A Message For...

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Good morning. Good morning. So great to see all of you here this morning. I'm always torn during this moment because like a proud dad, I love to see the banter and the hugs and the conversation and to see the house full of laughter and joy and hugs. So I love to see that.

It's great to see new faces. It's great to see familiar faces. Couple of things that I really like to see this morning. One of the things that I really like to see this morning are the fact that the Lacks are back. They've been in Tulsa.

So Lacks, we missed you. You couldn't get back here soon enough. Something else that I really like to see is this couple right here in church together. Yep. Jacob's out of prison.

I'm just kidding. Just kidding.

He kind of he's off of night shift prison, and so so he gets to be here on Sundays with his beautiful wife, Gretchen.

But if you are just out of prison, we're glad you're here.

Yeah. If you're just out of prison or if you broke out of prison, like, it's yeah, no no no judgment. Oh, connect card, if you're out on parole, or just visiting, I gotta like, don't let that joke continue on throughout the rest of the day. That's dumb, Brian. We would love to have a record of your visit.

Just fill this out. Use your ink blotter to roll your feet. See, I'm doing it again. Stop, Brian. If there's a prayer request.

You have to stop. Just let

it go. Oh, no. Hits too close to home. So, we would love to have a record of your visit. If there's a prayer request that you have, you can you can fill that out and there's also a little box that you can check.

We have a vibrant young adults group here in Jackson that are making the I mean, all of us try to make the most of this summer, but our young adult crew really gets after it. And so if you'd like to be added to the tribe text, we send out a weekly text blast to let you know of different things that are going on around the town and with our tribe fam. So it doesn't matter if you came from across the street or all the way from Kentucky. We're glad that you're here today. And if you noticed, we are meeting in a bar, and so that's one uniqueness about our tribe fam.

We also like to have a conversation. And so instead of just a monologue, I really would like this to be a dialogue. And so as we get into today's content, I would love to hear your questions, comments, connections. You've already seen a little bit of that today during worship when Lissa, my beautiful wife, opened it up for if anybody felt like the lord put a word on their heart and then we heard from Lee and so, as we get into today's conversation, if you have a question, a comment, or a connection, if you just raise your hand, we'll get the mic to you. And the reason why we use a mic, we probably could hear your voice just fine in the room, but for all of our families that watch the livestream, when you use the mic, it helps all of our livestream families to stay engaged and to be able to hear what's going on.

With that in mind, we're gonna take just a brief departure from where we've been and have a, what I would call, like, a one off conversation. We have been in a series of conversations, and next week, we're going to wrap that up. Last week, Jay preached. Didn't he do a great job? Jay, are you out greeting, or are you in the room?

Hey. There he is. Alright. Now now stay right there so everybody can see you. Now turn around and clap for Jay.

Great job. Great job. Great job last week. Thank you, Jay. So we're going to wrap up this series of conversations that we've been having, but we're gonna we're gonna do that next week.

This week, I feel like the lord put something on my heart timely and maybe not poignant but targeted and and directed at at maybe just one person in the room today or on the livestream. And so as we get into today's content, you might be feeling like, I was the person that he was talking about and so just allow the lord to speak directly to your heart through the conversation that we're going to have today. With that in mind, if you have your Bible with you this morning, would you please turn to John chapter 21? John chapter 21. Normally, we take turns in the room with the mic reading you know, somebody will read a few verses and then we'll pass it on but why don't I just go ahead and read this today and we're going to read, we're going to read all of John chapter 21 and so, settle

in.

We have a slide. We do not have a slide because I have no keynote because the Lord, like, switched it up on me at the last minute. Yeah. So if he gives me a longer runway that I can put together a keynote, it's his fault. Sorry, just kidding.

He's like, if you'd listen better, you would have known last week. What's this? Chapter 21. I'll start reading. Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea Of Galilee.

This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there. Simon, Peter, Thomas, nicknamed the twin, Nathaniel from Canaan in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and the two and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, I'm going fishing. I can almost hear the tone in which he says that.

You know, he's he's resigned. He's he's doesn't know what else to do. I don't know. I'm just going fishing. He's going back to his old habits.

And then they said, we'll come too, they all said. So they went out on the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn, Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn't see who he was. He called out, hey, guys. Have you caught any fish?

No. They replied. Then he said, throw your nets on the right hand side of the boat. I bet you'll get some. So they did, and they couldn't haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.

Then, the disciple, Jesus loved, said to Peter, now, who is the disciple whom Jesus loved? John. John, who is the author of this gospel. Oh my gosh. You guys are like, whoo.

You had your coffee this morning. It's interesting how John, the author of this autobiography of Jesus, chooses to describe himself as disciple that Jesus loved. He was clear. The one he loved the most, a subtle flex. Could he outran Peter to the tomb?

He likes to keep it humble. Then, the disciple, Jesus love, said to Peter, it's the lord. When Simon Peter heard that it was the lord, he put on his tunic for he had stripped for work. He jumped into the water and headed for shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to shore for there were only about 100 yards from shore.

When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them. Fish cooking over a charcoal fire and some bread. Bring some of the fish you've just caught, Jesus said. So, Simon Peter went aboard, dragged the net to shore. There were a 153 large fish and yet, net hadn't broken.

Torn. Now, come and have some breakfast. Jesus said, none of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you? For they knew that it was the lord. Then, Jesus served them the bread and the fish.

This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead. After breakfast, Jesus asked Simon Peter. Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? Yes, lord. Peter replied, you know that I love you.

Then, feed my lambs, Jesus told him. Jesus repeated the question. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Yes, lord. Peter said, you know that I love you.

Then take care of my sheep, Jesus said. A third time, Jesus asked him. Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time and he said, lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.

Jesus said, then feed my sheep. I tell you the truth. When you were young, you were able to do as you like. You dressed yourself and you went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will dress you and take you where you don't want to go.

Jesus said this, to let him know what kind of death he would, what kind, by what kind of death he would glorify god. Then, Jesus told him, one more time, follow me. Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, lord, who will betray you? And Peter asked Jesus, what about this guy, lord? And then Jesus replied, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?

As for you, Peter, keep your eyes on me. Peter, just follow me. So the rumors spread among the community of believers that this disciple wouldn't die, but that's not what Jesus said at all. He only said, if I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? This disciple is the one who testifies to these events and has recorded them here and we know that this account of these things is accurate.

What an amazing verse, verse 25. Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written. If every man on earth were a scribe and every stock or reed in the sky was stretched out like a scroll, the scroll could not contain the hole, though stretched from sky to sky. We're gonna talk about loneliness this morning.

Loneliness. And I don't have a title for this morning's message because you might wanna title this morning's message in your notes. A message for and then just maybe put your name down. We're gonna talk for just a few moments about loneliness. This past week, I was in Estes Park, Colorado.

How many of you have ever been to Estes? Pretty cool place. Not as cool as Jackson, but it's a good stepping stone on your way to Jackson. I lived there for a a number of years when I was younger. This past week was the first time that I had really been back to Estes for, oh my gosh, almost twenty five, twenty five years or so.

And I lived in Estes Park as like a young adult, and while I was taking some notes for this, went back into the archives, I found a couple of pictures of me from my Estes Park days, so I thought you could get a kick out of some of these pictures. Yeah. There I am looking pensive for some reason. And I was also, just as I am today, very handsome, very stylish on the dance floor with my mousse, that's a buddy of mine. Stay Velas engaged in some riveting conversation.

Hold on to that picture. For you for you climbers out there, we used to have to, like like, bring the guidebooks with us, and they weren't on our phones. And so we were we were climbing a route and getting ready to get started. So I was like, wait. Where are we going again?

So I'm studying the guidebook there on a on a route. And then I don't know if that was it. That was it? Okay. Okay.

So so that that was me back in the Estes Park days. And as I was in Estes this past week, I was flooded with memories of of my days back in Estes Park. And I had a lot of fun in Estes. The friends that I met, some of those people I'm still friends with today, I had a lot of adventures, a lot of silliness, a lot of laughs. I love to laugh.

I love to be silly. And as I was driving around through town and seeing some of these different places that I remember from, like, my early twenties, I was reminded of all the fun that I had, but I was also remembering that I spent a lot of time feeling really lonely. I had all kinds of friends. I went on all kinds of adventures, but there was an undercurrent of loneliness that constantly gnawed at my soul. I didn't feel like like it wasn't seasonal depression.

It wasn't depression. It wasn't, like, just feeling gray. You know, as in our normal human experience, we experience a wide range and variety of emotions, and it's not that loneliness is necessarily a negative emotion, but I think we all know that it could be on the edge of a slippery slope to some negative emotions. Right? But loneliness in of itself, not necessarily bad.

It's an indicator that something's going on. But as I drove around through Estes, I thought a lot about why why do I remember feeling so lonely, so much of the time in Estes? So, thought about it, thought about, thought about, and then eventually, I was like, oh, maybe I should just ask the lord about that. So we're we're talking, I'm driving in my truck from one place to another around town, and I said, Lord, I feel like as I see these familiar places, and I kind of revisit my my, you know, old stomping grounds, I remember feeling really lonely. Why did I feel so lonely?

And it was maybe half an hour, sometime later, that he began to whisper to my heart and speak to me. And he said, son, the reason why you felt so lonely during those years is because you were not yet aware of your purpose and your identity. And I was like, what what is that what does that mean? How could a lack of purpose and identity, like, correlate to loneliness? And then and then he was quiet.

And it wasn't until several days later when I was driving home that I was listening to an audio bible in my truck. Oh, and this is such a great way to, like, get the word down in there. This is so if you have Spotify or whatever you listen to music on, this is the audio Bible New Testament, and yes, I know that like an audio Bible is not new, but this is called streetlights. Streetlights. How many of you are familiar with that version of the audio Bible?

It is, it's so good. Okay, here, listen. We'll see if this will come through.

Matthew chapter one. The ancestors of Jesus, the Messiah.

Can you hear that all?

This is a record of the ancestors of Jesus, the Messiah, a descendant of David and of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac was the father of Jacob. Jacob is to the Messiah.

Give us something to do.

Search for the child child to to kill kill them. Him. That night, Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother, and they stayed there until Herod's death. This was

Have you ever heard the bible like that? Like a little ambient beat underneath it? Oh, I could I could track with that for hours. I could put a lot of miles listening to listening to that on the skin track or on the trail. So helpful.

Yeah. Yeah. So there are different characters and voices, but it really resonated with me. You do you. But I was listening to to John, and it got to John chapter 21, the portion that we just read it, and God said, connect the dots.

And I was like, oh, makes so much sense. So we're going to see what I experienced in loneliness through this story in John chapter 21, and here's how it relates to you. Maybe somebody in here today under the sound of my voice will be able to relate to what Peter goes through, what I have been through, and what you may currently be experiencing around this emotion of loneliness. Did I set it up okay for where we're gonna go? Yes.

Are you all with me? Yes. Say, I'm with you. I'm with you. Here we go.

Verse three from chapter 21, Peter says, I'm going fishing. And if you know the backstory of Peter, Peter was raised as a fisherman. He was fishing the Sea Of Galilee when Jesus said, hey. Let's go let's go out fishing. And Peter was like, dude, who are you?

Like, I've seen you around. You got a little bit of a reputation, but, like like, this is a working fishing boat. Like like, if you wanna go, like, on a, like, a sightseeing tour, like, that's another boat down the shore. Like, I'm working here. Jesus, let let's just go out on your boat.

So they go out on the boat. Remember, Peter pulls in this big catch of fish, and then Peter gets down on his knees in front of Jesus and is like like, you're not like, I'm not worthy to have you on my boat. Then Jesus tells Peter from like, come and follow me, and I will make you a fisher of men. Right? You you all remember that story?

And thus begins the three year whirlwind of Peter getting his life turned upside down as he follows the master, Jesus. And we know how this story goes. Jesus, on the night that he was betrayed, Jesus explained to his disciples what was going to play out. And Peter says, I'll follow you anywhere. And Jesus like, hey, bud.

Actually, what's going to happen is you're going to deny me three times. I'll never do it and Jesus is like, we'll see. We know that Peter denies Jesus each time more vehemently. And on the third time, he says, I swear to god, I don't know that man, which was the rooster crows, Peter and Jesus lock eyes, jeter jeter.

Peter

knows that Jesus was right. Peter is confronted with his own weakness and is shattered in that moment, and he runs out crying. Now, from the story, we know that Jesus has appeared in the upper room before. So so Peter has most likely seen Jesus, but then we get this specific occasion. We're not exactly sure how much time had lapsed, but we know from reading the story that Peter and his crew have just been through, not only an a an emotional three years, but a very, very emotional week or two weeks with Peter's best friend and a spiritual leader, the messiah of Israel, and the savior of the world going through what he had gone through.

Peter has these images permanently embossed on his memory of not only his best friend alive and well, but being brutally tortured and then crucified like a common criminal, naked on a cross. He can't get these images out of his mind. The man who was leading them has now, like, poofed out of existence, but yet can poof back into existence at times. How unnervingly how unnerving, how unsettling is that? Peter is like a ship adrift without a rudder or an anchor.

And so he goes back to what is familiar and comfortable, I'm going fishing. That's not too unsimilar to what I did. I found myself in Estes Park, Colorado, and I thought, I'll just climb and ski and party. We tend to fall back on what's comfortable and familiar to us when we are without purpose or direction. How fruitful was Peter's fishing expedition?

How many fish did he catch? Show me. Zero. Fruitless. All of that effort, all of that expenditure of energy came to nothing.

I quote it all the time. Jay quoted it last week, but a famous quote from CS Lewis says that all that is not eternal is what? Eternally worthless. You're both right. You both get credit.

All that is not eternal is eternally worthless. Now just take that little quote and hold your life up against it. I had a lot of fun, made a lot of friends. I wasn't necessarily doing anything wicked or horrible, but it was not it had any type of eternal nutritional value at all. Peter spinning his wheels all night long, and he caught nothing.

Look at verse six. Right in the midst of Peter's fruitlessness, Jesus arrives on the scene. And Jesus, he's tricky like that, that Jesus. He doesn't say, hey, guys. It's me, Jesus.

Thank you, B. He just calls out and I imagine it kind of like in that like alpine light, that predawn light, you know, maybe a hood on his little cloak is up. You know, he's kinda looking like a Jedi silhouetted on the on the shore there, and he just calls out to him. How easy would it have been for Peter to be like, no. You're never near trying to boat.

Shut up, dude. But you're fishing all night. Jesus just calls out. He it's an invitation. Hey.

Similar to Moses in the burning bush. God didn't call to Moses and say, hey, I'm in the burning bush. Turn aside and come look. It's just a burning bush. It was Moses that had to make a a choice.

He had to exercise his volitional will. And the text says, I'll turn aside and see what this curious sight is. Don't miss the invitation of Jesus by just dismissing it as a distraction. He's looking to see, will you set aside all that you are preoccupied with to even consider what I have to say? So Peter is like I don't know.

Maybe his spidey sense was tingling. Like, he he he doesn't know that it's Jesus, but he's like, I feel like I've been here before. Is is the hair standing up on the back of his net? Okay. As he casts his net on the other side of the boat, We don't know.

But in verse six, right in the midst of Peter's resignation, Right in the midst of Peter's pursuit of trying to fill that void in his soul, Jesus arrives with just a suggestion or an opportunity. I think that today, and maybe even this message, the conversation, it's not much of a conversation right now. Sorry. Is a not a Kronos moment, Kronos, the advancement of time, but a kairos, a god ordained moment of time for you in this particular season. And how cool would it be if god had to arrange all of these circumstances to get you and your spouse and your kids to have the same time off break between football camp and soccer camp and reunion and planning this trip to Jackson Hole and to sacrifice a Sunday for you to be here, sit in this room so that god could get your attention and say, hey, cast your net on the other side of the boat.

That one small act of obedience that Peter performs in the midst of his fruitless endeavors and things begin to shift. The net was so full, they could hardly pull it up, but there's an interesting detail that the net doesn't break. Peter's like, oh, I know. I know who is behind these circumstances and events. Doesn't even wait for the boat to come to shore, jumps in the water, swims to shore.

But it is kind of interesting in the flow of details. Peter comes to shore, but we don't see that Peter, like, comes up to Jesus. It's kind of hard to tell exactly what's going on. Jesus obviously has some fish because he tells the disciples, go get some more fish. Does Peter come up to Jesus?

And then goes back to the boat to pull in that it's it's a little bit foggy, but in this particular instance, it's okay. All of the imagery that we need is provided for us. Verse six, we see even one small act of obedience to Jesus results in fullness. That's the takeaway. Fullness.

The nets were full. And then in verse seven, we see how Jesus feeds the boys. Every single time you turn to or come to Jesus, he will feed you like a good old southern mama. He will feed you. He will provide nourishment for you if you come to him.

Then there's a million series, countless books, much more eloquent sermons that you would ever hear come out of this mouth preached about what happens between verse fifteen and seventeen. But I'm only me, and I'll share with you what the lord is speaking to me. It is these few verses that Jesus speaks identity and purpose over Peter. Identity and purpose over Peter. And in a way, Jesus does it.

Is a little bit of spice to Jesus' words. Because what name was written on Peter's birth certificate? Simon. And then Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter, but in this particular instance, he refer Jesus refers to Peter as what? Simon.

Simon Peter. Like, what are you, bro? There's a little bit of spice, but the spice is meant to draw out the flavor of the potency of this moment. Jesus is like, are you going to be Simon, or are you going to be Peter? Simon Peter?

Simon Peter? Are you going to be Simon or are you going to be Peter? Jesus speaks purpose and identity. Your identity is Peter, the rock, The one who loves me. I know that you love me.

I've seen it in those quiet moments. I've seen it when you're driving past the Tetons in an incredible sunset, and you cast your gaze to the mountain range, and instead of worshiping the creation like a ding dong, you say, wow, god. You're amazing. He's like, I see that. And out of the just the innocence of your heart, you just say, wow, I love you, Jesus.

That is amazing. He sees that. He sees that when you're on a drive to some type of difficult circumstance with work or relational or something, and you're like, Jesus, help me. He's heard your voice. He knows that you love him, and your identity is as his god's beloved son or daughter.

That's your identity. Don't ever mix up your identity with your occupation. Because what happens when you don't have that occupation anymore? Brip. There goes your identity.

Don't ever confuse your identity with your ability. What happens when you lose your ability? Breep. These mountains will last way longer than your knees will. Boy, do I know.

I can't even go up there. I don't have a meniscus. I just have a thin layer of Advil these days. But if your identity is in your ability, what happens when your ability disintegrates? Low you're lonely and lost.

Thank you for re helping reconnect those dots. Thank you, Amanda. Come bring a chair up here and Peter was like, I'll just go back to what I knew, what he thought his identity was. I guess I'm just a fisherman. And then as the sun is beginning to rise, he's like, this is a terrible identity because I haven't even caught a fish, not even one.

How many of you know who and I'm sure he's more than just my friend, but how many of you know my friend Brad Wolf that lives here in town? Yeah. A lot of us do. So quick story about Brad Wolf. Brad Wolf owns a used car dealership in town, and he is probably, objectively looking at volume and sales wise, probably, like, the best vehicle dealership in all of Teton County.

At least I think so. Why is he so good at selling cars? It's because he knows his identity and purpose. And if you've ever been around Brad, he is humble, and he's sharing and caring, and he's a great guy to be around. And his personality is encouraging, but he exudes something.

There's something about him like that guy. And even if you you might not even be able to articulate it in that way. That guy knows his purpose and identity. His identity is a precious blood bought child of the king, and he knows that he is his daddy's favorite, and he knows his purpose. What would you guess Brad Wolf's purpose is?

You can just say it. If you were to say selling cars, you'd be wrong. That's not his purpose. His purpose is not to sell cars, and he knows that's not his purpose. His he knows that his purpose is you're super close and and just it can't it comes out of my brain and out of my mouth a little bit differently, but you're right.

His purpose is to help people. He loves to help people. That's what he was put on this earth to do, to help people. Well, what's his occupation? Selling cars.

It's just a great fit. I can help you with your need to buy a used car. That's why he's so great at it. If you were to take away selling cars, he'd find some other way to help people because that's who he is and what he does. That is his purpose.

In a similar way, if we don't know our identity or our purpose or we have temporarily, through amnesia, lost connection with those things, a a gauge on our dashboard could light up. And the light that sometimes lights up and starts blinking is the loneliness light. Now we've all Put that right on the on our gauges to, like, hide the, like, gas gauge. Right? Like, I got I gotta I gotta get back over the oh, wait.

Who else does that? Oh, great. It's just me. Well, my motto in high school was ignore a problem long enough and it will go away. Like, I just get stressed out.

Like, I it's it's like it's like that far away to to get or like the check engine light comes on. Yeah. Check engine light? Okay. Check engine light?

Anybody? Oh oh my gosh. Okay. I'm just You guys are really learning a lot about me. So think of your emotions, the wide range of human emotions that you have, are like a dashboard of gauges.

And when you feel hungry, that that light comes on, and it means something that you need to eat. Right? When we feel sad, it means that something else is going on. When we feel happy, bling, bling, bling, that means that something else is going on, and our emotions reflect or are gauges for for something else that's going on inside. And as as one of our members of our leadership team has said from the stage before that she probably read somewhere, but it's so great, she gets credit for it, that our emotions can be great passengers, but we should never give them the driver's seat and let them drive.

Nor do we want to completely ignore them and, like, shove them in the trunk. Like kids, they make great passengers. Not a good idea to have them in the trunk even if we would want them to, but nor do we wanna put them in the driver's seat. There could maybe it's just one person. And who knows?

Maybe it's for nobody in this room, but somebody will watching the livestream or listening to the podcast sometime later. This will be speaking to them. But right now, your loneliness light is just blinking, glaring, dominating all of the other gauges on your dashboard. And you feel incredibly lonely, whether or not you are conscious enough to realize it. When I was in Estes, I had a lot of friends.

I had so much fun, and that's great. Friends are great. Having fun is great. I did a lot of I had a lot of adventures. It's great.

The mountains were there, climbing and skiing. That's great. It has their place. But there was this glaring undercurrent of loneliness that pervaded and colored my whole time there. That as soon as I wasn't with friends and I I had no problem spending time alone.

I'm quite comfortable alone. I enjoy being by myself. But but there was this undercurrent of loneliness that was just, like, eating at me. And I thought, oh, I feel lonely. So I would call up friends.

What are you doing? I would make plans. I would plan adventures. I would go on adventures, and it was great and fun. And then when I was done with that, the loneliness would creep back up.

I was not frenetic in my activity, like, I gotta be doing something. I'm but I was just like, oh, I'm lonely. Let me just fix it. And, really, what I was doing was just putting something to cover over the the the blinky light on my emotional dashboard. I feel like the lord would have me sit here today to tell you, to invite you to consider that the loneliness light that is blinking on your emotional dashboard is not actually because you're just lonely, but it is a symptom, just like Peter was experiencing, of your lack of identity and purpose.

And until you plug into and receive from God your identity and your purpose, you will continue to experience dissatisfaction, unfulfillment, and you may even be plagued by loneliness, even if you're the most popular person in the room. Okay, verse 20 Peter looks at John, the disciple whom Jesus loved and Peter says to Jesus, but but what about him? John, I need you for just a second. Come stand here. Okay.

So, we're we're talking and having a conversation. You doing okay this morning? I'm doing great. Okay. Good.

Good. Good. You and I are talking. We're having a conversation but you get distracted over there and you say, but what about him while you're talking to me? Yeah, what about him?

Jesus just goes like this. Over here. Right here. You're like, was was that was there gonna be a tender moment there? I did feel a little bit weird.

Jesus says, Peter, Peter, I'm over here. Keep your eyes here. Don't worry about John. Don't worry about John. Don't worry about the purpose that you thinks is good for your life.

Don't worry about the identity that the world has tried to put on you, that you have tried to put on, like, fighting like, you're David fighting Goliath in Saul's armor. It's just not a good fit. Don't worry about John and the race that I have for him. Son, I want you to stay in your lane in the race that I have for you. So I moved from Estes to Jackson.

I got married to Lissa. We were in Jackson for almost ten years. Then we moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma for me to go to school for several years. While we were in Tulsa, my heart never left Jackson, and we got to come up to Jackson on a vacation with the kids. And we were invited to stay at the Bronx property.

How many of you remember or know Don and Joe Brunk? Even if you don't know them personally, if you're a part of our tribe family, then they would be like our great grandparents, some of the founders of the charismatic movement here in in Jackson and in this valley that we get to to continue to carry the torch for, and they said, y'all stay with us. And so we stayed out at the Bronx property, and it was restorative and wonderful and refreshing. And one afternoon, Selah and Kai, when they were little, they were riding their bikes on that little roundabout bark pathway, and Lissa and I are sitting on the back deck there looking at the Tetons. Our friends Matt and Heidi had brought up bison steaks to cook on the grill and eat, and I was like, this is it.

This is life. We wanted to come back to Jackson so bad, and we had people that we were like, that we never left fellowship with that were telling us, dude, stay with us. Like, you can have our little apartment. We had people offering us jobs, and we're like, is this you, Lord? Like providing a way for us to come back to Jackson?

Have we finished like our our assignment in Tulsa? Like, is this it? Are you opening the door? But it just didn't feel quite right. And so Lisa and I left with our tanks full in Jackson back to Tulsa, and we're like, we could make this happen.

Is this is this you, Lord? And then the Lord just whispered a simple phrase to me, and he said, paradise without purpose is prison. And I was like, that's good. What does it mean? And he just goes, Have you ever had the Lord say that to you?

You ask him a question, and he goes, What does that what does that what does that mean from the lord? If you've ever heard that or felt that from the lord. What is he saying when he does that?

I think you know.

I think you know or You gotta discover it. You gotta work it out, son. Maybe for one person, this message is hitting home. For it is the glory of god to conceal a matter. It is for the glory of a king to search it out.

God doesn't hide stuff from us, but he hides stuff for us. And when he said paradise without purpose is prison, but then didn't explain to me what it meant. I had to figure it out. And what he was saying to me in that particular instance is the current assignment that I have for you is Tulsa, Oklahoma. And when you are fulfilling your purpose and you know your identity, it doesn't matter where you are, it is paradise.

Sure, you could come back to Jackson, The mountains and the friends and the activities, your people. I kinda I just didn't fit in with a lot of but in Jackson, I did. But it would have been a prison. And here's what I feel like if I may be so bold. Some of you, you might need to pack up your bags before the summer is over and leave Jackson Hole.

Quit trying to make this town and this life work. That's why you feel so lonely. Even though you've got friends and you're crushing it in the mountains, you don't belong here. That's why you feel so lonely. That's why you feel un you feel so unsettled, why you feel so unsatiated.

You don't belong here. And I'm not saying that as a local to you, like, you're not one of us. That's

Are

you picking up what I'm putting down? I could have I I could have belonged in Estes, but I thought Estes was the thing. I thought my friends were the thing. I thought my pursuits were the thing. They they they weren't the thing.

The thing was I was anemic or had amnesia for my purpose and identity. But once I turned aside to Jesus. Lord, you know that I love you. It was then that he spoke purpose and identity over my life. My identity is as a son.

I am my father's son. I grew up without a dad. Never got a letter. Never got a call. Never met him.

The world would try to put on me the identity of Peter Pan, a boy that never grew up not knowing his father. That's not my identity, even though that may have been my circumstance. That is not my identity. My identity is the son of a king, of a warrior, a competitor, a winner. I'm a winner.

I will crush you. That's my identity. And when you beat me, it doesn't change my identity. I love to compete. And my dad is a winner, and his blood runs through my veins.

And when I crush you, it's not about me defeating you. It's just who I am. And I'd like to think that I'm a good loser. Right? I'm learning.

From the people that know me second best. My purpose is to lead, love, and shepherd people. That's what I was made to do. Right now, my particular assignment is that of a pastor, but being a pastor is not my identity. And if you if you are new and I've introduced myself to you, I introduced myself to you as Brian.

And maybe it's a cultural thing, maybe it's a regional thing, but some of you feel comfortable calling me pastor Brian. If you wanna call me pastor Brian, that's fine. If you don't call me pastor Brian, doesn't affect me at all. In fact, a lot of people call me PB. That's fine.

It doesn't matter what you call me. I've had people that, like, get offended for me. It's pastor Brian. That's not on my birth certificate. Because being a pastor is not my identity.

It happens to be this particular assignment. I don't know how long I will have the assignment of being a pastor. I really enjoy it, and I love it. I don't get my identity from it, and I hope that it's a long time, but I even use the word specifically assignment because assignments, by nature,

they Start.

End, they start, they end, and they change. I might have another assignment. This might be my last assignment until Jesus comes back. I don't know. But my identity is different.

I still feel times of, like, I would love to be around friends, and where are my friends? And, hey, friends. And I feel the the emotion of loneliness. It's not like I'm immune to that, but it is not related to my lack of purpose and identity. Yours very well could be tied to that.

And as long as you stay in Jackson, as long as you stay in this current trajectory thinking that if you just do more mountain adventures, if you just buy and sell one more house, if you just do this, if you just do that, if you can just get here, if you could just that it's going to assuage those feelings of loneliness, it will only perpetuate the feelings of loneliness. Perhaps, the best thing you can do is put in your seasonal notice and go home. It was not until those mountains and those activities was was removed for me or that I got into a different environment even though I moved from one mountain town to another town like like it was all new here. It was removed from those things that were familiar, were for that were comfortable. Just like Peter saying, I'm going fishing.

I thought I could fix those feelings of loneliness by just going to a new mountain town and doing what I was always doing. But it was that interruption that God was able to grab a hold of my heart and say and and turn just like I turned John's attention and gaze. John Micah says, Jesus says to Peter, stop worrying about what John is doing. Look at me. Look at me.

Look at me. It was after the Lord, I began to realize and discover my purpose and identity that these mountains and these activities that I still love to do could find their right place. Boy, I sure would miss the mountains, and I would miss all of my adventure friends if I had a new assignment. But it wouldn't change who I am. And so, to land the plane and then transition to to just a few more things that we're going to do this morning.

Perhaps you're here in this seat because God is inviting you to quit fishing. It's fruitless when you are looking for your purpose and identity in those things. It doesn't matter it doesn't matter how big your net is. Doesn't matter. You can fish all night long.

You're not gonna catch any fish. Stop it. Listen to the voice of the lord that happens to be coming out of this ski bum, dirtbag climber's mouth. It's fruitless. And you feel lonely because you think that by filling it with activities and stuff and things that it's going to provide the deep answers to the questions in your heart of purpose and identity.

They just can't. Today, will you listen to the voice of Jesus as he stands on the on the lakeshore of your heart inviting you to set your nets down for a second and come into shore and let him feed you. Boy, that was said really good. Jesus, good job connecting Sedans. Now, Brian, Jesus.

Now, how as a practical and tangible way for us to let go of that iron grip on our fishing nets, even if for just a moment, how can we practically, tangibly let go of that death grip we have on our nets. We're going to transition from our conversation. Sorry, you didn't get to talk much today. We're going to transition to receiving communion together. Together.

And as we receive communion together, I think the Lord is going to speak to you. If you'll let him. Okay? Is that handheld mic nearby? I might need it.

Sarah, can you bring it? So, the Bible records that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he met in an upper room with his disciples to share and celebrate a long standing feast of the Lord called the Feast of Passover. And during the meal, a meal that all of the members of Jesus' leadership team had celebrated year after year after year after year religiously and historically, Jesus flipped the script. And we have recorded for us in scripture that during the meal, Jesus took bread and he broke it. First, he broke it and then he blessed it.

He gave it to his disciples and he said, take and eat. For this bread that you've been eating as Jews for centuries actually was a foreshadowing of me. He said, take and eat for this bread represents my life's body which is given for you. Then the Bible records that after the meal, Jesus we're that. Jesus, we're And do new covenant that I am making with that.

You in my life's blood. Then he says, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it with you at the coming of my kingdom on our wedding day and oh what a wedding that will be. Behold the cup of salvation, the cup of redemption, the cup of eternal life. God, I ask that you would perform a miracle right here And that you would transform these simple common elements into a sacrament, which is simply a means of grace where we can touch you by faith. So that as we partake in the mystery of this meal, you would whisper deep into our hearts about identifying loneliness and that you would feed us with purpose and identity.

As people partake of the bread and people partake of the cup, feed them with purpose and identity and remind them the great price that you paid for them to have purpose and identity. Well, I'm just thinking of like, I feel like the Holy Spirit is speaking to me right now Think about Gideon as he was threshing wheat down in a wine press. God speaks to him and says, mighty man of valor. And Gideon's like, looks around, who are you talking about? I know that we're in the middle of praying but look at me for just a second.

God will always speak and address you with the potential that he sees in you. Even if you don't see it in yourself. He will always address the potential that he sees in you. Not the failure that you have seen in yourself or may currently be experiencing. And you walk in the fullness of your purpose and identity, the smaller that gap gets between the way that you see your going see that to you're

sees the things you're that you might not

see even see in yourself. And so Lord meet with us as we partake of communion together. This morning in Jesus name, amen. Lord Jesus, thank you so much that you are the only one qualified and capable to speak purpose and identity over our life. I command a blessing over each and every person here today.

Lord, reveal their purpose. Whisper their purpose. Whisper their identity over them As they go throughout their week cause the work of their hands to be so successful. And like Eric Little, help them to experience your pleasure in them as they go throughout their work week this week. We pray these things in Jesus name, the strong son of god and everybody said, amen.

Amen. I love you so very much. I want you to have a great week and remember, you got this.