Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Matthew 22:2-3 opening verses of the parable of the wedding feast, the king inviting guests who refused to come
2 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son,
3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.
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Keep this verse
Revelation 19:6-9
description of the coming wedding feast of the lamb and the bride clothed in fine linen
6 I heard something like the voice of a great multitude, and like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of mighty thunders, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns!
7 Let us rejoice and be exceedingly glad, and let us give the glory to him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready.”
8 It was given to her that she would array herself in bright, pure, fine linen: for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
9 He said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” He said to me, “These are true words of God.”
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Isaiah 61:10
the prophet speaks of being dressed in clothing of salvation and draped in a robe of righteousness like a bride or bridegroom
10 I will greatly rejoice in Yahweh! My soul will be joyful in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
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Matthew 22:8-9
the king tells servants the invited guests are unworthy and to go invite everyone from the street corners
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy.
9 Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’
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Matthew 22:11-14
the king confronts the man without proper wedding clothes and has him bound and thrown into outer darkness
11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing,
12 and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless.
13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness. That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’
14 For many are called, but few chosen.”
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Ecclesiastes 3:11
cited to answer how people without exposure to the gospel are accountable, God has planted eternity in the human heart
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
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Luke 14:33
read during the offering, anyone who does not renounce all he has cannot be a disciple
33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn’t renounce all that he has, he can’t be my disciple.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Brian preached from the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22 on Easter Sunday, holding the service in a tent on an ice rink at Red Aspen. He used the parable to explain what it means to be ready, or not ready, to be part of what the Bible calls the wedding supper of the Lamb. The whole message was an invitation to receive what he called the wedding garments of salvation before it is too late.
What was said
Brian opened by identifying the characters in the parable. The king is God, the son is Jesus, and the great wedding feast represents an actual future event. He pointed the congregation to Revelation 19, where John describes a vast crowd celebrating the wedding feast of the Lamb, and he read that the bride has been given fine white linen representing the good deeds of God's holy people.
To explain the wedding garments, Brian filled in a detail from ancient Middle Eastern custom that modern readers tend to miss. In Jesus' day, the host of a wedding provided a garment for every single guest. Knowing that, he said, the garments given at the wedding feast of the Lamb are a picture of salvation itself. He read from Isaiah 61 where the prophet says God has dressed him in clothing of salvation and draped him in a robe of righteousness.
Brian then returned to the parable and focused on the man who was found at the feast without proper wedding clothes. He said this man represents two kinds of people. First, those who want the blessings of God but on their own terms, rejecting the garments the king freely provided. Second, those who assume that attending church, knowing scripture, or growing up in a Christian home is enough, without ever personally surrendering to Jesus.
When the king confronts that man, the man is speechless, and Brian said every person will one day stand before God the same way, without a valid excuse. He addressed the objection that people in other cultures or ages never heard the gospel, pointing to Ecclesiastes 3:11 and the idea that God has planted eternity in the human heart, writing his moral law there so that no one is without excuse. He compared rejecting God's moral law to not believing in gravity and stepping off a building anyway.
Brian described three categories everyone in the room falls into. First, those who have received the invitation, put on the wedding garments, and live in eager anticipation of that day. Second, those who received the invitation casually and are still trying to attend the wedding on their own terms. Third, those who are still standing outside the wedding entirely. He said the good news is that the invitation is still open, the king's servants have been sent out to every corner, and the garments are custom tailored and freely given.
He closed the sermon by leading the congregation in a prayer of commitment and then invited anyone who prayed it for the first time, or who was rededicating their life, to stand publicly. He framed that public act directly, saying that Jesus himself said those who acknowledge him before people on earth will be acknowledged before the Father in heaven. The service moved from there into communion, which Brian connected back to the same wedding theme, describing how Jesus at the Last Supper deliberately chose the cup associated with a Jewish marriage proposal and spoke words a bridegroom would speak.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Read the full parable in Matthew 22 on your own and sit with the question of which person in the story represents where you actually are right now.
- If you prayed the salvation prayer this morning but stayed seated, find Brian or someone on the prayer team this week and tell them what happened in your heart.
- Bring someone with you to a Sunday service who has never been, the way the servants in the parable went out and invited everyone they could find.
- Take a quiet moment this week, eyes closed, and honestly ask yourself whether you are living a surrendered life to Jesus or trying to enjoy the benefits of the wedding on your own terms.
- If you are a Christian, read Revelation 19 verses 6 through 9 and let the reality of the coming wedding feast sit with you for more than just a passing thought.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Brian described a parable as 'a little story with a big meaning' and said some people only ever hear the story while others mine the gold out of it. What do you think gets in the way of people hearing past the surface of a story like this one?
- The wedding garments in the parable represent something freely provided by the king that guests were expected to wear. Brian said one type of person wants the blessings of the wedding but on their own terms, refusing to wear what was given. Where do you see that tendency show up in your own life with God?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Brian predicó en el servicio de Pascua de Tribe, que este año se realizó en una carpa con piso de hielo en una pista de patinaje. El mensaje se centró en la parábola del banquete de bodas de Mateo 22, donde un rey prepara una gran fiesta para su hijo. Brian explicó que en esa historia el rey representa a Dios, el hijo es Jesús, y la fiesta es el banquete final que la Biblia describe al final de los tiempos. También explicó que en la cultura del Medio Oriente antiguo, el anfitrión de una boda proveía ropa a todos los invitados, y que esa ropa representa la salvación que Dios ofrece gratuitamente a quienes entregan su vida a Cristo.
Brian señaló que el hombre en la parábola que entró sin ropa de bodas representa a dos tipos de personas: quienes quieren los beneficios de Dios pero en sus propios términos, sin rendirse a Jesús, y quienes creen que con ir a la iglesia o conocer las reglas de Dios es suficiente, sin haber hecho una entrega real. Dijo que cada persona presente cae en una de tres categorías: los que ya están vestidos y listos para el banquete, los que recibieron la invitación pero viven a su manera, y los que todavía están afuera. Al final del mensaje, Brian invitó a quienes quisieran recibir a Jesús por primera vez, o regresar a él, a orar juntos y a hacer una declaración pública de fe. Varias personas respondieron poniéndose de pie. La reunión terminó con comunión.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados:
- Mateo 22:2-3, 8-9, 11-14
- Apocalipsis 19:6-9
- Isaías 61:10
- Eclesiastés 3:11
- Lucas 14:33
Read the full transcript 8,778 words
Speaker 2Let's all stand together. Welcome if this is your first time here. We tribe always does something unique. This year, we provided Easter service on the ice rink for you, so I hope you brought your ice skates for Red Aspen. But it wouldn't be a tribe service unless there was some fun, funky, eloquent ride.
But Lord Jesus, we just come before you this morning. We just thank you and we praise you that we celebrate today that you rose to pay for our sin. We just praise you. Just close your eyes for just a minute. Just ask the Lord to remove the distractions from your mind and from your heart.
Lord, we just come before you. We just ask that you would fill this place, meet meet every heart in this tent today in a unique way. Let us leave here changed because of you in Jesus' name. Amen. Alright.
Tribe fam, we need you to sing it out. If you're a visitor, sing it out. The words are up here on the TV. We're gonna worship the Lord together. Just invite his presence.
The words of this song. These are from the perspective of Lazarus because he was raised from the tomb as Jesus called his name and I know we're celebrating Jesus' resurrection today. So we're celebrating the power of resurrection that is in him. And when he called forth Lazarus' name, Lazarus has been dead for four days. That's some power, y'all.
Just think about this. It goes like this. Come today. Meet us in this place. Just invite him, meet us.
You said, you said that's all we sleep. Because one He's a miracle working God. Let's invite him to come to work a miracle in your life today. You are a miracle working You are, Lord. Just think of the miracles that he's done in your life, that even death hell in the grave couldn't hold him.
Let's celebrate. Let's just I went outside just a minute before we started. The music was in here, you could hear everyone talking. And I just feel like the Lord in this place just wants to draw you to himself as we just lift our voice of praise and declare who he is and what he can do today. Our prayers, our worship are like incense that rise to heaven and that we have this connection as we worship.
We join the angels and the saints in heaven and let our prayer be today that day and night, night and day. Let the worship of our lives, let the worship of our heart rise to him that we're just constantly worshiping him. As we sing this, just think about that day and night, night and day. Just right where you are in your seat, with your eyes closed, just take a minute and just let him examine your heart today. Do you know him today?
Are you far from him? Did you talk to him already this morning, or have you never dared to even ask the question, God, are you real? Can you hear me? Can you really speak to me? Just take a minute, just at your seat.
The whole reason we're gathered here today is to meet with the Lord. What a bummer it would be to do go to all this work, come and sing some songs and hear a message, and leave the same way we came in. Right? We all could be skiing the last day at the village, getting out in the backcountry, but you chose to be here. You're not here by accident today.
Press in. Press in. Press in. Let him meet you here today. You know that he had a plan for you from the day you were born and even before.
And if you feel lost, if you feel confused, it's because you just haven't tapped in to the plan the creator has for you. There's life in him. Real life, real peace, real joy that never ends. I remember when I was lost and without him, and it felt like there was a chasm, and then he met Let him meet you today. Greet somebody.
Say hi to somebody you don't know. Say he is risen. And then you say back, he is risen indeed.
Speaker 1Alright. Good morning, everybody. How are y'all doing? Good. Alright.
Hey. We we might have ice for a floor, but at least we got bacon. Yeah. Bacon. Bacon.
I'm so glad that you guys are here. If you've been with tribe for any length of time, you know that, Easter is always, interesting time for our tribe fam. Whether we're meeting in a tent with an ice floor or it's rapidly not becoming ice, or how many of you were here for our Easter quarantine service when we were meeting in vehicles with the service? Wow. Wow.
What will next Easter provide for us? What sort of curveballs and twists? One of the things I love about our tripping here and I see so many faces of like people that have been with us for so many years is that you're able to pivot. You like to keep things fresh. You like to keep things lively and on your toes.
And here we are this year, Easter service in a tent with a nice floor, but it looks like all of you wear wore your very best Sunday mukluks boots for today. So I'm very proud of you. If you have your bible with you this morning, let's turn to Matthew chapter 22. I'm gonna read, portions of a parable to you that perhaps you've heard before. Maybe this story from the Bible is is new for you, but we're gonna talk about several different aspects of this story from Matthew chapter 22.
I'll give you a minute to turn there. I'm gonna turn there myself. We're gonna look at a couple of different passions. We'll we'll skip one spot. You can go back, read the whole thing for yourself.
But I wanna start by reading just the first two verses. It says that Jesus told them other parables. He said, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited, but they all refused to come. Alright.
Stop right there for just a moment. How many of you know what a a parable is? It's something that you might not encounter in your everyday life, but Jesus often taught and he spoke in parables, in bite sized, digestible, easy, relatable stories. And what I say a parable is, it is a little story with a
Speaker 2Big meaning.
Speaker 1With a big meaning. A parable is simply a little story with a big meaning. Jesus talked in parables, and he said that whenever he was using parables, there were some people that only ever heard the story. And they're like, okay. Cool story.
But then he said that anyone with ears to hear, anybody who would be searching and looking deeper than just the story itself can mine a gold mine the gold out of the story that impacts them directly and has the power to change their life. Even though he said these words two thousand years ago, the power is still in these words to change our lives. So those of you with ears to hear this morning, listen to the words of Jesus. And he said this, the kingdom of heaven can be illustrated by the story of the king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. One of the keys to understanding a parable is being able to figure out who represents who in the story.
Jesus never included characters without having a a an understanding of where he was going and what he wanted you as the hearer to think. So in this parable, it says the story of a king. In this parable, when it talks about the king, who would that be? That would be God. He's the king.
Says that he prepared a wedding feast for his son. Who's his son? Jesus. There you go. There you go.
Even if you only come to church on Sunday or on Easter, you should at least get that one, his son. Now what about this great wedding feast? Like, what is what is that wedding feast? What does it represent? What is it what is it supposed to?
Jesus. What is he talking about when he talks about a great wedding feast? Well, here we are in this tent that's kinda set up like a wedding. I get to be a part of a lot of weddings in the summer. Some of them are really elaborate, and they've got they've got like a a place for the ceremony and then a place for the the dinner, and then there's the dancing.
We all love the dancing. Right? Sometimes we do a simple wedding ceremony right by Flat Creek. And our family, our friends, and loved ones are on FaceTime to be able to see it. I've done all kinds of weddings.
I love I love it when we get to do weddings in tents because I love I love living in tents. Some of my family likes that. Other members of my family don't. We went on their very last spring break with our oldest, Kai. Our oldest son, Kai, we've got two, Selah and Kai.
Selah's already left the house, but she's here for Easter. Everybody say, my oldest son. You're out of the house. Zayla's here for Easter. This is Kai.
Just with Kai. Three of the four of us really like sleeping on the ground and living in tents. One of them was like, from my last spring break, can we just go and, like, sit by the pool and just relax and, like, read our books and hang out? And so we just got back from spring break being able to do that. My preference on a spring break or really any time would be, like, something involving sleeping on the ground, waking up with a sore back, sand of some sort.
But I love tents for being able to have weddings in a tent. And the Bible talks about there being a wedding someday. Towards the end of this present age, there is going to be a wedding. I wanna read a little bit about that wedding. There's this guy.
His name is John. He walked with Jesus. And when John was elderly, he was like an old dude. He was exiled on the Island Of Patmos. They tried to kill him.
They tried to poison him. Didn't work. They tried to boil him alive in oil because to get him to renounce his faith in Jesus, that didn't kill him. So, like, alright. We'll put you on an island all by yourself.
So he was exiled to the Island Of Patmos. While he was on the Island Of Patmos, he saw an amazing moving picture, if you will, of Jesus in the end of the age. And I wanna read some of that is recorded here in the Bible, and I'd like us to read a little bit of it. So turn over to the book of Revelation. It's really easy.
If you only use your Bible once a year I didn't think that one would
Speaker 2go up.
Speaker 1Let's sting a little. Click on Revelation. If you get to the maps, just hang a left in your Bible, and I wanna read a portion of Revelation to you because we get a beautiful glimpse of what this wedding at the end of the age is actually going to be like. Revelation chapter 19. I'm gonna start reading in verse six, and we'll go to verse nine.
John is speaking is that my phone or yours, miss?
Speaker 2It's not mine.
Speaker 1Mine. I can yell at myself. Revelation six Revelation 19, I'll start reading in verse six. Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder. Praise the lord.
For the lord our god, the almighty reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice. Let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear, for the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people.
And then the angel said this to me, blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the lamb. And he added, these are true words that come from God. Now if you're not very familiar with the book of Revelation, I get it. I understand. There's a lot of imagery.
There's a lot of there's a lot of things that are said in the book of Revelation that would cause you to scratch your head and be like, woah. Woah. What's he talking about? Some of these things that we read in the book of Revelation, they're still to be uncovered for us. Some of the things we can know.
All that we read in this passage just now, we can unpack that and we can read that. Who is the bride of Christ? Other places in the Bible, it tells us that anyone who has understood that they have broken God's moral law, they've asked Jesus to forgive their sin, and they've committed their whole life to following him, that's what it means to be born again. That's what it means to be a Christian. And if you are a Christian, you are a part of the bride of Christ.
Oh, y'all. There's gonna be a wedding someday. There's gonna be a wedding someday. It will be the most spectacular event in the course of human history. Weddings are rowdy and raucous and a lot of fun right here, and all we're doing is just tuning up.
All we're doing is just warming up for the big wedding that's gonna play out right here on planet Earth in the days ahead. Sorry. Bernadette, tint with ice floors.
Speaker 2So now what else?
Speaker 1Was it getting chilly
Speaker 2again? Give everyone a second.
Speaker 1Do I need to preach with more fevered, like, each month? It's Jackson. You'll be alright. Tensity, Brian.
Speaker 2Turn it and leave it for a second, and then we're done.
Speaker 1So we talked about the bride of Christ. But what about it says it says that these in the Bible that the guests were also given these wedding garments. What is what is the what are these wedding garments? Here's what's really cool. In our weddings today in our weddings today, you can't really, like like, we don't really have an equivalent in our day and age.
There we go. Just zip your jacket up. You all have puffy jackets. Put me on. Maybe, maybe the bridesmaids like like for the wedding party, maybe like you know they they get up, they give them a dress and you can you can take that home.
But in our modern wedding culture, we don't really have an equivalent. So we have to rewind the clock back to understand something that was very common in Jesus' day back in ancient Middle Eastern customs, whenever there was a wedding, whoever hosted the wedding, which was usually the father of the bride, but whoever hosted the wedding provided wedding clothes for every single person that attended the wedding. Now I'm not talking about, like, a, like, a brand new three piece suit for everybody. Sometimes it was like a robe. Sometimes it was like a shawl.
Sometimes it was may maybe a scarf, but every single person that came to the wedding was given wedding clothes and wedding garments. So knowing that, when you go back and read what it says in Revelation 19, it says, for the time has come, for the wedding feast of lamb is his bride has prepared herself, and she has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear. For the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people. So when somebody read this passage that understood Middle Eastern wedding customs, they'd be like, oh, yeah. Makes sense.
For us, we gotta we gotta fill in the gap with a little bit of information. It's a beautiful the wedding garments that are given to each person that comes into the wedding, it's a beautiful picture. What is it a picture of? It's a picture of what we just talked about, this idea of getting saved and becoming a Christian. The Bible says that those who come into the wedding feast of the lamb have are people that have invited Jesus into their heart and made him the leader of their lives.
This is such a great verse. It's worth turning to. Click on your phone or flip in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 61, but keep your finger in Matthew chapter 22 because we're gonna come back. Isaiah Schuler. Yeah.
Mhmm.
Speaker 2She had to be up church during there.
Speaker 1I wasn't even in Matthew. I've I've been waiting for you to get to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 61. Listen to verse 10. Isaiah the prophet is speaking.
He says, for I'm overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God. For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation, and he has draped me in a robe of righteousness. And I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels. I don't know what sort of church context and culture that you might have grown up with. Maybe they talked about this a lot.
Maybe this is something new for you, but I want you to have this idea and concept buried deep in your heart that someday there's going to be a wedding. There's gonna be a wedding where the bride of Christ, which is us as Christians and Christians who have died throughout the ages, throughout across geographical boundaries, across the whole world, will join together in an incredible ceremony where we will be united with him, never to be separated, and then the wedding feast of the lamb begins. But the parable in Matthew chapter 22 is not quite over. I told you keep your finger there. So let's go back to Matthew 22 because I wanna continue to read to you from this parable.
Matthew 22. Now I want to pick up the story in verse eight. Verse eight says this, and then he said to his servants, again, is the king, the wedding feast is ready, and the guests I have invited aren't worthy of the honor. Well, let's talk about that. Who is that?
Those people who think that they are too good for a relationship with God. Those people who think that they've got it all together all on their own. Those who think, religion, that's the opioid of the masses. Religion, that's a crutch. Religion, relationship with God.
I I don't know about any of that. There's an invitation that's been given, but they've rejected it. So the king tells the servants this. Verse nine. Now go out into the street corners and invite everyone you see.
The idea in Aramaic language, which is what the New Testament was portions of the New Testament was written in, is this idea of go and turn over every rock, go into every bar, go into every corner of town, every highway, byway, the ditches, out into the streets, all the way to those the most disreputable parts of town that you could find all the way to the West Bank in Wilson. I'm just jealous. So the servants brought everyone they could find, good, bad, alike, even those from Wilson, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. But now listen to this part of this story. It's fascinating.
But when the king came in to meet the guest, he noticed the man who wasn't wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. Now if you don't understand the cultural context like I just explained, you you might think that what did he show up in in flip flops and Hawaiian shirt? Like, well, I mean, that could be proper wedding attire. You're going to a wedding here in Jackson, but he wasn't wearing the proper clothing. Verse 12, friend, he asked, how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?
But the man had no reply. And then things escalate really quickly. Mhmm. Then the king said to his aides, bind his hands and his feet and throw him into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are cold, but few are chosen.
Who is this guy that was not dressed for the wedding? Who who is he? And I guess the the follow-up question is, how can all of us make sure we're not that guy? This guy represents two different types of people. Neither of them come in the proper wedding attire.
First of all, this man represents those who would want the blessings of God, but on their own terms. I'll come to the wedding, but I'm not gonna wear the clothes that you provided. Listen to this. They are given a garment, but they reject wearing it. The man desired the honor of attending the wedding feast, but he didn't wanna follow the custom of the king.
He wanted to do things his own way. His lack of proper dress revealed his inner rebellion against the king and his instructions. Second type of person that this man represents is those who believe that receiving the invitation and association with other wedding guests who are dressed properly would be sufficient. That person says, well, I I I I go to church. I have a bible.
I hang out with some other people that that go to church. I know God's laws and standard. Or even, well, my parents grew up going to church. I just kinda always went I just kinda always went to church growing up. But there is a gap between you and your obedience and surrender to the lifestyle and to the leadership of Jesus Christ.
And then when that man in the parable is confronted by the king, what does it say about the man that was confronted? He was speechless. Someday, each and every single one of us within the sound of my voice, Those that are watching the livestream today will stand before a holy God and you will give an account of your life. No excuse, no story, no reason for rejecting his son will be excused. Well, I but I but but you'll find there's sand in your mouth.
What possible reason could you have for rejecting the miracle of Jesus Christ, the life that he lived, the death that he suffered, and the resurrection that he experienced because he is really excited about the wedding. The person that would say, well, I I I never got around to it. How about the person that would say, well, I I never I never really knew that Jesus was a waste. How many of you I mean, don't raise your hand. But how many of you have have ever had to stand before a judge in a courtroom?
Maybe for a speeding ticket or something. Well, I didn't know the speed limit was only 55. What does the judge say? Ignorance is not a defense. I know maybe somebody in here would be thinking like, yeah.
Okay. Okay. Maybe us. Okay. Maybe I'm without an excuse, but what about people from different cultures and different ages that that that didn't grow up in The United States, that didn't grow up with, like, Billy Graham on TV and and Christian radio programming and and churches in every town in America that you go to.
What about them? And you you try to use that to get yourself off the hook, But there is a valid answer. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes three eleven that God has planted eternity in the human heart, that God has written his law on each and every human heart so that no one is without excuse. Whether you knew Jesus or had never heard of him, you will be judged according to how well you followed, not your own internal moral compass, but the moral compass that God has planted on the inside of each and every human heart. He created the universe.
He set up the natural laws that we all must obey or suffer the consequences. If I were standing on the edge of a really tall building here, whether I believed in gravity or not, if I stepped off the edge of this tall building, what would happen to me? I don't believe in gravity. I never heard of gravity. It's good for you that you believe in gravity, but but not me.
I do something different. Step off the edge of that building and see what happens. In the same way, God has established a moral law for the entire universe. Mhmm. And the man that found himself in the wedding without the proper wedding clothes for one reason or another rejected submission and obedience to God's moral law.
And make no mistake, you might have gotten away with your lifestyle up until today, But the king is coming into the wedding banquet. And if you are found without wedding clothes, he's going to say, friend, how did you get in here without the proper wedding clothes? Were he bigoted, narrow minded, judgmental, and race oath? Be careful because it's not your wedding, and you're not the host of this short eighty some year internship that we have on this planet. When you get to when you get to create your own universe someday, you can make up whatever laws you want to.
When confronted by the king, you will be found speechless. We saw what the result is of not being dressed properly in verse 13. The king said to his aid, bind his hands and feet and throw him into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. I love to be with people and to, like, cut me off, like, on text thread or to not be with as many of my friends all the time as much as possible. I mean, to me, that's like outer darkness.
I can't take it. But in this story, Jesus talks about a place of of outer darkness. It he is speaking of a very real place called hell. It's okay if you don't believe in hell. It's really irrelevant if you do or don't.
That does not change the reality of the existence of that place. The quicker you come to the realization that hell is a very real place and there are clear guidelines and standards for who goes and who doesn't go, the better off you'll be. That's why Jesus included that in his parable. It's a happy story about a wedding, but then there was this one guy, and then there was he was bound hand and foot. This person experienced being cut off from the wedding celebration, banished from the presence of the gracious king.
It represents the person who rejects Jesus' sacrifice for forgiveness of their sins and refuses to believe that he rose from the dead, and they will spend eternity in a very real place called hell. Today, all of you within the sound of my voice fall into one of three categories. Every one of you fall into one of three categories. You've received an invitation to the wedding and have dressed in the proper attire and enjoy the eager anticipation eager anticipation of the wedding feast of the lamb. You're in.
You've received the invitation to the wedding, but you think you can live a life that pleases God on your own terms, meaning you live a life really to please yourself. You've not put on the wedding garments of the surrendered life to Jesus. Those who have surrendered put on the wedding garments and find themselves in the wedding. Those who have who have taken the invitation lightly, casual, and have not put on the wedding clothes that have been generously, graciously provided for you by the host of the wedding. You think that you can enjoy all the benefits of the wedding, but on your own terms.
Or three, you still stand outside the wedding. No wedding garments, lost without Christ, without hope. If you are one of the second two people, I have some good news for you. Maybe what we've been talking about for the last few minutes sound a little hard, but I've got some good news for you. All of you, every single one of us can enjoy the benefits of being invited to the wedding ceremony.
The invitation has gone out. Who am I today? I'm nobody other than one of the king's servants that has been sent out to tell you the good news. There's gonna be a wedding. You are invited, and we've got clothes that will fit you perfectly.
It doesn't matter where you've been. It doesn't matter how bad you've messed up or blown it. God has wedding clothes that are specifically custom tailored for you? Today, you can grab a hold of those wedding garments. You can come into the wedding supper of the lamb.
What does that what does that mean? What does that look like? That simply means I'm gonna if I hadn't stepped on your toes enough, man, I I know I'm stepping on your toes, but I would much rather be hard with my words resulting in a soft heart for you than soft on you with my words resulting in a hard heart for you. Yeah. Right?
Yes. When you go to the doctor with an affliction or an ailment, what do you want the doctor to say to you? The truth, or do you want him to say something to make you feel good that when you walk out, there's no cure or remedy or anything that you can do to alleviate your affliction. That's part of what going to the doctor includes. He's gonna talk straight to you.
This morning, I wanna talk straight to Many of you I I know so many of your faces, but not all of your faces. Many of you have come to that place in your life, not that you have to have it all figured out, but you've come to that place in your life where you're like, I've heard the invitation of Jesus knocking on the door of my heart. I've realized that in my present condition, I I I can't go into the wedding. Look at me. Look at how I've messed up.
Look how I've blown it. Look how I fall short. And then you've encountered the love of Jesus where he says, I still want you. I still want you in the wedding supper of the lamb. My dad, he's got some brand new clothes for you that will fit you beautifully.
Come on. Just drop those old filthy rags of your lifestyle. And you've put on those wedding garments, you've been born again, and you and you walk with eager anticipation of that day. But maybe somebody in here today would realize, oh, oh, either I've received the invitation, but I've taken it casually, tried to enter into the wedding on my own terms because I'm not living a surrendered life to Jesus, or you find yourself standing on the outside. Just kind of looking in.
I hear that place offers hope, offers forgiveness, it offers purpose and destiny, it offers peace, it offers healing, but here I am on the outside. Listen to me, I'm just a servant. Come on. The king has wedding clothes for you. Receive his invitation to come to the wedding.
Drop the old garments of your lifestyle, your bankrupt, godless, hedonistic lifestyle, and come running into the banquet. So I wanna give you an opportunity in just a moment. I wanna give you an opportunity to exchange your garments for new garments. I wanna give you an opportunity to lay down that old life and to receive his new life. But I want you to take a moment and just count the cost.
Okay? Don't find yourself like, oh, that's such a good idea. Like, I know that I need to make this decision, make this commitment, and then you just, like, try to slip on in wearing your own clothes. We saw how that ends. But take just a moment.
Let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart this morning. Take a look at your feet. That ice is melting fast. That's about how long you have on this planet. It it goes disappears quick.
Just let the Holy Spirit speak to you for a minute.
Speaker 2Just close your eyes. Just close your eyes and just let just let Brian just talked about in God's word just sink in for just another minute. Just asking when am I ready to meet you.
Speaker 1Robert, I'm gonna put your skills to the test here. Don't blame don't blame him if it squeaks. How do I actually make that exchange? How do I go from being out of the wedding to being in the wedding? The bible says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved.
For it is by faith through grace that we are saved. So here's what it looks like. You pray to Jesus because he died on the cross for your sins and rose from the dead, and you ask him to forgive you of your sin. I understand that I've broken your law. Please forgive me.
Ask him for a brand new life. Not just, okay, clean up the old one and I'm I'm gonna try again really hard on my own. That's wearing your own clothes into the wedding, but take on his life righteousness, what the bible calls it, another way to say it is right standing with him. So I can remember when I invited Jesus into my heart. It was a decisive moment.
I can remember when Lissa made a decision to invite Jesus into her heart, and it would it was a very decisive moment. And today, I wanna give you an opportunity to take advantage of this decisive moment. So here's what we're gonna do. I'm going to lead us in a prayer. And if you would like to invite Jesus into your heart for the very first time, or maybe you've invited Jesus into your heart at some point in your life, but you've walked away from him.
And over the course of our time together this morning, you've realized, oh, I gotta get back right with Jesus, and you wanna rededicate your life to him. Then I'm going to lead you in some words. Say these words after me, but mean it with all of your heart. And by way of privacy, I'm gonna invite all of us to say these words. So some of the people saying these words, they've already said this, but we're gonna give you some privacy.
For others, maybe it's the very first time that you're saying these words, and then I'm gonna ask you to do something really brave. The bible says that if you acknowledge me before men on earth, I will acknowledge you before my father in heaven. I said this the other day, but this is like this is a town of hardcore people. I'm gonna ask you to do something hardcore. None of you live in, like, Keystone or Freckenridge.
This is Jackson Hole. So I'm gonna ask you to do something very courageous. At the end of the prayer, I'm gonna ask if anybody prayed that prayer for the very first time, and not with heads bowed and eyes closed, but with every head up looking around, if you invited Jesus into your heart or rededicated your life to him, I'm gonna invite you to stand up and make a public profession of your faith. Says the guy that's like, I've already done that. So but it's good.
It's good when we make that public profession of faith, isn't it? Those chains fall off. It just gets so much more real. So say this prayer, mean it with all of your heart, and by way of privacy, we're all gonna say it together. Say, Lord Jesus Lord I come to you today I come to you today.
With a problem. With problem. My sin separates me separates me from you. I see that. I see that.
I need help. Need help. Jesus. Jesus. Will you please Forgive my sin.
Forgive my sin. Wash it away. Wash it away. With your precious blood. With your precious blood.
I'm asking you today.
Speaker 2I'm asking you today.
Speaker 1For a brand new heart and a brand new life. Forgive me. Forgive me. And from this day forward, in the best way that I know how, I commit my whole life, commit my whole life, to following you. Now you take just a moment and you make it personal, just in the stillness of your own heart.
And I know that there are dozens and dozens and dozens of Christians praying for you right now. If you need to tell him that you're sorry, if you need to tell him that you love him, you just take those words that we just said and make them personal. Now last little part. You say this with me, and then I'm gonna give you an opportunity. It doesn't matter if you were young, if you were old, if you have never been to tribe, or if you come to tribe each and every week.
It doesn't matter if you are on the stage right here. We had that happen at Easter a few years ago. Member of the worship team got saved. That was great. If you have a tribe lanyard on, it just it doesn't matter.
The wedding clothes put us all on the same footing. Yes. So say this with me. Jesus, thank you.
Speaker 2Jesus, thank you.
Speaker 1I cannot wait. I cannot wait. To spend eternity with you. To eternity with you. Oh, what a wedding it's
Speaker 2gonna be. Oh, what a wedding it's gonna be.
Speaker 1We pray these things in Jesus' name, and everybody said. Amen. Must drop all the courage that you have. If there's anybody in here that today would like to make a public profession of the faith that they just made, stand to your feet and the rest of us are gonna celebrate you exuberantly. Or maybe they need a little something to prime their pump.
Stay standing. Everybody, stay standing. Let me just let me just say this. The clapping and the celebrating. This is please, this is not about me at all.
This is not really necessarily even about the people that stand. It's about the goodness of Jesus. To touch a human heart and for the human heart to respond in humility. And I think I have a I have a sense that maybe there's a few more people here that it feels like your little biscuits are glued to that chair. The chair may be frozen into the ice right now, but what's pulling you down is your pride.
But what's tugging on you is the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit. Before the banquet doors close and the party begins. This servant stands here and asks one more time if there is anybody that needs to stand. Come on, mama.
Speaker 2Jesus,
Speaker 1leader of my life, in this town, in front of all of these people, in the whole city of Jackson. Jesus. Jesus. There's like a lot of places there's a big old gray area. One foot in, one foot out.
Not in this town. Not in this town. Should I ask one more time? Anybody else but Jesus? Is that your sister?
Is that your sister? Now, you might not have the fist, like like you might be like, I can't I can't do this. Squeeze the hand of the person to your right and they will stand up with you. Just grab their hand. It doesn't matter what you've done
Speaker 2or where you've been.
Speaker 1You don't even have to have it all figured out. There's a part of you that could be like, I'm not even a 100% sure of what I'm doing. That's okay. Just responding in simple childlike obedience. Last time, last last time, if you are lost and you know it, if you are without Christ and you know If you knew the goodness of God and you have walked away from it.
The invitation today is come running back to him. Oh, and then Hey. If we keep doing this, we might have enough ice milk for a baptism this morning. I got I gotta I gotta have integrity and I said that was the last time. Windows closing.
Windows closing. For those of you who stood up, stay standing. I'm gonna invite you just in your own personal way of surrender. Some of you are standing with others. Some of you standing for yourself.
Take a moment and you just make it personal. Right? Right where you are, close your eyes, and just tell them in the best way I know how, I just give you my life. Yes. Awesome.
I don't have it all figured out. Thank you that I don't need to. I just surrender to you. Heal me. Forgive me.
Redeem my life. We pray these things in Jesus' name. And you who are standing, Sid. Amen. We're gonna do one more thing.
You can sit down. Wow. My goodness. So you can't have a proper wedding celebration without food. We've already had some really delicious bacon, but we're going to celebrate Lord's Supper or communion.
Maybe you've gone to church before and you you've been to communion. Maybe you might have an idea of, like, what communion means. You know, it's kind of a churchy thing. Maybe it's like a like a Catholic thing, but really it's a Jesus thing. And it's a small taste in rehearsal.
Wait. It was last year that you stood up, wasn't it? Yes. It was last year at Easter that you stood up. Now I hear you.
I just remembered. We're gonna celebrate communion together. We're not gonna take much longer. We're gonna celebrate communion together. And this is a small, just a small, pitiful glimpse or a foretaste or a rehearsal for when we will all enjoy the wine of the new covenant, when we will all taste the bread of Jesus, he says that I'm the bread of life.
We're gonna celebrate communion together. Okay? And then if there's any bacon left over, we can have more of that. Ryan, easy on the bacon. You hear me alright?
The bible records that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he was in the upper room with his disciples. And during the Passover meal, which which people celebrated just last Wednesday, the bible records that he took bread, he blessed it, and then he broke it. He gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat. This bread represents my life which is given for you. For countless generations, Jews, whether they were in Jerusalem or exiled around the world, are commanded to celebrate Passover.
And in that Passover meal, right in front of their noses was a picture of Jesus. And when Jesus sat there with his disciples, he said, you know this bread, this matzah bread, bread that you've been eating without yeast for all of these times, that bread is me. I am the bread of life. Then the Bible records that he took another cup. The words used are another cup.
It actually says that in the Bible. There are multiple cups that Jews would drink out of during a savior meal or a Passover dinner. The specific cup, he could have picked any one of them, but the specific cup that he picked up was the cup used when a young man would make a wedding proposal to a young woman. So as soon as he grabbed that cup and picked it up, everybody at the table was like, oh, what he doing? And there he pronounced his vows.
He says, this cup that you've been drinking of for countless generations, the the the juice in this cup, the wine in this cup, it represents my life's blood, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins. Then he used some words that every young man who made a proposal to a young woman would understand. If she drank from the cup, that was her way of saying yes and accepting his proposal. And then the young man would say, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you on our wedding day. Jesus said, holding this cup, this cup represents my life's blood, which is poured out for you, and it ratifies or confirms a new covenant that I'm making with you today.
And then he said, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my father's kingdom, which we are hurdling towards and has already arrived for those of us that have invited Jesus into our heart. Behold the cup of salvation, the cup of eternal life, the cup of the Lord. God, I ask that you would perform a miracle right here. That you would transform these simple common elements into a sacrament, which is merely a means of grace where we can touch you by faith. So that in the mystery of this meal, we would encounter your life and that you would give us just a glimpse, just a glimpse of the banquet, the wedding supper of the lamb that awaits all of us that have invited you into our hearts.
I pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Our communion is open to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. The way that we partake of communion here at Tribe is in just a moment, I'll invite you forward by rows. You'll come forward.
I'll place the bread in your hands, and then you can break off left or right. You take the bread, dip it into the cup, and then you can work your way back to your seats. I'm also gonna invite members of our prayer team with lanyards on and Lee and Colleen. If there's anything that you need prayer for, either on your way to communion or after communion, stop by and visit one of our one of the members of our prayer team. They would love to pray with you, agree with you.
If you can't get to one of them, just wiggle your hand around and a member of our prayer team will come to you. I'm gonna invite those that are helping me serve communion to come up. Our communion bread today was made by Christine Shu. Thank you, Shu. Why don't we invite the first two rows to come forward?
Speaker 2And please do not miss out on having someone agree with you in prayer. Maybe you're struggling with something today. There's people up here in the front here and then in the back, Jay and Isaiah and Kim is right over here. They would love to pray for you. So please, please, please have someone agree with you for whatever it is that you're worrying for.
Maybe I've
Speaker 1given for you, Jesse.
Speaker 2You stood today. You just need someone to just join hands on Lord and pray for you. Please take this opportunity. What a great day. Let's all stand together.
Let's sing this
Speaker 3know me, my name is Jay. I help lead the young adults ministry here at Tribe, and you guys have been invited to the wedding. And I'm gonna invite you guys to worship in one last form of worship. We have singing songs of praise to him, Phoebe coming with the word, and the last step is giving. There's a verse that stood out to me.
I read it this week in LifeGroup out of Luke 14 verse 33. So therefore, anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. And I just think if if we're putting Jesus over everything here, what is money? Right? And I I saw this picture as I was, like, inviting you guys into the parking lot.
I parked a lot of you guys. Some of you guys would be like, oh, nice. Like, I'll follow you and then other people
Speaker 1were just
Speaker 3like, nope. Like, did your own thing. That's okay. But it just reminded me, like, his ways are so much higher than ours. Right?
And that's what he's wanting us to do with our giving is he's saying, trust me with your finances. Trust me with your giving. And just as Jesus laid his life down for us, we're gonna invite you guys to lay down some of your finances. And it doesn't matter how much it is, big or small. They invited the good and the bad to the wedding.
It's about your heart. That's where he's at. Some of you guys don't mind bowing your heads and praying with me one last time. Jesus, we just ask that you change us tonight that we can never be the same this day forward. We give it all to you.
Give us the strength to lay our lives down just as your son did for us. We ask that you multiply this offering here today so that we can continue to do such incredible things like this and welcome more and more people in your kingdom. Yes. Yes. We ask this all in your son's name.
Amen. Amen. Couple quick announcements. If you are new to tribe, we meet Sunday mornings at 10AM just like this in a building just across from Whole Foods, and I invite you guys to fill out one of these connect cards. It's name, phone number, email.
You'll get awesome texts like wear your boots to church this morning. So cool details like that. And then we also have service Tuesday nights at six. We have a meal before service. We got a lot of young adults to come to that service.
We've got a little box on here that says, check the box if you're a young adult and wanna get text from me. Otherwise, you'll be getting text from Lissa, and I'd really encourage guys to go ahead and do that. We will have services Tuesday. Young girls also do a life group every other Friday. If you wanna get plugged into that, approach me or someone that looks young, that's wearing a red lantern.
They probably know what's But, yeah, Ephesians gonna come back up here, and he's gonna press out.
Speaker 2Awesome. Thanks, Jake. Yeah.
Speaker 1Thanks, Jake. Would that be alright if I prayed for you this morning just before we got out of here? Lord Jesus, I command a blessing over each and every person here today in the sound of my voice. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you so much that you rose from the dead and you offer us new life. We celebrate you today, Jesus. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said Amen. Amen.
I love you guys so much. Thanks for being here in the tent with us today. Have a great week. Get a last few turns of the season at the village. Remember, you got this.
And if you're a parent with kiddos, miss Carla has a little Easter basket for you over there at the table. If you're a parent with kiddos, you can grab one.
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