When You're Not Sure If God Still Cares

Well, hello and welcome to Crowd Church's non-live livestream August series. My

name is Matt Edmundson, and I just wanted to jump on before we get started with

today's talk and tell you what's going on. So this isn't our usual Sunday

service. I know, but it is our usual August Crowd service. If you're a regular

to Crowd, you will have twigged already that we are not live. We're not in our

studio as we would usually be when we livestream. Which means I won't be

fighting the usual technical difficulties, but I may well fluff the odd line.

Just putting that out there. And here's why it's a little bit different. Because

in August, half of Crowd Church kind of disappear to somewhere hot, and the

other half of us are trying to kind of figure out, well, why did we not book

somewhere, right? It is the month in the UK that most of the team get to book

their holidays because of family. So we lean in, we lean— see, messing my lines

up— we lean into that every August. And we pre-record the talks. So we don't

have the Conversation Street. We don't have Live Lounge. And the whole team just

gets to stop for the entire month of August. We think of it as our Sabbath rest.

And it's a practice we've done every year. Yeah, so that people who serve you

week in week, they get some proper Sabbath rest and you still get something

worth turning up for. The talks are actually Brilliant. Uh, you'll get a lot out

of them. So make sure you keep watching on a Sunday with your cup of tea, or

possibly in August on a Wednesday afternoon when you're avoiding something

important. I don't know, whatever suits you. And of course, if you're new here

to Crowd, let me give you a big fat hello. Crowd is an online church, uh,

actually with, uh, members all over the place. Everything we do here at Crowd,

from the Sunday livestream to our midweek community groups, even the online

course for those exploring Christianity All of it is on the website, which is

www.crowd.church. Now this August, we are in the book of Psalms for 5 weeks, 5

Psalms. These are sort of Psalms written by people that— it's the book in the

middle of the New Old Testament. And there's going to be a thread running

through this series, which is what restoration actually looks like when your

life is all over the place, which Hands up if you need to hear that right now.

One more thing before we get started, make sure you stay with us to the end of

the video because there are some changes coming to Crowd starting in September,

all of them good ones. And I'm going to tell you about a few of them after the

talk. So hopefully that's created enough intrigue. But that's it. Let's settle

in. Grab your notebooks, grab your pens. Let's enjoy the talk. I'll be back.

After this.

I don't know where you are in the world or what the situation is like in your

country, but I do know that you're in a battle right now. Maybe you're painfully

aware of it. Maybe you haven't got the faintest idea what I'm talking about. The

battle I'm talking about is a spiritual battle, as we can see in the book of

Ephesians. Ephesians 6:12 says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

Ephesians 6:12

but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark

world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. The

battle also takes place in our minds. 2 Corinthians 10 says this: For though we

live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight

with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power

to demolish strongholds, We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets

itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to

make it obedient to Christ. The 2025 Mental Health Report produced by Mind and

the Centre for Mental Health found that 1 in 5 adults in England are living with

a common mental health problem. Amongst 16 to 24-year-olds, mental ill health

rose from 17.5% in 2007 to 25.8% in 2023 to 2024. The good news about Jesus is

good news for every area of our life, including our mental health. Jo Hargreaves

is a Christian psychotherapist who integrates theology and therapy. She says

that the Bible is the most regulating book for our nervous system. And by

implication for our minds. In it, we come face to face with a God who tells us

we are lovingly created for a purpose. We're not just a cosmic accident. We are

unconditionally loved, fully understood, and that he wants a, a loving

relationship with us. He's patient and kind. He's dependable. He's present. But

we have an adversary who wants to steal, kill and destroy. He wants us to walk

away from our relationship with the source of life and health, and he does that

mostly by whispering lies to us. What we believe about God, ourselves, and other

people affects the way we act. And one of the times we are most vulnerable to

those lies is during times of hardship. Times of hardship are a bit like a

crossroads Which path are we going to take? Are we going to walk away from God

or walk towards him? Can you think of a time when you felt utterly desperate?

Maybe you had a health crisis that rocked your world, or maybe you had chronic

pain where your suffering felt relentless. Maybe it was a painful or broken

relationship. Maybe you watched someone you love suffer illness or repeated

rejection. Maybe you've suffered abuse. Maybe you've sent hundreds of job

applications and haven't had a single lead or even a reply, and you feel

worthless. Maybe you felt that no one understands you. Maybe you felt deeply

lonely. Maybe that's how you feel now. If so, the psalm we're about to look at

today may seem as though it were written for you only this morning. In the

Bible, the Psalms are sacred songs used for praise and worship, but they're not

just full of lovely words about God. They touch on some of our deepest emotions

and difficult circumstances. Today we're going to look at Psalm 77 by a man

called Asaph. Now, many scholars believe that it was the Asaph who lived in King

David's era. Others think it was a different Asaph, written during a later

national crisis involving threat of invasion by the Assyrians, or around the

time of Babylonian exile. We're going to look at how Asaph's suffering led to a

battle in his mind and how he dealt with that. It's not a comprehensive answer

to the question of our mental health or the battle for our minds, but it's part

of the puzzle. Here's the first part of the psalm. I cried out to God for help.

I cried out to God to hear me. When I was in distress, I sought the Lord. At

night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. I remembered

You, God, and I groaned. I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. You kept my eyes

from closing. I was too troubled to speak. Notice how he started off crying out

to God in his distress. Even some atheists have been known to cry out to God

when their world seems to be crumbling. Maybe you're one of them. So he started

with words, but after a while, words weren't enough to express the depth of his

pain, and all he had left was groans. Have you ever been given words by other

people that were intended to comfort you, but they had the opposite effect

because they made light of your situation? Words such as, "Just trust God and it

will all be okay," "Just think of all the people worse off than you," "It could

be worse," "Look on the bright side." Lamentations 2:19 says, "Arise, cry out in

Lamentations 2:19

the night as the watches of the night begin. Pour out your heart like water in

the presence of the Lord." In the UK, especially in the era of my grandparents,

the standard approach to difficult situations was the stiff upper lip, stiff

upper lip approach. That approach meant staying outwardly strong and denying or

hiding your feelings. The Bible doesn't seem to advocate the hiding of your

feelings. Rather, it encourages us to pour out our hearts like water in the

presence of the Lord. Faith doesn't mean pretending that everything is okay when

it's not. Rather, faith is about a relationship with the living God. It's about

being honest about how we feel, but then looking to God for the truth. Not to

distract ourselves from facing reality by constantly scrolling or binge-watching

TV series or using constant work as an avoidance technique. God is big enough to

deal with it all. The next verses say this: I thought about the former days, the

years of long ago. I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my

spirit asked, will the Lord reject forever? Will He never show His favor again?

Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time?

Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has He in anger withheld His compassion? Our

difficult circumstances can lead us to look back on times when we were happy and

ask questions about God in the present. To question His character and intent

towards us, Has he rejected me? Does he really love me? Is he angry with me?

Does God actually exist? Because if he does and he's all good and all-powerful,

surely he wouldn't allow this to happen. So what does the writer do with all

those emotions, questions, and doubts? Let's continue reading. Then I thought,

to this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right

hand. I will remember the deeds of the Lord. Yes, I will remember your miracles

of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty

deeds. He starts to remember the times when God came through for his people. He

starts to remember who God is and remind himself of the truth. Whether you are a

Christ follower or not, think back over your life to when you cried out to God

and he answered you, or to times when been really aware of his presence. I

recently had the privilege of listening to some people's stories of this on an

online Alpha course that we do as part of Crowd Church. For those of you don't

know, Alpha is a course designed for people who are investigating the Christian

faith. It's a space to find out what the faith is about and to be able to ask

all your questions in a safe space. A few weeks ago, we were looking at the

first session about the Holy Spirit. I asked the question, have you ever had a

time when you experienced unexplained peace or guidance? The answers really

encouraged me. Everyone had a story, big or small, of spiritual experiences in

some dire situations. If you would like to join an Alpha course, you can either

sign up for one in the many churches around the world who run them, or you could

sign up for an Alpha online with Crowd Church. But what if you can't think of

any experiences of God in your life? If you're serious about wanting to know if

God exists, and if he does, does he care about you? Ask him to reveal himself to

you. Jeremiah 29 says this: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with

all your heart. This is not a one-off seeking, but a continual seeking. And he

may not answer in the way you want or expect, or in a time frame you'd like. But

he will answer. The writer goes on to say, your ways, God, are holy. What, uh,

God is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles. You display

your power among the peoples. With your mighty arm, you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. The waters saw you, God. The waters saw and

writhed. The very depths depths were convulsed. The clouds poured down water,

the heavens resounded with thunder. Your arrows flashed back and forth, your

thunder was heard in the whirlwind, your lightning lit up the world, the earth

trembled and quaked. Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty

waters, through the footprints— though the footprints were not seen. You led

your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Asaph, the writer of

the psalm, begins to recall times from long ago when God came through for his

people. He's referring to when God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt and

parted the sea so that they could walk through and escape the Egyptians. They

too had cried out to God and wondered if he was listening and if he cared. But

God had heard and he did come and rescue them. Although not in the timescale

they would have liked. When we remember the good things that God has done in our

past, it gives us comfort in the present and hope for the future. It's no wonder

that God often asked his people to build memorials after significant events and

to tell their children and their grandchildren all that God had done for their

ancestors. The writer of the psalm wasn't even alive at the time of the miracles

he's bringing to mind, so he didn't even experience them himself. We too can use

other people's stories about what God has done as an encouragement to ourselves.

We're not all necessarily going to get the miracle that we want in the way and

the time that we want one, as by definition they're not the standard way things

work. But the miracles that do happen are not only for the encouragement of the

person who received them, but they're for all of us. They're a reminder that God

is a— is powerful and does care, that one day God will put all things right. And

God also works in other ways, not just through miracles, but in many other ways.

The last verse of this Psalm says, "You led your people like a flock by the hand

of Moses and Aaron." In the Old Testament, God is referred to as a shepherd. In

the New Testament, Jesus explicitly claims this identity. In John 10:10, Jesus

John 10:10

says, 'I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays his life down for the

sheep.' The author of the psalm didn't mention any resolution to the question of

why he was suffering other than looking back and remembering God's character.

What we do know is that it wasn't because God didn't care. All through the Old

Testament, we see a God who passionately cares for his people. In Jesus, we see

a God who joins us in our suffering. He came to make us free from the inside out

and will one day set all things right. So if you're going through a tough time

right now and questioning God's existence, his love and care for you, take heart

from this psalm. Run to God rather than away from him and pour out your heart to

him. But don't stop there. Choose to turn your thoughts to stories of what he's

done, either for you or for other people. Remind yourself of who God is and what

he's done. If you don't have any of your own stories yet, there are loads on The

Crowd's What's the Story podcast, which you can find on our website. And turn

your thoughts to Jesus. Jesus showed us God's unconditional love. I'll finish

with a passage from the book of Romans. It says this, it's Romans 8:31-32. If

Romans 8:31–32

God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but

delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all

good things?

So that's the talk, and you're going to be able to find all of the notes, a sort

of a detailed blog post about it, all on the website, which is www.crowd.church.

And of course, if you'd rather listen than watch, you know, maybe you're on the

school run, on a dog walk, washing up, whatever it is, every talk goes out as a

podcast. Just search Crowd— uh, not Crowd Church, that's our website— search

Crowd Church wherever you get your podcasts from. I reference back my previous

point about fluffing lines. Now, I did say at the start that there were some

changes coming to Crowd, so do let me tell you about them. Number 1, Live

Lounge. Now, normally Live Lounge is a chance to jump and chat to the team, to

jump, jump on to a call and chat with members of the team after the live stream

has ended. But from September, you're gonna be able to do that from the start of

the live stream, you'll be able to watch the live stream in Live Lounge and

watch it with actual people, for your community, your friends, maybe even make

some new friends. And like I say, going to do that right from the start, which

I'm really excited about, because it is going to help us build community. We

have a phenomenal community here at Crowd Church. And building on that, I think

is going to just be exciting and phenomenal. So that's going to be one change.

The second change, the Wednesday night community groups are changing a little

bit. So instead of having scattered and disparate groups, we're going to gather

together as one big community and then break into smaller groups. And And each

small group will be your regular sort of community group where people get to

know your name. When they notice if you're not there, and you get to build your

friendships. Alpha will run alongside Community from September. It's going to

move to a Wednesday night, same time, 7:30. Um, and Alpha is great if you're new

to the Christian faith or if you're just exploring the Christian faith. The next

Alpha course starts on the 9th of September. September, and you can register for

that on the website at www.crowd.church. We have lots of people coming to Alpha.

They are phenomenal things. Um, so yeah, go check out the website, uh, for more

information about that at Crowd Church. The third change, uh, is more in-person

meetups.

Yay!

Go in-person meetups! Now, we baptized, uh, some folks in Dorset, uh, last

month, which was really phenomenal. We thought, actually, we need to do more of

in-person meetup. So that's what we're going to do. We are planning gatherings

throughout the year, from regional meetups to bigger events. Again, more

information will be coming, more information on the website. One thing to tell

you about, CrowdFest 27 will be held— with CrowdFest is going to be a big

get-together where we all get together. And we're going to do that at the

Wildfires Festival at the end of July in 2027. You can find out more information

about Wildfires Festival and buy your tickets at wildfiresfestival.com, um, or

just follow the links from the website because there's going to be more

information on the website about CrowdFest 27, crowd.church. So yeah, if that's

not it, there's more stuff coming. Yes, there are. So, but I don't want to

bombard you. We're going to go through that in more detail in September. Yes, we

are. So in the meantime, like I said, everything you want to know about Crowd

from past talks all the stuff we've talked about today is on the website,

www.crowd.church. Make sure you subscribe to the channel, uh, whilst you're

here, because like I said, this is a 5-parter all the way through the Book of

Psalms, and it's built to be taken as a whole. Each one's going to build onto

the next one, so don't miss any of them. But that's it from me. Thank you so

much for joining us. Have a phenomenal week wherever you are in the world. I

will see you next time. Bye for now.