CROWD Church Livestream

About CROWD Church Livestream

If you're looking to grow in the Christian faith, or even explore it for the first time, then come and be part of the CROWD podcast. Each week we post our online church live stream which explores the big questions of life from a Christian worldview. We dig into your questions about meaning, faith and identity. We also add interviews with everyday people about their faith journey, what challenges they have faced and how they overcame them. Regardless of where you are on your faith journey, you are sure to find glimpses into the amazingness of Christ. Crowd Church is a non-denominational church and our commitment is not just to believers but also to those that might not see the point of church. Our commitment is to those who worship and those that are looking for answers to their questions. Everyone is welcome here, no matter where you are on your faith journey. For more information about Crowd Church visit: www.crowd.church. Subscribe to the Crowd Church podcast today.

Publisher

Crowd Church

Category

religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Oct 2021

Latest episode

2 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

246 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Nov 2026

   Is Jesus Really the Only Way?

   Does saying Jesus is the only way to God sound arrogant? Here is why it might be the most welcoming thing ever said. About this episode Sharon Edmundson looks at one of the boldest things Jesus ever said, that He is the only way to God. It is a claim that can feel narrow and exclusive to modern ears, so we explore why it was first spoken as a comfort rather than a challenge, and what it actually means for anyone weighing up faith for themselves. This is part of our Jesus the Revolutionary series, the run where we sit with some of His tougher teachings and ask what they really mean. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and the Live Lounge 02:59 The gnocchi story, is one way arrogant 05:00 I am the way, a relationship not a rulebook 06:13 Liar, lunatic or Lord 08:08 Our deepest problem, separation from God 09:37 Why it has to be Jesus 11:57 Why pick and mix never satisfies 13:30 What about those who have never heard 15:31 Words of comfort, not a challenge 17:15 Conversation Street When One Way Sounds Arrogant Sharon opens with a holiday in France, where an Italian friend offered to teach a group of them to make gnocchi. Her job was cutting the tomatoes, and she was told firmly there was only one right way to do it, which made no sense to her because it all ended up blitzed in the same pan anyway. How do you feel when someone says their way is the only way? Arrogant? Narrow-minded? The verse at the heart of this talk can sound like exactly that. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) In a culture that values many paths and many points of view, that one little word "the" can feel like a closed door. A Relationship, Not a Rulebook Other religions and philosophies tend to say "this is the way" and hand you a set of rules or a way of life to follow. Jesus says something stranger. He says "I am the way", offering Himself rather than a to-do list. So faith here is less a system to work through and more a relationship to step into. "He offers Himself, not just a list of things to do. He offers a relationship rather than a system or a roadmap." (Sharon Edmundson) Liar, Lunatic or Lord Some people are happy to file Jesus away as a good moral teacher and leave it there. Sharon borrows the well-known line from the writer C.S. Lewis, who argued that the claims Jesus made do not leave that option open. Either He was lying, or He was deluded, or He was telling the truth about who He is. Lewis put it like this. Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The one thing it cannot be is moderately important. The Problem Underneath Everything Why would Jesus claim to be the only way? Because He is answering our deepest problem, and it is not the one we usually name. It is not the economy, or politics, or artificial intelligence, or other people being difficult. The Bible's word for the real problem is that without Jesus we are all spiritually dead. Death in the Bible means separation. Just as physical death separates the body and the spirit, spiritual death is being cut off from a relationship with God. What causes that gap is what the Bible calls sin, a religious-sounding word that simply means missing the mark, going our own way, and shutting God out. Ephesians describes it, and Romans puts it plainly, that the result of sin is death. Why It Has to Be Jesus Could God not just overlook it and let us off? Sharon uses the picture of a courtroom. If someone had seriously harmed your family and then asked the judge to drop it because they had also done plenty of good things, we would not call that justice. Doing good does not cancel out doing wrong. So Jesus steps in as the one go-between, the bridge between us and God. He takes the penalty Himself by dying in our place, and because He is perfect, death could not hold Him. It is no more arrogant than a doctor saying type 1 diabetes needs insulin and not paracetamol. If it is actually true, it is not narrow to say so. Why Pick and Mix Never Satisfies Sharon names something many of us do. We like to build our own spirituality the way we fill a pick and mix at the cinema, keeping the bits we enjoy and leaving the bits we do not. A little mindfulness here, a few crystals there, a carol service at Christmas. The appeal is obvious. We get to design something that never asks anything hard of us. The trouble is that a faith we curate ourselves can only ever confirm what we already believe. It can never challenge us or take us anywhere new. What About Those Who Have Never Heard This is the honest question the talk does not dodge, and Sharon is clear she does not have a tidy answer. She lays out three views that Christians hold, all argued from the Bible, and invites people to weigh them for themselves. The Exclusive view says a person needs to consciously hear about Jesus and believe, drawing on passages like Romans 10:14. The Inclusive view says someone who never had the chance to hear, but sincerely sought God, may still be saved through Jesus even without knowing His name, drawing on Romans 2:12-15. The Judgment According to Knowledge view says God does not condemn people for information they never had, and judges them by the truth that was actually available to them. Sharon flagged this as one to carry into Conversation Street rather than wrap up neatly. Words of Comfort, Not a Challenge To us these words can feel like a challenge, but in their original setting they were a comfort. Jesus said them in an upper room in Jerusalem, the night before He was killed, to a group of frightened and confused friends. He had told them He was leaving and that they could not come with Him yet. They said, in effect, we do not even know where you are going, how can we know the way? And that is when He said, I am the way. The brutal death He was about to walk into was the very thing that would make a relationship with God possible for them. It spoke straight to their biggest fear, and ours, with hope for this life and beyond it. Conversation Street Highlights After the talk, Dan Orange and Dave Connolly carried the conversation on with Sharon and everyone in the Live Lounge. A few threads stood out. Rules versus relationship. This was the thread the whole conversation kept circling. Dave made the point that for Jesus' first followers the old pattern was about keeping the law and the temple rituals, and that Jesus moves them from a set of rules to a living relationship. As he put it, we must be crazy to settle for rules over relationship. How easily we slip back into earning it. Sharon was honest that there is something in us that wants to earn our way and feel we deserve it. She pointed to Galatians, where Paul asks whether we received God's Spirit by doing good works or by simply believing what we heard. We receive the gift of life by trust, not by performance, and we are meant to keep living that way rather than switching back into trying to earn favour. Ellis named this from the Live Lounge too, admitting that fear can pull us towards rules, something most of us recognise. Sonia added that walking this way is not easy with everything going on around us, and Will said it plainly, that it is not an easy message and it is far more comfortable not to have to make an exclusive decision. God knows our hearts. Dave told the story of a parent wrestling a protesting toddler into a car seat, where the child ends up strapped in but, as he put it, "I may be sitting down on the outside, but on the inside I am standing up and still yelling." We can go through all the right motions with our hearts somewhere else entirely, and God sees that, so the invitation is to be real with Him rather than just keep Him sweet. The discipline of prayer and the word. Asked how you find the balance between resting in grace and still walking the way, Dave said that for him it comes down to two habits he was helped to build, reading the Bible and praying. It is not about how much you do, he said, but about genuinely engaging in the process of being with God. Sharon framed it as starting from the heart, beginning the day by asking "God, what are You saying to me today?" rather than ticking off a list of spiritual tasks. The Chosen and where to start reading. Sharon recommended the TV series The Chosen as a way of picturing Jesus as a real person who laughed, got angry, and hugged people who needed it, while being clear it is a dramatisation and not the Bible itself. For anyone wanting to open the Bible for the first time, Dan suggested starting with John's Gospel, since it is a gentle way in and it was John who described himself as the friend leaning on Jesus. Dan also likened that first step of faith to the leap across the chasm in Indiana Jones, where the bridge only appears once you put your foot out. Those who have never heard. Alicia raised good questions about people who never get to hear about Jesus, picking up the thread from the talk. The group did not force an answer, landing instead where Dan did, that God is the judge, He is good and true, and there is no one better to leave that question with. Kath shared that the talk helped her understand for the first time how sin and separation and death fit together. Key references John 14:6, the central verse ("I am the way, the truth, and the life") John 3:16-17, the invitation open to...

2. 

   26 Oct 2026

   When Money Becomes Your God

   There's probably one thing you couldn't imagine letting go of. This conversation is about what that grip does to us. About this episode Mike Harris looks at the rich young ruler, the man who had kept all the rules and still walked away from Jesus sad because he couldn't let go of his money. It's an honest conversation about the things that get the biggest claim on our time, our trust and our wallets, and why that's rarely the stuff we'd point to in someone else first. Mike, Matt and Ade dig into self-sufficiency, grace, and the freedom that comes from seeing everything you have as a gift rather than something you earned. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome and a hello to everyone in Live Lounge 04:58 Elon Musk, the first trillionaire, and what that much money actually looks like 06:30 Mark 10 and the man who comes running to Jesus 09:00 Why Jesus starts with "no one is good" 11:30 The idol hiding behind a good, moral life 14:00 Paul's radical idea of generosity in 2 Corinthians 8 18:00 Loved before the world began, from Ephesians 1 22:34 Conversation Street begins 24:00 Ellis realises he's the rich one 27:00 Ade on self-sufficiency and treating salvation like a purchase 30:00 Job, and learning that everything you have is a gift 35:00 Matt on asking "what's my response?" rather than pointing at the wealthy 40:00 An honest word about the prosperity gospel 45:00 Psalm 118:8 and where we run when things get scary Key references Mark 10:17-22, the rich young ruler (also told in Matthew 19 and Luke 18) 2 Corinthians 8:12-14, giving until there's equality Ephesians 1:4-8, chosen before the world began Psalm 118:8, taking refuge in the Lord Philippians 4:19, God meeting our needs John 3:16, the God who gives The book of Job, via The Bible Project Timothy Keller on the first commandment Quotes from the talk "Jesus had everything, and rather than seek equality, Jesus gave up everything so that we who deserved nothing could have everything He deserved." - Mike Harris "God is not against us being rich, but when we are rich, He wants to know that this is a gift from Him." - Mike Harris "You can't give away your God. So if money is your god, you can't give it away." - Matt Edmundson What this isn't This isn't a message about money being wrong, and it isn't anyone at Crowd asking you to give your money away or to give it to the church. It's a much simpler question than that. Where might God be leading you to be generous this week, with your time, your things or your money? Links Find out more and join the conversation at crowd.church (https://crowd.church/). What's the Story, the Crowd Church podcast where people share their story of faith, is at crowd.church (https://crowd.church/) and on all the usual podcast players. Crowd runs an Alpha Course exploring the big questions of faith. The current group is wrapping up, with a new course starting in the new year. Details are on the website. Crowd Church - a community for those who might not see the point of church.

3. 

   19 Oct 2026

   No Person Will Ever Complete You

   Ever felt like life doesn't really start until you've found the one, or that a wedding ring would finally fix the loneliness? This one is about that. About this episode We are continuing the Jesus the Revolutionary series, and this week Dave Connolly looks at what Jesus actually says about marriage and singleness in Matthew 19:1-12. Dave takes on the cultural lie that someone out there will complete us, and walks through why relationships are a gift rather than the source of our identity, security or salvation. The hard stuff is here too, marriage breakdown, divorce, the pressure single Christians often feel, with a clear caveat that faithfulness never means tolerating abuse. Hosts Matt Edmundson and Anna pick it up afterwards in Conversation Street, with three generations of marriage in the room. Timestamps 00:00 Welcome to Crowd Church 05:03 The talk begins, When Romance Isn't Enough 05:27 Matthew 19 and God's design for marriage 08:31 Marriage is covenant, not a consumer contract 10:30 The question isn't "am I happy" but "am I becoming like Jesus" 12:56 Christ loved the church, sacrificial love (Ephesians 5) 15:43 Singleness and undivided devotion (1 Corinthians 7) 16:32 Your value is found in Christ, not your relationship status 19:09 Church as family, making room at the table 22:30 Marriage points to Christ and the church 24:00 Don't ask a person for what only Jesus can give 26:23 Come to me, all who are weary (Matthew 11:28) 26:54 Christ is enough 28:25 Conversation Street begins 31:41 Is there really just one person for you? 36:15 Matt's word-of-knowledge story 37:30 Married "with the exit sign lit up", divorce and grace 44:00 Picking up singleness 45:14 The loneliness question 46:55 Anna on a fruitful season of singleness 54:22 What does the Bible say about dating? 59:37 Wrap and Live Lounge Key references Matthew 19:1-12, Jesus questioned about marriage and divorce, pointing back to God's original design (the main passage) Matthew 19:6, "what God has joined together, let no one separate" Ephesians 5:25-32, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, marriage as a picture of Christ and the church 1 Corinthians 7:32-35, singleness and the opportunity it gives for undivided devotion to the Lord Romans 12:5, we are one body in Christ and individually members one of another Matthew 22:30, "in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage" Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest" Quotes from the talk "Your value is not determined by whether somebody has chosen you romantically. Your value is found in Christ." — Dave Connolly "Nobody is better than anybody, because anybody can be the wrong body." — Dave Connolly "There's three people in a Christian marriage, Christ should be right at the centre of it." — Dave Connolly Conversation Street highlights Where the talk ends and the real conversation begins. There were three generations of marriage round the table, Dave at 47 years with Julie, Matt at 28 with Sharon, and Anna at 13 and a half with Andy. Matt and Sharon actually did their marriage prep with Dave and Julie, and Matt reckons marriage prep is the single best thing you can do before you marry. The first big question was whether there is just "the one". Anna does not buy it, she doesn't think God's plan for our lives is that narrow, and she pointed to how redeeming he is across the choices people make. She married at 33 and is pretty sure it would not have worked at 21, because both she and Andy were too immature then, so timing and maturity matter. Matt added a nuance, there may not be one single person you are destined to marry, but once you are married there is only one person to be married to. You choose one, and you act like it. He told the story of a men's meeting where he sensed God flag that someone was having an affair, and the man later told him "God told me the affair's okay because I married the wrong person." Matt's point was simple, God is not going to okay something he has clearly said is wrong. A lot of the conversation sat with divorce and grace. Dave remembered a divorced woman wondering whether she could ever marry again, and his answer was that God is gracious and kind and does not want us living under judgment. Matt put his own theology plainly, don't get divorced, but if you have, God's grace and redemption are still there and you are not shut out of church life. As he said, there is nothing so broken that God can't redeem. Both of them were careful to carry the caveat that if someone is being abused, the first thing is to get safe. They were honest that almost anything in a marriage is fixable, but it takes both people wanting to work at it. That lifts the shame off anyone who has been trying to carry it alone, one person working hard cannot fix it on their own. Anna shared how she and Andy saw a Christian therapist through a season of grief and baby loss, and how it helped not just that season but every season since. The encouragement that kept coming back was to get support early, be humble and ask for help at the first bump in the road rather than waiting for crisis point. Singleness got proper airtime too, not as a footnote to the marriage chat. Anna was single through most of her 20s and felt the pressure, from family wanting grandkids and the sense as a woman that time was ticking, and a good deal of it came from Christians who treated marriage as the ultimate goal. What changed things was getting her attitude right, trusting God with the timing and asking what she could do now rather than pining for what she did not yet have. It became a season of real fruitfulness. She lived in a shared house with seven or eight other single adults, several of whom became Christians and are still walking with God, and she named a depth of discipleship and proximity you cannot have once you are married. Intentionality was the word she kept coming back to. Dave and Julie modelled the other side of it, always having single people round after church, not to "represent the singles" but because of who they are, making room at the table. The last question was about dating "according to the Bible". Dave drew out the very different ancient culture, the move from a man making inroads to betrothal, then preparing a room at his father's house until the father said it was ready, which ties into the second coming and Jesus preparing a place for us. Anna was clear that dating is a modern construction but still valuable, as long as it is done with boundaries, purpose, intentionality, prayerfully, honouring the other person, and with accountability to people you trust. Dave added the Bible's steer about not being unequally yoked, a Christian and a non-Christian will hit real issues, and Anna rounded it off with the observation that you can be unequally yoked even as two Christians, through plain incompatibility. The takeaway they landed on, you are not defined by your relationship status, married or single. Links Explore more and join the conversation at crowd.church (https://crowd.church/) Curious about faith, or just have a lot of questions? The Alpha Course is running now on Wednesday evenings, and it is still fine to join partway through. Get in touch through the website. Crowd Church, a community for those who might not see the point of church.

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