Clarity Comes With Simple Obedience
January 29, 2024 · Clarity in Complexity
Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Exodus 3:1-10 read aloud by a congregation member, the burning bush and God's call to Moses
1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God’s mountain, to Horeb.
2 Yahweh’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 Moses said, “I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”
4 When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, “Moses! Moses!” He said, “Here I am.”
5 He said, “Don’t come close. Take off your sandals, for the place you are standing on is holy ground.”
6 Moreover he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look at God.
7 Yahweh said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.
8 I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey; to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
9 Now, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to me. Moreover I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.
10 Come now therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh, that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Exodus 5:6-15
Brian read to show the complexity of Moses's situation after confronting Pharaoh
6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,
7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make brick, as before. Let them go and gather straw for themselves.
8 The number of the bricks, which they made before, you require from them. You shall not diminish anything of it, for they are idle; therefore they cry, saying, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’
9 Let heavier work be laid on the men, that they may labor in it; and don’t let them pay any attention to lying words.”
10 The taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spoke to the people, saying, “This is what Pharaoh says: ‘I will not give you straw.
11 Go yourselves, get straw where you can find it, for nothing of your work shall be diminished.’”
12 So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.
13 The taskmasters were urgent saying, “Fulfill your work quota daily, as when there was straw!”
14 The officers of the children of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, “Why haven’t you fulfilled your quota both yesterday and today, in making brick as before?”
15 Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your servants?
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Exodus 5:22
Moses protests to the Lord asking why he was sent
22 Moses returned to Yahweh, and said, “Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Why is it that you have sent me?
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Exodus 6:1-8
Brian read God's repeated I will promises to Moses about freeing Israel
1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.”
2 God spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am Yahweh;
3 and I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty; but by my name Yahweh I was not known to them.
4 I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as aliens.
5 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant.
6 Therefore tell the children of Israel, ‘I am Yahweh, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments:
7 and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God; and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.
8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Exodus 6:9
the people refused to listen because of anguish of spirit, used to illustrate a crisis of faith
9 Moses spoke so to the children of Israel, but they didn’t listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Exodus 6:13
God commanded Moses and Aaron to lead the people out of Egypt, cited as the simple obedience at the heart of the message
13 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the children of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Week three of the clarity series landed on a simple idea: when life gets genuinely complex, the path to clarity is not more information or a louder word from God. It is plain obedience to what he has already said. Brian walked the congregation through the story of Moses and the Exodus to show what that actually looks like when things are hard and confusing.
What was said
Brian opened by acknowledging that the series theme, clarity in complexity, is not abstract. The first two weeks covered simplifying life and pressing into worship. This week the thread was obedience, and the central claim was that taking even a small step of faith is what releases God's grace into a situation.
To set up the teaching, Brian borrowed a rack of rock climbing gear and invited a visitor up front. The point was that Sunday school teachers and pastors, with good intentions, tend to lift a single clean principle out of a story and present it on its own, the way you might hold up one carabiner from a full rack. Real life never arrives that clean. The gear rack with everything hanging off it is a closer picture of what we actually face, and learning to find the simple thing in the middle of all that noise is a skill worth developing.
He then walked through Exodus in a way most people in the room had not heard before. Rather than moving straight from the burning bush to the ten plagues, Brian read through chapter five slowly, pausing to ask the congregation what complexity they noticed. The foremen being beaten while Moses and Aaron waited outside. The straw supply chain collapsing. The Israelites telling Moses he had put a sword in Pharaoh's hand to kill them. Moses going back to God and asking why he was even sent. The congregation named the layers: a crisis of faith among the Hebrews, the political and economic chaos of withdrawing a labor force, and Moses himself confused and unheard. The point was not to complicate the story but to make it recognizable as something like real life.
Brian brought it back to God's words in Exodus six, the long list of things God said he himself would do. He noted that Moses, even after hearing all of that, could easily have gotten lost in the how. How will I free them, how will I redeem them, how will I bring them. That tendency to absorb responsibilities that belong to God is something Brian said most people in the room would recognize from their own lives.
The practical step Brian named was this: your faith releases his grace. He told the story of running across Mongolia in 2013, the day he sat down on a dirt road convinced he was done, drank all his water, ate all his snacks, and quit. When he finally stood up and took one step, nothing felt different. He was still sore. There was no chariots-of-fire moment at any point in the remaining 1,400 miles. But stepping out in faith, day after day, was what allowed God's grace to carry him through something his own strength could not finish.
The last thing Brian brought was something he had voice-texted to himself on the drive to church. He read it to the room: that some people already know exactly what they need to do, but what they lack is not a clearer word from God or a greater love for him. What they lack is the fear of the Lord. Lissa then shared from her own experience of when she and Brian said yes to Mongolia, describing a moment in a supervisor's office where the man spoke fear over the whole plan out of genuine care but from a place of not being called to it himself. She described a picture the Holy Spirit gave her of an old scale, and the question of how much she feared God's call against how much she feared all the what-ifs. Declaring that she feared God more than the outcome was, she said, what settled it.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Write down one thing you already know God is asking you to do, and take one small step toward it this week without waiting for more clarity.
- When complexity starts to overwhelm you, stop and ask yourself what the simplest, most obedient next move is rather than trying to solve the whole situation at once.
- Show up at 8:45 on Sunday morning to pray over the space with Lanisha and the prayer team before the service starts.
- If you are carrying something heavy right now, go to the prayer booths after the next service and let someone stand with you in it.
- The next time a thought rises up to go check on someone or say something encouraging, treat it as a prompt from the Lord and act on it instead of talking yourself out of it.
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 used a rack of climbing gear to make a point about how Bible stories get taught. When you think about your own life right now, does it feel more like one clean carabiner or a full rack? What makes it feel that way?
- Brian pointed out that things got harder for the Israelites right after Moses showed up with God's promise. Has there been a time in your life when doing the right thing seemed to make things worse before they got better? What did you do with that?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Brian compartio que la palabra que Dios le dio para 2024 es "claridad en la complejidad". Esta fue la tercera semana de esa serie, y el tema central fue que la claridad llega a traves de la obediencia simple. Para ilustrarlo, uso la historia de Moises y el exodo, pero no de la forma resumida que solemos escuchar en la escuela dominical. Quiso que la congregacion viera toda la complejidad real que rodeaba esa historia: la violencia contra los hebreos, las presiones politicas y economicas en Egipto, la confusion del mismo Moises, y la crisis de fe del pueblo cuando las cosas empeoraron antes de mejorar.
El punto principal fue que cuando Dios llama a alguien a algo, no siempre elimina la complejidad antes de pedir obediencia. Moises tenia dudas, el pueblo estaba siendo golpeado, y aun asi Dios le dijo simplemente: saca a mi pueblo de Egipto. Brian conto como en 2013, durante una carrera a traves de Mongolia, quiso rendirse a mitad del camino. Lo que lo hizo levantarse no fue una experiencia dramatica sino dar un pequeno paso de fe, y ese paso libero la gracia de Dios para sostenerlo el resto del camino. Eso mismo, dijo, es lo que Dios nos pide: no que resolvamos todo primero, sino que demos el primer paso.
Al final, Brian compartio algo que sintio que el Senor le mostro antes de llegar ese dia: que muchas personas ya saben lo que Dios les esta pidiendo, pero no lo hacen. Y no es por falta de amor a Dios ni por no haber escuchado su voz, sino por falta del temor del Senor. Es ese temor sano y reverente el que nos mueve a obedecer aunque no tengamos todo resuelto.
Pasajes biblicos usados:
- Exodo 3:1-10
- Exodo 5:6-22
- Exodo 6:1-13
Read the full transcript 10,958 words
Thank you. You
good? Yep. Good job. Through digging into your prayer, through loving on one another. Lord, meet us in this place today.
Without your Holy Spirit here, it's just noise. It's just another gathering. But when your Holy Spirit comes, We sing of your goodness today, faithfulness of your presence. Lord, even if we don't feel like it, right now, we just tell ourselves, Lord, you are worthy. You are worthy of our praise today.
Let's tell you we love you this morning. So much to be thankful for today. What I just say out loud right now, and we just rejoice together. We thank you for Clay's healing. Let's just sing this to him this morning.
Just picture that he is just delighted in your worship right now. We always wanna hear that he loves us. Lord, tell me my identity. Lord, speak to me. Just for me, but I just felt like a really tender moment of him kind of just rebuking me of the things that we can make worship sometimes.
And just, you know, I get in my head, was it... Is... But do those keys go together? Like, we done that song too many times? There's so many different elements to getting up here and maybe worship.
I just felt like the Lord just say, just... If all you ever did was told me you loved me, and you just poured out your heart to me, that's all I want. Amen. Sure, I love new songs. Yes.
But all I really want is your heart. Yes. Is your heart fixed on me? So maybe we can just use this last little chorus. Just repent if there's things between you, you and your God this morning.
Just give him back all the pieces of your heart because he gave it all to us. He's worthy. You stole it in my heart. We just thank you in this place today. Sometimes we just have to come back to the truth of who we were before we knew you.
Yeah. Yes. That we were filthy, lost, wretched, and blind. I guess. And then we met you.
And you changed everything. You changed everything. Remember the day I gave you my heart, Jesus? It was like I went from seeing in black and white to seeing in color because I was walking in darkness, and you had fullness for me. Fullness for me.
Lord, I just pray for anybody right now who's still blind, who's not walking in that fullness. Lord, I pray today by your spirit that you would touch their hearts because there's nothing that anyone can say to convince a heart, a spirit of who you are except the touch from you. It's by your spirit, and we can never be talked out of it once we meet you. Thank you for that relationship. Thank you that you stole my heart.
It belongs to you and to you alone, and I rededicate that today. Anything that I have put between you and I. Lord, I lay it down right now. You're my one and only. Speak to us today as we just pour our heart to you.
Tell you we love you. Yes. There's no other for
great to see all of you here. If you are brand new to Tribe, so glad that you are here with us this morning. You'll see there's a little connect card in your seat and a pen. If you would like to... We would love a record of your visit if you are new, and you can just say newer visitor or something.
Might even be a box for that. If you have if you have been coming to Tribe and you are calling Tribe home and you would like to be kept up to date on various happenings of Tribe, you can you can also let us know. Usually, we send out a text blast, like like, once a week or so with various things that are going on. And so you can stay up to date on what all is going on and what... What's happening.
So you can stay in touch with the five of trials. Yeah. If you have your bible with you this morning, would you turn to the book of Exodus? And I wanna bring you up to speed on where we've been. We're in a series of conversations about what I feel like the Lord put a word on my heart for us as a tribe family and maybe for anyone who would have ears to hear.
Listen, can I get a glass of water, please?
Yes. Tell everyone too if they need a bible to print together. So I'm just gonna...
Yes. They are right there if you if you need a bible. I feel like as we ended November and got into December and now here we are, oh my gosh, already at the tail end of January. I feel like the Lord put a word on my heart for us as a tribe family and for anybody with ears to hear. Jonathan, you are prince of a man.
I
already forgot to get it for you.
You're good. It's okay. You usually have a lot going on. This is my wife, Lisa Hunter, everybody. And for those of you with ears to hear about me, and try it and beyond, I feel like 2024 is gonna have some distinctives that the Lord would want us to be ready and prepared for so that as...
Whatever. I don't even know what's gonna roll out in 2024. We stand a better position to not be caught off guard. And so in the same in the in the in the same way that as soon as you're just about done, like, riding the the chairlift and you're about to pull into, like, the the upper station there and the... There's that little sign that says keep your ski tips The idea is we wanna have our ski tips up as we go into 2024, and that's really what these series of of conversations is about.
And, yes, I did use the word conversation because I know. Even though right now at this moment, I'm the only one with the mic, I really do wanna hear from you. I want this to be more of a dialogue and less of a monologue. So what does that mean for you? That means for you, I welcome your questions, your comments, and your connections.
Questions and comments look pretty straightforward. But what do you mean by connections? You know how you're reading through a web page and maybe certain words will will have an underline or they'll be in italics or it'll it'll maybe be in blue. What it... What is...
What are you supposed to do with that? Click on it. Click on it because it is a... Virus. It's a hyperlink.
So you can click on it, it'll take you to other other information, not a virus. Hopefully. Oh. So the idea is questions, comments, and then connections. Maybe said or something that somebody else might say might trigger a hyperlink in your mind.
Oh my gosh. That reminds me of... And it might be a bible verse or something that we've talked about in here recently. I love those connections because they help reinforce what we're talking about. They remind you of what we have talked about, and it very well could be a catalyst for for something future to unlock in your brain and in your heart in the days to come.
Does that make sense? Yeah. Yeah. And we already have a contribution. Who's running...
Lanisha's got the mic run. I hope you have
your run into issues today. I just wanna make a comment about what you're talking about. And another thing that when other people get involved in it, it sort of makes others that may have a feeling or an experience feel more normal to hear somebody else has experienced whatever it is that person may be sharing.
Yes. That's so good. I was just thinking that. Well, the report. I'll tell you one of one of Jay's specialties is to ask even if it's like a hard question.
He'll ask the question that many people are thinking about in the in the room. Like, well, I know you know the answer, but I'm so glad that you asked for on the sake of everybody else. By way of quick review, this is week three, but I'm I'm gonna put up here on the screen where we've been for the last couple of weeks. The word for 2024 is clarity in complexity. I believe that as we go into 2024, either personally or I don't know, maybe even as a tribe family or regionally or nationally, globally, that that that we will be heading into potentially the most complex days that we have experienced thus far.
But that's... But but God in his goodness is preparing us by telling us to keep your tips up. So here's where we've been for the last couple of weeks. Week one, maybe you can go ahead and put those up there. Week one, we talked about clarity in simplicity.
As we as we hear and obey the Lord's invitation to just simplify certain elements or aspects of our life, whatever he puts his fingers on, as we're looking for clarity, if we simplify, it helps the clarity of God's truth, his way, whatever he's up to to begin to rise to the surface. Last week, we talked about clarity through worship. When you don't know what to do, you should just go straight into the throne room and draw close to his presence. Now I know that that it would never... Nobody in this room would ever do it.
But when we get stressed out, when when when complexity rises, when the temperature is turned up, what do we usually
do? Cope.
Cope. Stress out. Stress out. We usually get stressed out. Instead of stressing out, 2024 is an invitation to press in into his presence, and a great way to do that is through worship.
So today, this is week three. We're gonna talk about this idea that clarity comes with simple obedience. At the top of your notes, that's what you can write for today's conversation. Clarity comes with simple obedience. Where did I tell you to turn to?
Exodus. Exodus. Alright. Click on chapter three, and then, Lanisha has the mic, and we're going to invite whoever Lanisha dubs with the mic to read verses one through 10. Exodus chapter three verses one through 10.
Or raise your name.
Moses and the burning bush is
the song.
One day Moses was tending...
Will... It's on and unmuted, I believe. Corey will find it. Just the time. Go ahead.
One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn't burn up.
This is amazing, Moses said to himself. Why isn't that bush burning up? I must go see it. When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. Moses, Moses, here I am, Moses replied.
Do not come any closer, the Lord warned. Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Then the Lord told him, I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes. I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land.
It is a land flowing with milk and honey, the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. Look, the cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must leave my people, Israel, out of Egypt. Okay.
I would be surprised, and it's okay if there was be anybody in this room that has never heard that story before. I would be surprised if you haven't heard that story, but I also wanna let you know it's okay. Yes. I have heard
it, but I think there's might be a special message for me today because this was exactly what I read this morning before I came here.
Duh. Duh. Duh. Yes.
Famous last words because wait till you see how the sermon ends. I'll be stepping on all of your toes. But you were very brave to offer that. It's a story that we've heard. You don't even have to go to church or be a Christian to know, have some concept or familiarity with that story.
Disney's made cartoons about it. It's... Hollywood's made movies about it. It seems it seems pretty simple. God told Moses, my people, out of Egypt and into the promised land.
It is it is a simple story. God sends 10 different plagues to confront and dismantle the little g gods of that of that region. And finally, after the last plague, Pharaoh finally lets the people of Egypt go. Now our pastors and our Sunday school teachers have done an amazing job of distilling out these principles. Here's the takeaway.
Here's the bottom line. Here's what I want you to notice. But perhaps they have done too good of a job by deleting the greater context. Rarely does life actually play out like that. Usually, there's a whole lot going on.
And so by way of of quick illustration, I need a volunteer. Oh, Jay's sister. Thank you so much.
I just really appreciate that. Okay.
Come on up. And will you reach down and grab that thing for me? Yeah. Alright. You're visiting from California?
Woo hoo. Are you in are you in school? I just graduated college. Okay. Are you working?
Yes. Where are you working? I'm music teacher. Oh. Any any plans to come out to Jackson?
I mean, I visited them.
Well, I mean, like, you know, like, to live more... To live. Well or anything.
Okay.
So I thought a little object lesson here. It it makes a lot of sense in in my mind, and and perhaps some of you will be able to relate. And and for others, just bear with me. Alright? Mhmm.
So this is a rack of some of the gear that I use to place protection protection when I go out rock climbing. And have you ever been rock climbing? Have you ever placed gear while rock climbing? Okay. If I could just get another
one or two.
Stay here. It'll still work. It'll It'll still still work. Work. It'll still Think back to the very first time that you saw a rack of gear.
There's a lot going on right here. Right? Okay. Let's say that in this rack of gear, I wanted to draw your attention. With all that's going on, I wanted to draw your attention to this single carabiner.
Easy enough to to find. Right? Okay. So now do you think that you could find that carabiner? Cummings.
Yeah. I said Cummings. Right? G sharp. Okay.
Yeah. Obviously, great. Wonderful. I'll get you back. Okay.
Now what about if I were to pull out maybe a specific nut or a specific cam? If I were to point to it and say, could you find this one? Would you be able to put it on and find that? What do you mean by that? I mean, I kinda did, but quickly.
It's a little it's a little tricky. Number one, I was I was sort of quick. Number two, there's a lot going on. Okay. Good job.
Well
done. Thank you. Thank you. But
this this in a in a small simple pitiful way illustrates what a lot of Sunday school teachers and bible teachers and pastors do, and they're they're they're really good at it. They take a a story with a lot going on, and they say, I want to draw your attention to this. And they talk all about this, and that's great and wonderful. They might even they might even spend a few weeks on this and take it out, show you all the different facets and features, and and it's great and wonderful. And then at the end of that sermon or at the end of that series, it just goes right back into the bible along with everything else that's going on and set over there or hung around your neck and your job is to now go and do.
This can be a metaphor for life. When in your life do you have things as simple as just just this. Yeah. And this is all that's on the gear sling. Never.
Never. Life kinda comes with all of this, doesn't it? Amen. Things happen all at once. You...
Things happen and multiple things happen in your life, and there are lots of nuances and different perspectives. And I would suggest to you that historically, because pastors and shepherds, they want you to to to... They they so badly want you to get it that perhaps they have done a disservice by only talking about just this one little thing because life always comes with all kinds of stuff and mess. And when we only learn principles from the Bible in isolation, it can make the application challenging for us in the midst of the complexity of our lives. Yes.
That's And good. So what I wanna do with these series of conversations is not just highlight the simplicity of God told Moses, lead my people out of Egypt. But I want us to use our imaginations. I want us to to fill in and shade some of the details and the coloring. I want to reintroduce the complexity to the story.
Mhmm. You've all seen the simplicity. God told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt. We got it. But I want to not add confusion, but I want to get you trained to be able to reintroduce complexity so that in the midst of the complexity, it's easier for you to see the simplicity of these bible stories.
And then what is... Where... What's the next step after that? Within the context of our own life. Because here's what happens to a lot of us.
We can we can see the simplicity in the bible story, but then we go out and we live real life. Not that the two are disconnected. This is applicable to everyday life. But we go out into real life and we quickly find ourselves not being able to keep our heads above water because we're drowning. Why can't it just be as simple as I read in the Bible?
How many of you have ever thought that? How many of have ever wished that you had a burning bush? Just... I just need that burning bush. Just show up.
Right? Yeah. Or if you were like, man, I just wish that Jesus were right here right now. I could just walk along with him. So we all want the simplicity that has been distilled out of the greater context because it's hard for us to connect what we read in the bible with what we experience in real life.
I've just about beat this horse thoroughly to death. But I I... Are you picking up what I'm putting down? Yes.
Yeah. Yeah.
So so we're gonna look at this story, and we're gonna look at a few of the the complexities that you might not have seen before, and then we're gonna go bring it back into real life. So if you're with me, Sam with you.
I'm with you.
Okay. Let's now go to Exodus chapter five. Exodus chapter five, and I'm going to read a few verses. I will read you look with your eyeballs, and here's what you're looking for. I want you to look for what you think, like, oh, I could see how that could be complex.
The words may be simple. It could just be a word. It could be just a phrase or even one little sentence. But if we use our holy sanctified imaginations to just imagine how that one little sentence could play out for hours, days, weeks, or even months, it helps us to see potentially some of the great complexity in this story. Exodus chapter five, I'm gonna start reading in verse six.
That same day, Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite formed, do not supply any more straw for making bricks. Make the people get it themselves, but still require them to make the same number of bricks as before. Don't reduce the quota. They are lazy. That's why they are crying out, let us go and offer sacrifices to our god.
He's quoting them and he's mocking them. Load them down with more work. Make make them sweat. That will teach them to listen to lies. Alright.
Pause right there. I'm already seeing a lot of complexity. Just one example. Verse nine, load them down with more work, make them sweat. That will teach them to listen to what?
Lies. Lies. So who was telling the truth? Was God or Moses? God through Moses.
Was he telling the truth, let my people go, or was Pharaoh telling the truth that it was just a bunch of lies? God. Obviously, God is telling the the truth. Truth. But what if you have only ever known fairy?
And as the leader of the country, the federal head of the government was saying, lies, fake news. Do I listen to pharaoh? Do I listen... Can you see the complexity? Mhmm.
Verse 10. So the slave drivers and the foremen went out and told the people, this is what Pharaoh says, I will not provide any more straw for you. Go and get it yourselves. Find it wherever you can, but you must produce just as many bricks as before. So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use as straw.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian slave drivers continued to push hard. Meet your daily quota of bricks just as you did when we provided you with straw, they demanded. Then they whipped the Israelite foreman, and they... That then they whipped the Israelite foreman they had put in charge of the work crews. How complex is that?
So wait. Moses, you show up on the scene and said, is gonna lead you out of slavery and captivity. Is that what's going through the Hebrew foreman's mind as they are being what? Yep. Beaten and whipped?
God, your savior, your redeemer, the great I am. And what's happening to me? And it's okay if you nod your head like this, but nod your head this way or this way if you are seeing maybe a little bit more the potential for complexity in this story. Mhmm. We've read it simplistically for so...
Our whole life. Milk would be just distilling out, like, the high points. Here it is. The meat of mature Christians involves the reintroduction of complexity so that you can still see the simplicity in these stories and then translate it to your own context, personally, regionally, nationally, and globally. What verse was that again?
Verse 15. So... No. No. No.
Push hard. Verse 14. Then they whipped the Israelite foreman that they had put in charge of the work crews. Why haven't you met your quotas either yesterday or today? They demanded.
So the Israelite foreman went to Pharaoh and pleaded with him. Now let's think about the complexity just in that sentence alone. Then the Israelite foreman went to Pharaoh. Whenever you meet with a president or a king, do you just go in there willy nilly? Yeah.
No. You gotta decide. What are what are we gonna say? What are we gonna ask? What requests are we gonna make?
Who's going to to go? I don't wanna go in front of Pharaoh. You go in front of Pharaoh. What... Who should go in front of Pharaoh?
How do we dress? What do... Can you see just in that one sentence alone? There's so much going on? K.
Good. Good. Good. Don't treat your servants like this. Do we use that word servants?
Do we like being servants? Should we use the word slave? Should we use the word sir... Like, ah, ah. All of this is carefully crafted.
All of this comes with discussion, committees, and drafting of letters among the... You were like, should we see it? Are you seeing this? Okay. Come on, Brian.
We are given no straw, but the slave drivers still demand make bricks. We are being beaten, but it isn't our fault. Your own people are to blame. Who wanted to keep that in there? But Pharaoh shouted, you're just lazy.
Lazy. That's why you're saying, let us go and offer sacrifices to the Lord. Now get back to work. No shkol will be given to you, but you must still produce the full quota of bricks. I'm gonna go all the way down to verse 22.
The Israelite foreman could see that they were in serious trouble when they were told, you must not reduce the number of bricks you make each day. As they left Pharaoh's court, they confronted Moses and Aaron who were waiting outside for them. Now question. Is Moses and Aaron, are they on team Hebrew? Yes.
Yes. Notice what the Hebrew foreman said. The foreman said to them, may the Lord judge and punish you for making a stink before Pharaoh and his officials. You've put a sword in today into their hands, an excuse to kill us. Now how about the complexity within Moses' own mind and heart of truth?
He's like, now do I do the snake thing? How about the hand in the rope again? Lord, what are you doing? Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested. Why have you brought all this trouble on your own people, Lord?
Why did you send me?
If
it's cut and dry, clear and simple, you're not going back to the Lord. Even Moses finds himself in the midst of a complex situation, and he desperately needs clarity. Listen, Just give you all some points. One more spot. Chapter six.
Look at verse nine. Yeah. Yeah. Verse nine. So Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord had said, but they refused to listen anymore.
They had become too discouraged by the brutality of their slavery. Then the Lord said to Moses, go back to Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and tell him to let the people of Israel leave his country. People stop right there. This is a good opportunity for me to check-in with you. And instead of happening to spend your Sunday morning at a a church where the pastor does a really great job, probably far better than me, of like like like getting to all of the good points and then masticating and chewing it for you and then baby burning it into your mouth.
I want you to look at the text and tell me or share with us what... Where do you see complexity in this situation? Just raise your hand and share with me an observation, and it can be a guess. But where do you see complexity in this situation?
So I feel like that going into any journey that you have in life, you have the capacity to you have to prepare yourself mentally, physically, spiritually, and then god gives you opportunities every day. You're not promised tomorrow. Take advantage of what you have today and utilize... Even if you don't think that things can be... That you can't be successful.
If you're if you're prayed up, if you're mentally ready, if you're spiritually ready, then it doesn't matter what ingredients you've been given. You're going to make something out of it. And God is going to be with you if you're in his plan. Of course, the old adage, if you want to know if God has a playing. And again, you'll find out real quick.
You'll find out real quick. So that's if. There were a lot of ifs. Like, if you prayed up, if you're ready, if you are... And I know this is not where you were going, but but maybe somebody in here is hearing.
Like, if you prayed up, if you're ready, if you draw, like, all these things on... But maybe there's somebody in here with a a like, a a rack full of gear hanging around their neck, and they're like, I'm just trying
to find one chair.
What in this story that we've just read, where are you seeing complexity?
Oh,
saying,
Moses, like, they're having direct interaction with God. So you would think he was pretty prepared. And yet even in that, he is kinda looking around going, what's going on, God? This is not the direction that I thought you were gonna be leading me. And and, you know, it's it's not simple.
He's he's confused. He's wondering why why did you even bring me here?
The great Moses. Confused. How... What do I do here? And we're we're tying this all back in to this idea of simple obedience.
But Moses himself was like, uh-huh.
I see in the in the passage in verse nine, but they did not heed Moses because of anguish of spirit. I feel like they're in a crisis of faith.
There you go. How easy... Lanisha, all the way up here. How easy is it to obey the Lord and have clarity and complexity and just simple obedience when you're in the midst of anguish and confusion?
I wish she could stole it from me.
Age before beauty.
Well, I was
just gonna say that in this, there's a lot of emotion. And and the Hebrew people, I mean, that... You know, they're being beaten. They're being physically beaten. And imagine how, you know, we feel when it's like, God, where are you?
And they may have been excited about, yeah, Moses is gonna come lead us out, and then it got worse. So there's a lot of emotion there, and I can see where they're questioning God.
Yes. Good. Good. Good. You're getting it.
You're seeing it.
Yeah. So, like, when Pharaoh says, keep them busy so that
they can't hear lies. What I hear him really saying is keep them busy so
they can't focus on the Lord. Right. And, like, as I'm sitting here, Clay, don't wrap me up for what I'm about to say. My boss has called me and texted me four times. And so, like, I'm, like, right now trying to focus on the Lord instead of being busy with the world.
And how often does that happen to
us that the world is trying to keep
us so busy that we cannot focus on the Lord
and hear what's actually true. Even with Baxter.
Yeah. That's right. And also how
hard would
it be to stay obedient when then on top of all that, you have, like, people that you care about that are, like, we're suffering because you're doing this.
Right. That would make it incredibly hard.
I have something. Thank you.
Keep them busy. That's right. Keep them busy.
So I feel sorry for Moses because what an awkward position to be in. God God has done powerful things through him. He's seen what God can do. And not, you know, at least the last verse we're on, God's not saying anything. The people that he loves are suffering.
Moses is suffering. God's not speaking. And it doesn't say it, but Moses is probably saying, Lord, what in the world? What's going on? Come on.
Speak. Speak. Speak. Yeah. And so that's that's where the...
For me, put myself in Moses' place. It's the the the challenge is like, trying to worship, trying to simplify, trying to be patient, and, you know, not get angry at the Lord, but
what an awkward spot. What an awkward spot. God's like, I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna save I'm gonna save and redeem you. But then if you... If you're familiar with the story, he has already almost killed Moses.
Holy. He's already almost killed Moses. Rescuer, savior, redeemer, but I might kill you. I'm sorry. In in chapter five, look at look at verse six.
That same day, Pharaoh, you know, we... We've already read that. Think of the... What was going on politically during that that time period. Now they don't have the same system of government in those days that we have today, but politics were certainly around.
Oh, yeah. People maneuvering and positioning. What about influential rich Egyptians who benefited greatly from the labor force.
We're talking about the Internet. Mhmm.
Verse seven. Yeah. Mhmm. Think about the economic complexity. Don't supply them anymore for making...
Don't supply any more straw for making bricks. What about the straw suppliers?
Grips.
What does that what does that do for them? Are slaves allowed to own land? No. No. What do they do?
They work the land. What about the Egyptians that own the land that the wheat and the straw was grown on? Average. And now all of a sudden, they have a huge surplus because the straw is not being built in the manufacturing manufacturing process of bricks to make Egyptian cities. And you do know.
Right? It... Well, maybe you don't. But the Egyptians that we're reading about right here saw the pyramids, and they were ancient to Pharaoh here. You just come find me afterwards.
I'll I'll I'll tell you all about it. But the pyramids that you see today, they were already really ancient to Pharaoh in his day. And the Hebrews did not make the pyramids because, number one, the pyramids were not made out of blue bricks.
The aliens did.
And Gretchen said it, not me. Feels like, amen. Alright. Amen. Look at that, Poseid.
Bring it back. Look
at verse 12. Look at verse 12.
Well, we have tried.
No. We probably tried. So the people scattered through... And I'm not gonna repeat what she said. Nothing was vulgar or bad.
It's just too distracting. So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt in search of stubble to use for straw. What does that do to the supply chain?
Cut prices. Yeah.
Can you see the backlogs, the complexity? Can can you now better see the complexity of this whole situation? Maybe a little more. Okay. Okay.
So clarity comes with simple obedience. We have to come back to what did God tell Moses? Mhmm. And again, the idea is simple obedience. Look at...
Flip forward again to Exodus six. Let me read verses one through eight. Then the Lord told Moses, now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh. When he feels the force of my strong hand, he will let the people go. In fact, he'll force them to leave the land.
And God said to Moses,
I
am Yahweh, the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob as El Shaddai, God Almighty, but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them. And I affirmed my covenant with them. Under its terms, I promise I promise to give them the land of Canaan where they were living as foreigners. And you will be sure that I have heard the groans of the people of Israel who are now slaves to the Egyptians, and I am well aware of my covenant with them.
Therefore, say to the people of Israel I read from the NLT translation. I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppressors. I will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment.
I will claim you as my own, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. And I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your own possession for I am the Lord. Do you think that after hearing all of these words from the Lord to Moses, do you think that as these events unfolded, that in Moses' humanity, he could have gotten caught up in the complexity of maybe the how.
Yeah. But but you've appointed me as the leader. Like, how will how will I free them? How will I set it up so that you can claim them? How will I bring them?
How will I give them? How will I redeem them? If you were Moses, would you not have a tendency to to get lost in all of the complexity of the situation and the things that God has said?
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
So that's why in the midst of complexity, that there will always be an opportunity for clarity. How can we grab a hold of that clarity? This is what we're talking all about today, just through simple obedience. What is it that God told Moses? It's right here in verse 13.
But the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron and gave him the orders for Israelites and for Pharaoh and the king of Egypt. The Lord commanded Moses and Aaron, lead the people out of Egypt. Just lead them out. Yep. There's a whole lot to unpack there with lead them out.
Get rid of it. That's not where I'm going. Where I'm going is God just told Moses, be the leader that I've called you to be. How can you be a leader if you don't know where you're going?
Isn't it beautiful, Brian? The the Abba is
saying Yeah. The mic is coming to you because it's worth hearing. She always thinks.
I I I just really love it that God is telling Moses what God himself will do. Right. I love it. It's like, I I am God, and I am the one. I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians.
It's not for you, Moses. I, God, will be doing this. I will rescue you. You're not the rescuer. I am going to rescue you, God.
This next point is for anyone who's ever been a babysitter, a teacher, or a parent of a small child who comes to you and says, like, I wanna make cookies or I wanna make a cake. What are you thinking? It's gonna be a lot of work for me. But, you know, they've got flour everywhere. They've eaten half the batter.
The other half is spilled on the floor. But the the kid comes out and the parent says, oh my gosh. Look what a great job did. That's... The Lord delights to partner with us in the kitchen.
I wanna be really practical as we start to descend in altitude, coming in for our landing. I want to be really practical and and talk about some practical steps to obedience. There's so much that... So many directions that we could go, like hearing his voice and discerning his voice, But but we're just gonna talk just... I wanted to do three points because it's symmetrical, practical steps to obedience.
But I was running these by with Lisa, and she's like, just keep the first one. That's all they can handle. No. She didn't say that.
That's all she can handle.
That's all I can handle. Practical steps to a weakness. I'll say it, and then I'll unpack it. Your faith releases his grace. If you could hear his voice so crystal clearly and unmistakably, it would require no faith for you to to step out in that act of obedience.
It wouldn't require faith. It would just be compulsion or unction. But when we are looking for clarity in the midst of complexity, the Lord will or has already spoken to you deep down into your knower by the power of his holy spirit or through his clearly revealed confirmed word here. And what he's asking for is simple obedience. You don't have to worry about the...
In chapter six verse six, I am the Lord. I'm like, I've gotta prove the Lord to the people of the... You're just taking all this extra stuff on yourself. How am I going to free you? How will I redeem you?
How will how will I set it up so that God can claim this? Nope. Nope. Nope. Simple obedience.
And when we talk very practically about steps to obedience, when you take even the most, bless your little heart, pathetic step out in faith, that's what releases his grace and allows his super to be put on your natural. One last story that that you will... Must yet endure for one more time. But in 2013, our family went to Mongolia, and I was doing some running there. And I had taken the first couple of days, we ended up being there about two and a half months.
The first couple of days, while I was running, I I had maybe run a total of like a hundred months. Woo hoo. And I was really tired. And I had a I had a much longer way to go. And while I was trucking along, I was thinking about, like, how far I had to go and fear, doubt, worry, all these things entered into my mind of, like, how in the world am I gonna be able to run across the whole country, which was the goal.
When I've only run, like, five miles today, and I feel like I can't even run, like, 500 more yards. Like, how am I gonna do this? And then this thought's like, can't run across a country. You can't run 50 miles. You can't even run these five miles.
And then the next little voice that rattled through my head is you should just quit right now. And I agreed with it. You're right. So I sat down on the side of this little dusty dirt road in the middle of nowhere. And I was like, well, I'm done.
It's gonna be a big disappointment to a lot of people who are cheering for me back in The States. But now I try. And if I'm done, I might as well like drink all my water and eat all my snacks now because like whatever. It's like the support vehicle will eventually find me on one road. And I drank all my water and I ate all my snacks and I just kind of sat there in failure and in quitting.
And and then I got really hot. And then was like, this really stinks. Like, I hate this.... Never came back for you. Yeah.
Support vehicle never came
back. And
I was like, this is really awful. And in the midst of that situation, there was a lot of complexity. Quitting, what to tell people, how, like, how... Like, what are we gonna do with the rest of our time? The complexity of my emotions, of of feeling all these different things.
And then the Lord just spoke very simply to me, and he said, what if I called you to do? Run across Mongolia. He said, just do that. And I was like, but I can't. Like, I'm tired.
My legs hurt. My little getaway sticks are sore. Like, I'm done. And he's like, all I need is simple obedience. Just do what I've called you to do.
And at that moment Yeah. Something that I had buried in my heart a long time ago began to rise to the surface. Mhmm. This idea of faith. I'm like, faith.
How am I supposed to do that? So in my own natural effort and ability, I was totally done. But then I thought, well, what if I just step out in faith? And so I stood up and I kinda looked like the tin man from the Wizard of Oz with no oil can. I kinda sounded like that too.
I was done running and I said, alright. I've been able to run a 100 miles. I've got about 1,400 more to go. Why don't I just try this thing called faith? And like, if only you could see the footage of that moment of Brad rolling his eyes, you'd be like, oh, So I took a step by faith.
I'm like, I felt sore, tired, nothing changed. And I took another step by faith. Nothing changed. I went for essentially 2.5 every day running about thirty, thirty two miles a day on this thing called faith. I never had a chariots of fire moment.
I never... My my my splits never decreased. It was always right at about a fourteen minute mile. That's a long time on the road every day. I never was miraculously not sore.
But when I took a step out in faith, it released his grace to supernaturally empower me to do what he called me to do. So as you... Maybe you find yourself in complexity right now. We're all going to go through days of complexity. It's going to be critical for us to be able to find that clarity in the midst of complexity and grab a hold of it.
And today we have talked about one way, one practical step that we can take when we're looking for clarity is just by simple obedience. And when we step out with simple obedience, it releases his grace to work on. That 100 miles, God's like, you did a 100 miles in your own strength. Good for you. But I'm calling you to a whole lot more than that, and you're gonna need my grace.
How do you access my grace? By stepping out in small acts of obedience in faith.
This is me doing that. We... I... We as well have been in exodus, even my own quiet time this morning. I spent a lot of time in this zone.
And one of the things that I noticed today was that Moses, who's like, wow, it's Moses. Everybody knows of Moses. He heard the voice of the Lord.
And I know, you know, these
are Sunday school stories. Right? So we can imagine, like, if thus saith the Lord, he spoke from the clouds, and it was totally clear. We don't even know if it was just a still small voice, which we all have when we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. Each and every one of us can hear the voice of the Lord saying, hey, I want you
to go to Pharaoh and speak.
And what was Moses' reaction? Oh, no. I can't speak. Oh, no. I can't do it.
Nope. Nope. I mean, I had a hard time even raising my hand for this microphone. Okay? Like, I can't do it.
Somebody else gotta do it. Somebody else gotta do it. Like, what would have happened if Moses said, okay, I'm going? You know? And then later on, the Lord says, alright, Moses, you're gonna take that that staff and you're gonna throw it down, and it's going to turn into a snake.
And you're going to do all these miracles in front of Pharaoh. And what's the first thing he does? He hands his staff to Aaron. He has Aaron talk to Pharaoh. He has Aaron throw his staff down.
How would things be different if Moses had just thrown the staff down
himself? Mhmm.
Would there had to have been 10 different miracles? Maybe, maybe not. Like, the simple obedience, getting up and running again, is maybe just going up to that person and saying, hey. Is everything okay? I mean, that thought might not be your thought.
That could be the Lord putting his thought into your mind. Or you saying that thing that you... It's just out of the blue speaking up and saying that. I mean, that's iron sharpening is iron. That's why we gather together.
Right? It's like, that's how we get prepared. There is no least of ease in this place.
That's good. Let's close our eyes for a second. And maybe today, you find yourself in the midst of a complex situation, and you are in need of some clarity, the Lord would would say, you will find clarity as you just take that simple, baby step of faith. It's okay. I know you got a lot of what ifs, and how am I gonna...
And how in the world will you ever set all of those aside for a moment? Push all that other gear hanging off of the gear sling. Shove it aside and just focus on a simple act of obedience. It may even start with you surrendering to the Lord and putting your yes on the table. Okay, Lord.
My yes is on the table. And you just do a little bit of business with the Lord. Let him whisper to you and then I've got one last thing. Okay. Now the fun part where if I hadn't already step on your toes a little bit.
Okay? So I was driving here, praying for you, thinking about this, and I... This bubbled up in my heart, so I had a voice text it to myself. So what did I say? Okay.
Let me read it, and then I might need to say it, like, one or twice. Some of you can discern and hear the voice of the Lord, and you already know exactly what it is that you need to do. But what you lack is the fear of the Lord. You love the Lord, but you have not obeyed because you you don't fear the Lord. You keep asking, let me let me hear your voice.
I need clarity and complexity. Let me let me talk to you. God, I love you. He's like, I know that you do. And I love that you love me.
But your lack of obedience is as a result of not having the fear of the Lord. You you don't need to hear his voice. You don't need to discern his will. You don't even need a greater love for God. What you need is the fear of the Lord.
Amen. It is God's great love that draws you to him. It is your love for him that draws you to him. It is your fear of him that will keep you close beside him.
The
the fear of the Lord. Back back to before we went to the Lord. We put our yes on the on the table, not out of our great love for the Lord. We put our yes on the table because we were terrified of what not obeying could mean. Mhmm.
Yeah.
Odds and Brian just kept saying, you know, just keep praying about it. Just keep praying about it. I was like, you just want me to keep praying about it because you want the Lord to change my mind? You know, like, which was true. And I remember when we finally just I just surrendered to the Lord.
He was like, do you trust... Like, not do you trust Brian? Do you trust me? I said, yes, Lord. I trust you.
And he said, this is what I'm calling you to. It's a family. And we had already put our yes on the table that we would never go on a mission trip again after having gone to Egypt, the two of us, without our kids. So we had already known that this is what the Lord had said. So if we were in, then our whole family goes.
Yeah. And, you know, kites, they don't ring on. But I just remember once we put our yes on the table, there was just all this peace just washed over. So this is yes. I don't have all those other things figured out.
I don't know how that's gonna work or that's gonna work, but, hey. You're calling us to this. Done. And then we sat in the office of one of our bosses, and I remember he just, out of his own fear, this was in Tulsa, started just speaking all these, like, really fearful things over us. Know?
This... He said, this is gonna break your body, first of all. Like, if I... I've had friends who've tried to, this is gonna this is gonna ruin your finances. He just started speaking all this fear, and it was so crazy because in that moment, I didn't hear a word of it.
I was like, oh, you haven't been called to this. We have. Yeah. Oh. Like that's the fear when you put yourself...
He loved us dearly, but he was just, you know, I hate to say bless his heart, but bless his heart. He was thinking through if he had to go Yeah. If he had to go do it all this fear because he wasn't called to it. Right. And so I just remembered as he was saying all these things, like, fear was trying to enter, but I was trying to, like, have the fear of the Lord and not fear of man.
And I was... And as clear as can be, the Holy Spirit showed me a scale, one of those old timey, you know, scales with with the thing in the middle of a little needle. And I just felt like the Lord say, how much do you fear me and what I've called you to and being disobedient to me because of what I wanna do through you? And how much do you fear man, all of it. All the what ifs.
All the what ifs. On one side. One side, thank you, Brian. God, love you too. Can't see where it's like.
And I just remember, I just... In my in my spirit, I just declared, Lord, I wanna fear you and wanna be obedient to you no matter what the cost. Because this is so small in comparison to what he may call me to one day, like to lay my life down so we get to camp for two and a half months across a beautiful landscape like boo boo. You know? But I just remember that was the first time that I just remembered declaring and surrendering to the Lord.
Like, Lord, wanna fear you and what you've called us to do and be obedient more than I care about anything else. And, man, he honored me. He said, that's all I've asked. I'll figure out all the what ifs. Mhmm.
Close your eyes.
Lord, if there's anyone
in this space right now who hasn't maybe not... They haven't felt that weight of fearing you, if that means fearing you in a healthy, awesome way because you are God almighty who has good and perfect gifts for his children. But sometimes, man, it... You may call us to things that are complex and hard. And, Lord, we have to declare in our hearts now that we set our eyes, our heart, our spirit on being obedient to you no matter what the cost No matter what the cost.
Lord, just replace in our hearts and in our spirits that fear of you, that holy reverence. That when you speak, Lord, nothing else, nothing else would distract us. Because it's in that obedience that we see clarity, we feel intimate with you, then that's what we ask for. Purpose in our hearts now before we get a bad health report, before our finances are a struggle, purpose in our hearts now, we will be obedient to you. And help us if we struggle in hearing your voice.
Lord, help us to have the discipline to get into your word to know what it is you are calling us to. And that obedience to spend time with you so that we can hear your voice, so we can obey. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. I'm just gonna say one more super quick thing.
I was listening to this podcast, and it was about science and how they've discovered that they can they can understand better how animals speak to each other. Does anyone like to study this at all? It is fascinating. Fascinating how they can... The depth that they can study.
And I don't know how this ties in, but this is really heavy on my head. Don't know. Okay. Is that they know that now, like, parrots, dolphins, and a couple of other animals, the the parent has a specific name for every single one of their babies, and the parent actually whispers in each of the baby's ears at a really young age as they're born just over and over this specific name, specific name, specific name. So that, you know, I won't imitate what I bet it sounds like.
Oh. It is too. Please do. Holy Spirit, come back. But it's such a cool picture because the the mom needs to know or the dad needs to know that when they're, like, you know, crossing the trees, like, they can call out and they'll recognize their voice.
They call them by name, and I just thought, oh, man. This wasn't even a Christian, like, study. I was like, how do you study these things and not just, like, cry out to your creator? But that's what he does. He speaks so clearly to us who belong to him.
Lord, whisper our name. You are whispering our name. You call us by name. Let us hear your voice. That we would just know your voice so clearly that it would be almost impossible to hear and obey.
That would be our prayer. In Jesus name. As we stay just in the...
In this attitude of worship a moment longer, we get to have some simple obedience, practical practice, and we bring our tithe and our offering to the Lord every time we gather because we see that's what is appropriate to do in a corporate setting, but you don't have to do it on Sunday morning. Bringing our tithe and offering to him is not a Sunday check the box. I did it. I feel good about myself. It is a heart thing between you and the Lord.
And anytime you give, just surrender it to him and say, God, this is all yours anyway. Thank Thank you for the opportunity I have to just say thank you and to surrender this and to give it up, whether it's easy or hard. It does... Yes. It supports your local church, and it provides
a way to do the work of the ministry.
But even more so, it chips away at your very heart in in a good way. The Lord can speak to you that. So we don't pass buckets here, but practically speaking, you can see on the screen, if you have a smartphone, a way to give here is just typing in 84321, like it's a new friend's number, and then you just type the amount you wanna give. So you can follow those instructions anytime. If you have cashed your check, there's a little box on your way out the solar doors that you can drop that in.
But let's just pray while we're together as a tribe family over our tithe and our offering and just over this service. So heavenly father, we love you so much. Thank you for who you are and your continued faithfulness that does not change. Thank you that the Bible says that you are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Thank you that we don't have to wake up wondering what kind of mood you're in today,
or if you're gonna do this
or do that. We just trust you in every area, including our finances. And when we give a portion of those, we just surrender it to you and say, let us be good stewards and do what you want with this because between me and you, I just surrender all of me to you. This is just a practical way to practice simple obedience. And so we thank you for that opportunity and for all that's to come because of our obedience, all the kingdom fruit, whether we get to see it or not.
We just thank you for it in advance. In Jesus' name, we all say, amen. Just Amen. A couple of quick things,
and we'll get you out
of here. Mark your calendar for March 13. We're going to have a worship night at Gateway Church. So tribe is gonna be a part of that, probably some other churches It's still shaping up, but we will represent hard... How...
We don't need to all be there, but how cool a Tribe kind
of dominator calendar changes. Well, put it on your calendar.
March 13. Take your phone out. Take your phone out. Don't point to me like you'll remember. Don't.
March 13. Worship night. More details to come with. And then the last thing is this. If you want to serve here at Tribe, you can come see me afterwards if there's an area that you want to do that in.
But something that you don't need to sign up for or have any skills other than loving the Lord is to come and pray every Sunday morning before service. Lanisha has our prayer team, and that's at 08:45 every morning, every Sunday morning. Come and do that and just kinda pray over this space and get the atmosphere right. And speaking of prayer, if you need some right after service, go back to the booths. There is nothing too big for the Lord.
There is nothing too small for the Lord. If you want us to partner with you and be in agreement for something that you're going through or need healing for or anything, please come to the booths right after, and we will pray together with you. Right. You have enough. Alright.
Just before we head out, one one last thing really quickly. Here at Tribe, we have ministry team that consists of staff. Some of them are paid. Some of them are volunteer. And we have had Carla and Justin that have been on staff leading our tribe kids ministry with all of our...
This room, that room, here, there. And so thank you, Carla and Justin, for being so awesome. They made they made a a one year commitment and have been in that position for, like, I don't know, nine hundred and seventy two months. But the next good news is that Carla is mentoring and has somebody to pass the torch off to, hand the baton to. Her name is Kelsey, and this picture this picture was taken yesterday.
She'll be raising up lots of beautiful spring flowers in Tribe Kids. And so if you have kids in in Tribe Kids, give her a high five. Give her a gift card to Starbucks or Snake River Grill, but Kelsey loves sharing God's word with your children and helping them grow deep roots into the Lord and equipping them with wings to be able to fly. So Kelsey is gonna be our tribe kids coordinator giving your kids roots and wings. Kelsey's in here this morning, so just and that also frees up Carla to put another...
To put her in another seat on the bus. So be praying about that with us. If you would please stand, would that be alright if I prayed for you this morning? Lord Jesus, I do not pray complexity over my tribe family. We got enough of that already.
God, I ask for clarity in the midst of that complexity. Yes. And as our tribe, fam, takes their their feeble, little wobbly baby giraffe steps out in faith, would you release a beautiful, miraculous measure of your grace over their life? Yes. And give them an encounter with clarity.
Thank you, Jesus. We love you. We pray these things. In Jesus name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen.
I love you. I want you to have a great week. Lanisha and her team are back there for prayer. If there's anything you need prayer for, have a great week. And remember, you got this.
You got this.
Finish yourself. Yeah. Mean, that's my best friend.
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