued that God is not a shelter from hardship, and that 1 Corinthians 10:13 is often misquoted. Matt reinforced this, saying, “God is not so concerned with our comfort as he is with our transformation and our freedom.” Dan noted that “people say 'I've lost my faith,' but often what they've actually lost is what they thought Jesus was gonna do for them.”
Ade offered this: “God was hanging on the cross for them, the same way he was hanging on the cross for you, for me, for everyone else. That is where God is in all of this — hanging on the cross. So the horrors that we see in this life are the last horrors that we will see in any life.” Sonia echoed: “One step at a time and know with complete confidence that God is with us.”
Join the conversation at crowd.church
For more info, please visit https://crowd.church/talks/facing-the-unfaceable
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By Crowd ChurchWhat do you do when life throws something at you that feels impossible to face? In this powerful episode of Crowd Church, Ade Birkby tackles the raw reality of suffering, fear, and what it truly means to follow Jesus through the hardest moments of life.
Ade opens with a disarming question about vulnerability before sharing a gripping story about a kayaking crisis at sea [05:09]. From there, he takes us to the Garden of Gethsemane — not the peaceful park we might imagine, but an olive press where Jesus himself was crushed under the weight of what lay ahead [08:20]. Walking through the Gospel accounts [09:39], Ade draws out three lessons about honesty, crying out, and embracing suffering rather than running from it [11:17]. The conversation then turns to what God actually promises us in hardship [15:04], the role of community in carrying burdens [21:39], and a rich Conversation Street segment exploring Palm Sunday expectations and where God is when everything falls apart [23:44].
The Garden Was an Olive Press, Not a Park [08:20]Ade reframes the Garden of Gethsemane in a way that changes how we read the story. This was not a tranquil retreat — it was an olive press, a place of crushing. Jesus chose to go there, fully aware of what was coming, and his response was strikingly honest. As Ade highlighted from Mark 14:34, Jesus told his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” That kind of raw vulnerability from the Son of God gives permission for every believer to be honest about their own pain.
From the Gethsemane account, Ade drew out three practical lessons for anyone facing something that feels unbearable. First, Jesus was honest about his suffering. Second, he cried out to his Father. Third, Jesus embraced the situation rather than fleeing from it. Quoting Matthew 26:45-46, Ade pointed to Jesus saying “Rise, let us go” — walking towards the very thing that would destroy him, not away from it.
Ade argued that God is not a shelter from hardship, and that 1 Corinthians 10:13 is often misquoted. Matt reinforced this, saying, “God is not so concerned with our comfort as he is with our transformation and our freedom.” Dan noted that “people say 'I've lost my faith,' but often what they've actually lost is what they thought Jesus was gonna do for them.”
Ade offered this: “God was hanging on the cross for them, the same way he was hanging on the cross for you, for me, for everyone else. That is where God is in all of this — hanging on the cross. So the horrors that we see in this life are the last horrors that we will see in any life.” Sonia echoed: “One step at a time and know with complete confidence that God is with us.”
Join the conversation at crowd.church
For more info, please visit https://crowd.church/talks/facing-the-unfaceable