Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Revelation 12:11 they overcame the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony
11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Matthew 26:36-41
Jesus praying in Gethsemane, asking the cup of suffering to pass, finding disciples asleep
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go there and pray.”
37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and severely troubled.
38 Then he said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here, and watch with me.”
39 He went forward a little, fell on his face, and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from me; nevertheless, not what I desire, but what you desire.”
40 He came to the disciples, and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What, couldn’t you watch with me for one hour?
41 Watch and pray, that you don’t enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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Matthew 27:32-36
Simon of Cyrene forced to carry Jesus' cross on the way to Golgotha
32 As they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, and they compelled him to go with them, that he might carry his cross.
33 When they came to a place called “Golgotha”, that is to say, “The place of a skull,”
34 they gave him sour wine to drink mixed with gall. When he had tasted it, he would not drink.
35 When they had crucified him, they divided his clothing among them, casting lots,
36 and they sat and watched him there.
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Mark 15:21-24
same crucifixion scene from a different gospel perspective, Simon of Cyrene named as father of Alexander and Rufus
21 They compelled one passing by, coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to go with them, that he might bear his cross.
22 They brought him to the place called Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, “The place of a skull.”
23 They offered him wine mixed with myrrh to drink, but he didn’t take it.
24 Crucifying him, they parted his garments among them, casting lots on them, what each should take.
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2 Corinthians 12:5-7
Paul boasting only in weakness, thorn in the flesh given to keep him from pride
5 On behalf of such a one I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in my weaknesses.
6 For if I would desire to boast, I will not be foolish; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, so that no man may think more of me than that which he sees in me, or hears from me.
7 By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively.
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Mark 10:29-31
Jesus promises a hundredfold return for those who give up family or property for his sake, along with persecution and eternal life
29 Jesus said, “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or land, for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News,
30 but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time, houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land, with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life.
31 But many who are first will be last; and the last first.”
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Philippians 2:13
God is working in you giving you the desire and power to do what pleases him
13 For it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Before the sermon started, several people shared testimonies about moments when God broke through into their lives, including a man who described a dramatic deliverance in the mountains two and a half months ago. Brian then preached the first half of a two-part message about suffering, using three gospel passages set around the crucifixion as his anchor. Next week he will preach on the second cup.
What was said
Brian opened by holding three passages together: Jesus praying in Gethsemane, and then two accounts of Simon of Cyrene being forced to carry the cross on the way to Golgotha, one from Matthew and one from Mark. He asked the congregation to keep all three passages open on the "desktop of the mind" and said the whole conversation fits under a running theme he sees in his own preaching, which is endurance. He gave the message a title: drinking deep, choosing endurance over escape.
The central image is two cups. The first cup is the one Jesus prayed over in the garden, the cup of suffering, and Brian said every one of us is eventually brought to a crossroads where we have to choose which cup to drink. He was careful to say that Jesus did not make this choice easily, and that the humanity on display in Gethsemane matters, because a God who is untouched by what we face is not a God we can relate to.
Brian worked through what the Greek word behind "suffering" actually carries: the idea of pressing under pressure, as grapes or olives are pressed, so that what is inside comes out. He connected this to the name Gethsemane itself, which he said means pressing and crushing. God does not press to punish or to satisfy his ego, Brian said, but to draw out of us what he already knows is there.
He then listed what drinking from the cup of suffering actually looks like in ordinary life: discipline, delayed gratification, staying engaged in prayer for things that have not happened yet, pressing into hard relationships, refusing to take matters into your own hands, and getting back up after you fall. He was direct that spiritual maturity is not measured by years in church or how worn your Bible is, but by how much you have drunk from this cup.
A few members of the congregation pushed back or asked questions from the floor, and Brian worked through them in real time. One person asked whether suffering that comes from your own choices counts the same way. Brian said a key part of maturity is growing in your ability to tell the difference between a consequence of your own rebellion, something that just happens, and what the Lord hands to you deliberately. He used Paul's thorn in the flesh from 2 Corinthians and distinguished it from what he called "stepping on a rake."
Brian read a passage from Mark 10 to answer the question of why anyone would choose this cup at all. He said Jesus promises that what is given up for his sake and for the good news is returned a hundred times over, along with persecution, and in the world to come, eternal life. He said that is his working definition of a prosperity gospel, and he does not apologize for it, but he noted that the preachers who gave the term a bad name tended to leave out the part about persecution. The why behind all of it is eternal reward, and Brian closed by praying that God would captivate each person with a vision of that future, the way Jesus was captivated by it as he drank his own cup down to the dregs.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Sit with the question Brian raised and trace one specific memory of when God's reckless love broke through to your life, then tell someone about it this week.
- Identify one area where you have been avoiding the cup of suffering, whether that is a hard conversation, a discipline you keep quitting, or a prayer you stopped praying, and re-engage with it.
- Practice listening to the Holy Spirit in small things this week, and when you sense a nudge, respond in obedience even if it seems insignificant.
- If you are struggling with addiction or suicidal thoughts, reach out to someone for prayer before the week is out, the way Brian and Mike invited people to do before leaving the service.
- Spend some quiet time this week asking the Lord to shift your perspective on a hard season you are in, inviting him to show you what he might be pressing out of you through 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 invited everyone to share a memory of when God's love broke through to their life. When you think back on your own story, what moment comes to mind, and how does remembering it change the way you sing or pray?
- Brian described the cup of suffering using the image of grapes and olives being pressed, saying the pressure releases something that was already in there. Where in your own life have you seen God use pressure to bring something out of you that you did not know was there?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Brian comenzó la mañana invitando a la congregación a compartir testimonios conectados con la canción "Reckless Love". Varios miembros compartieron momentos en los que Dios los encontró en situaciones de adicción, suicidio, brujería y vergüenza. El hilo común en todos ellos fue que Dios no se rindió, sino que siguió buscando a cada persona con persistencia y amor.
El mensaje principal giró en torno a dos copas que se nos presentan en la vida, aunque ese domingo solo se cubrió la primera: la copa del sufrimiento. Brian explicó que esta palabra en griego tiene la idea de presión que produce algo valioso, como uvas aplastadas para hacer vino o aceitunas para producir aceite. El sufrimiento que Dios permite no es para castigarnos ni humillarnos, sino para sacar de nosotros lo que él ya sabe que está ahí. Esa copa incluye la disciplina, la obediencia en cosas pequeñas, no rendirse en la oración, confiar en los tiempos de Dios y levantarse cuando uno cae. La madurez espiritual no se mide por los años en la iglesia sino por cuánto hemos bebido de esa copa.
Brian cerró recordando que Jesús mismo bebió esa copa hasta el fondo, no porque fuera un superhéroe insensible al dolor, sino porque tenía una visión clara de lo que vendría después. Hay una recompensa eterna reservada para quienes eligen el camino difícil. La próxima semana se tratará la segunda copa.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados
- Apocalipsis 12:11
- Mateo 26:36-41
- Mateo 27:32-36
- Marcos 15:21-24
- Marcos 10:29-31
- Filipenses 2:13
- 2 Corintios 12 (mencionado por un miembro de la congregación, no leído directamente por Brian)
Read the full transcript 10,845 words
Are you in the frame? And Laura, are you getting sound through to livestream?
Come on in. Find a seat.
Because you're here on time, you get the full full worship set in all its fullness and what we've prepared for you today. Connor's gonna pray for us as we start today.
Let's sing together.
We just remind ourselves of who we praise this morning.
Kind to me come you. On sing
Just
thank him this morning for that love, that love that never leaves you. It did. Yes. It did. You have been so, so good to me.
When I felt no worth,
So, good morning. A verse in the book of Revelation Can you hold it back? That says that they overcame the enemy by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. I know that many of you are Laura's working on it. I know that many of you are familiar with this song.
I mean, it is a great song by Corey Asbury. And you sing it, and it's catchy, and there's like there's some special seasoning on it so you can just get into the song. But far be it from us that we would ever sing this song disconnected from personal experience with this song. Meaning, every time we sing this song, I want, at least as far as we're concerned here at Tribe, I want us to have a memory of when it was that God climbed up that mountain with his great love to rescue you. When was it that God kicked down that door of your fear, addiction, bondage, what whatever it was for his love to break through to you?
And I'm gonna give you an opportunity to testify. That helps connect the dots between the words of this song and the encounter of Jesus in your heart. Heart. And so let's just do it this way. The the the band will will drop down a little further, and I wanna give you an opportunity to share with the rest of us when was it that God's reckless love broke through to your life.
Maybe it was when you were saved, when you got saved and how you came to Jesus. Maybe you were saved and then there was just a a great breakthrough in your life. Maybe you were older when you got saved, or maybe as a little five year old or a seven year old growing up with the things of God and in your little sweet little bedroom as a child, like whatever your testimony is, it's your connection to the Lord. So let's just I'm gonna stop talking and you just raise your hand. I'll point at you.
You say it and then I'll alright. Fine. I'll bring you the mic.
Good morning, church. Good morning. On 07/09/2019, I had not drawn a sober breath for five years. I was laying on the floor, and I was bleeding, and I was crying. It was incomprehensible memorialization.
The enemy had won at that moment, so I thought. And I said, God, please help me. I hadn't said the word God for five years. And all of a sudden, like, it became calm. And I cleaned my wound off, and I dried my tears.
I called my dad and I said I need to go to rehab again. You know? Fast forward a couple years, I was agnostic and I didn't know what God was or who God was. And I followed Micaiah into Tribe Church on October 9, and and I got saved that day. And I was vehemently against that that I was arguing with Micaiah on the way here.
I I told her gods in Buddhist temples and Mormon churches and gods everywhere, and I had this, you know, like, new age idea of God. And and I walked into Tri Church the Holy Spirit and these these folks helped me get saved that day. So now fast forward some more time through lots of and the I thought I was spiritually fit, but the enemy was just leaving me alone because I wasn't pursuing Christ. So through lots of attacks and just life on life's terms, I was very suicidal for since that moment until here about two and a half months ago. And we were up in the mountains, and I had just tried to get out of my truck to kill myself, and Makayat took the gun out of my hands.
And I was walking up the trail, and I was looking at the cliffs, and I was trying to figure out how I was gonna die. And I went and got back in the truck, and I laid back in my seat, and I blinked. That's all I did was blink. And Makayah had her hands on me and was praying in tongues and saying stuff, like, praying in
a way
I had never heard before. And all of a sudden, I didn't remember anything. Nothing. All I knew was is that colors were vibrant. They were just crazy colors.
I had never seen color like this before, and I was happy. And the last thing I remember is that I wanted to die, like, like, two minutes ago. And I said, what are you doing to my client? She says, what do you mean? What am I doing?
I've been praying over you for forty five minutes. I had no memory of it. So she proceeds to tell me what just happened, and I didn't have any memory of it. I prayed throughout the rest of that day, and it was so happy and everything. And I was I've never felt this way before ever.
You know? Like, I'm just I'm just happy, and I can see colors. And what as I went to sleep that night, I asked God to to show me what happened. And it gave me a dream that night where I could see what was happening spiritually as we went on that drive that day leading up to that event. And and when I woke up, I had the physical memory of what happened, and I had the dream that God gave me.
And as we're driving up the road, I have this little light inside of me. It's a dim light, but it's a light there. And Micaiah has the same light inside of her, and there's a darkness all on us. And when we get to that spot and when we're when I laid back and closed my eyes and thought I had blinked, I heard and saw everything Micaiah had done, and and I was manifesting. I was I was coughing and packing and I was speaking in weird weird tongues, bad ones, you know, and and I was laughing in a voice that wasn't mine and and all.
It was the it was the craziest thing I had ever encountered or thought of or thought of. And as my chest come up out of that seat, every time it came up, the light inside of me was exploding and was just pushing this darkness away. And the final time, it it exploded like a nuclear bomb and light went in all directions and pushed all that darkness away as far as the eye could see and all of the gray and dark went away. Couple days later, I had a I I had this really vivid dream. See, my mother is bipolar, and my grandmother died of suicide, and my great grandmother died of suicide.
And in that dream, I've never met my grandmother before. In that dream, I saw the same light inside of her with the same darkness around her. You'd think dark is dark but it was a familiar darkness. It was the same darkness in my dream. And I watched my grandmother die in my dream.
I watched that darkness just consume her and put that light up. And then I went to the nursing home where my mom's at right now and I saw her sitting on the couch with that same light and that same darkness around her. And I'm I'm going to Davenport to put hands on my mom and to pray with her, like, here real soon in about a week. And God put it on me that I'm gonna go and pray with her. And I'm like, God, why can't we do this from Idaho?
You know? Like, and and for whatever reason, I'm I'm going to Davenport. And my mom is the biggest walking trigger on the planet for me. Like, makes me wanna drink. But it's gone.
It's gone. I just talked to her for the first time here, like, three days ago and and immediately prayed on the phone and God moves so powerfully through me. God is so good. God.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Now maybe you're how God broke through and found you, maybe that's nuclear, but maybe it is not so much. The Bible says he who's been forgiven much loves much. He who's been forgiven little loves only a little.
And the truth is if you were to be confronted with how much God has forgiven you, how much that he has dealt with, not overlooked, not dismissed, not swept under the rug, but actually dealt with, oh, oh, the love inside for the Lord and what he's done. It transcends and supersedes your religious civilities. Just leave those at the door. Save those for the other church that you might go to. They probably appreciate.
I would rather have real. I would rather have real than religious. Maybe just one or two more. What you heard from Mike Law was like a story. Your story may be just a word and that's okay.
Like like, he found me as a little girl. He found me in high school. He found me wherever. Maybe just a few more.
The song is so profound because he chases me down. And when I was sowing my oats in my late teens, early twenties, and thank goodness I was raised in a church because all those seeds were planted. But when I was sowing my oats and doing my own thing, he did chase me down. I mean, there was conviction everywhere I turned. So he never let go.
And I love that that he does not stop. He does chase you down.
Oh, that's good. Who else? Where else?
Yes. I like how she said that. Like, he continues to chase us. He continues to do things. When I was first saved, you know, like, God was working through me.
He was still cleansing me. I was still drinking. Like, things were stopping little by little, and I remember I acted a fool. I got super drunk one night, and it was one of those times when you wake up and you're like, oh my gosh, Tish. What did you do?
Anyways, this was the very beginning of me starting to actually go back to church, but he was so gracious with me. He was so soft. And as I was in all this shame and all this guilt, the thing that the way that he talked to me was just like, is this who you are? And I was like, no. And he's like, is this who you wanna be known as?
And I'm like, no. And he's like, it was just it wasn't a finger pointing. It wasn't like, can't believe you did this. Here you are again. Like, you're trying to change your life, and look at what you're doing.
But he was just, is this who you are? He was he would in a in such a loving way, I can't even put words to it, but just him being so soft and gentle with me and just that simple question, is this who you are? Is this who you wanna be known as? That was my last time drinking ever, and it was that simple. He's it's simple things like that that he brings to your mind, and then it goes to your heart, and then you're changed forever.
Just because I I and he reminded me that's not who I made you to be. Is that who you are? Is that who you wanna be known as? That's what changed my addiction.
I love you. I love you. There are a lot of fit athletes in this room, but he's faster, stronger, and has more endurance and is more relentless than all of our fitness in this room combined. Maybe just one or two others. And here's here's what I'm gonna ask.
Like, we've got to hear a few. I would call them beautiful, well crafted thoughts and and testimonies. And I want to they're fantastic. I want I'd love to hear somebody that's like, I don't know that I have a testimony. Jesus just found me in my bedroom one night, and I gave my life to the Lord.
Oh, okay. Here. Say that.
I I have nothing grandiose.
Raised in the things of the Lord. I love it. I love it.
I was also raised in a Christian household as well, but then soon later when I was 13, I did end up rebelling, and I turned to satanism and witchcraft. And one night, I was really sick, and it was to the point of paralyzation. I don't even know really know what got into me, but the pain was so bad that I just started calling out to Jesus. And honestly, ever since then, it's really never left. I've had a lot of temptation to go back to the things that I would do.
And during my walk, I would make a lot of mistakes. But ever since I moved to Jackson, things have been going back on track for me, and so I'm very thankful for that. Thank
you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for your goodness. Thank you, Lord, for your relentlessness. Thank you. So when we sing, there's no shadow.
There's no mountain. There's no wall that you won't kick down. My prayer for each and every one of us at Tribe is that we would never move beyond like, oh, I've been there, done that. We would never move beyond simple childlike faith and gratitude for what he has done, what he is doing, what he continues in his endurance to do, and how he has chased us. Let's give this song another run and consider, meditate on how the Lord has been relentless in his gentle, kind, sometimes firm pursuit of us.
Right? Let's stand up and and sing together with everything we got.
No shadow because no shadow you won't light up, mountain you won't climb up Let me hear you sing it. Let's sing it together. And I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it. Still, you give yourself away. And all the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love.
Sing this part. I couldn't earn it, and I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it. Still, you give yourself away. All the overwhelming, never ending reckless love. One more time, I couldn't earn it, and I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it.
Still, you give yourself away, and all the overwhelming, never ending, reckless love of God.
Lord, we thank you. We thank you. We thank you. I know at first when I heard that song reckless, like our God is not reckless. He is omniscient and all knowing and and not moved by emotion.
And then when I read what the author of this song meant by reckless, was like, oh, to make a sound decision in our world's terms as we know all, we know the we we receive the thing and the agreement is made before we lay all our cards on the table. And the Bible says that when we were yet sinners, he laid his life down for us and then gave us free will to choose him. That's what he meant by reckless. Meaning, I'm gonna lay everything out 100% of who I am before you, before you even chose me.
So Lord,
we thank you for that today. But we can't earn it and we can't deserve it so no one, no one can boast of earning your love. Lord, you laid it down freely which means every single one of us in this room are as valuable and as worth and worthy of your love as the next because of who you are. Thank you for these testimonies. Thank you for someone in this room today who needed to hear that testimony that is today struggling with bondage and addiction.
Let these testimonies build faith in them today. Build faith in them today, Lord, that you come in and you can work a miracle and you can break that bondage today. Let them not leave here without reaching out. First to you and then also for prayer. We stand as a family and as in unity and agree today that we're gonna leave here changed.
Jesus, we tell you we love you. We love you. Where would we be without you? In Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen.
Let me just really quick before you sit down, Amanda's gonna keep playing so it's not this like weird abrupt ending. I'm gonna give you a few housekeeping things. So today is a little different. Normally, our kids are in the big conference room, and the conference room wasn't available to us today. So we pivoted, and the kids are playing pool.
No. I'm just kidding. The kids are in the pool room. It's secure. It's locked.
You this is not locked, so you can go in if you need or you hear your baby crying, whatever you need to do. And if you have kids and you wanna bring them here in just a minute, we'll break. We'll greet each other. Feel free to bring your kids in there. Check it out.
If your kids aren't into it, your kids are welcome to sit with you today. I know the older kids, Kelsey's gonna take them outside. They're gonna play some games. That courtyard is very secure out here. There's no exit to the parking lot or anything.
So that was the way we pivoted today. I love seeing all these new faces. Thank you for rolling with our church in a bar situation. Kids in the pool room just enter through
the swinging saloon doors.
But I feel like Jesus loves it because we draw in people here from the Virginia almost every week. So everybody good? Oh, one more housekeeping thing. If you are cold, move to the front because it's like a 100 degree now I get worship sweat, so that's like a different thing. Thing.
But it's like 20 degrees warmer up here in the front. There's seats on the couch and it's cooler in the back. So if you like it cool, you can go back and sit by Laura there in the booth. If you like it warm, come to the front. It's just one of the situations with the saloon.
So thank you for being here. The holy spirit's still here even though we have to do housekeeping. Turn around and greet somebody. Say good morning. It's a good day to worship the Lord.
Fill up your coffee and get out your Bible.
Alright. Good morning. Let's let's get right into things this morning. Continue worshiping the Lord. We worship the Lord through singing.
We worship the Lord by honoring the word that will be preached, and then we'll have one more opportunity to worship the lord this morning through our tithes and offerings. But if you have your bible with you this morning, would you turn to Matthew chapter 26? Matthew chapter 26. And we're going to start reading in verse let's see. Let me see where I want us to start this morning.
I like that. Yeah. Let's start reading in verse 36. Matthew chapter 26 and click on verse 36. And here's what we're gonna do.
We're gonna take three different passages, read them, and then hold them all in, keep them spun up, like, have those documents open on our desktop, and then we'll click back and forth between all three of those passages. Does that make sense? Yeah. So Matthew chapter 26. Why don't I just go ahead and read?
We'll be in I'll start in verse 36, and here we go. Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, sit here while I go over here to pray. He took Peter and Zebedee's two sons, James and John, and he came and he became anguished and distressed. And he told them, my soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.
Then he went on a little further, bowed with his face to the ground, praying, my father, if it's possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet, I want your will to be done and not mine. Let's keep going. Then he returned to the disciples and found them asleep and he said to Peter, couldn't you watch with me for even an hour? Keep watch and pray so that you will not be given to tempt given to temptation for the spirit is willing but the body is weak.
Maybe just do the picture of the two cups for me, please, Justin. Oh, Carla. Now Carla. Okay. So that's the first passage that we're gonna read.
Matthew chapter 26. Now let's skip ahead in the story a little bit. We're gonna look at Matthew chapter 27, and I'm gonna read a few verses from Matthew chapter 27. And I wanna start reading in verse 32. Matthew chapter 27 verse 32.
Along the way, they came across a man named Simon who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus's cross. So here's what we've done in the story. So what we just read was after Jesus and his disciples had last supper together where they met in an upper room. Then he goes out to the garden, and he's praying in great anguish. And he says, Lord, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Probably most of us are familiar with that. Now what we are reading right now, we skip ahead a little bit in the story, and now we are reading after the kangaroo court of a trial, the pronouncement of the verdict that Jesus has been found guilty of crimes that there's no evidence for, and the judgment is that he is to be crucified. He has already been whipped and beaten, and now he is on his way to the what the Bible calls as the place of the skull Golgotha. But he's been beaten so bad that he's losing strength, and he cannot carry his own cross.
Therefore, Roman soldiers pick out a bystander and say, you carry his cross, and that's where we are in the story. If you're with me, just nod your head. Yes. Alright. Good.
Along the way, they came across a man named Simon who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. Verse 33. And they went out to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. The soldiers gave him wine mixed with bitter gall, but when he had tasted it, he refused to drink it. After they nailed him to the cross, the soldiers gambled for his clothes by throwing dice.
So we've read one passage. This is our second passage, and now we're going to read one more passage. So turn to the book of Mark. Mark chapter 15. Same moment in history, but we're now seeing it from a different camera angle because we have a different autobiographer.
We saw Matthew's perspective. Now we're seeing a different autobiographer's perspective on the same events from the gospel of Mark. Mark chapter 15, did I tell you what, verse? 21. 21.
A passerby named Simon, who was from Cyrene, was coming in from the countryside. Just then, the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus' cross. Simon was the father of Alexander and Rufus. And they brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means place of the skull. They offered him wine drugged with myrrh, but he refused it.
Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross and they divided his clothes and threw the dice to decide who would get each piece. So I've come to discover, keep these three passages, those pages open on the desktop of your mind. That just really resonates with me. Like, I can picture it. If you need to drag one document over to an expanded screen, go ahead.
Whatever you need to do. I have discovered that over the last almost eight years, TRIBE will celebrate its eighth birthday at the end of October. It's really no longer the devil's holiday, but it's TRIBE's birthday. That I've seen a theme I've seen several themes beginning to emerge from the messages that the Lord puts on my heart, and I think it's partly the way that he's wired me. But one of the macro themes that I see a lot is the theme of endurance, the theme of endurance.
And if you were to scan your memory banks, because I'm sure you're able to recall all of the messages that are preached here at Tribe. Yeah. Just slide that lead lined heavy door back and then just seal them back in. It's hard not to picture like Jurassic Park in my mind there. Get back.
But one of the macro themes that that that just that the Lord uses me to speak through that perhaps I resonate with is this idea of this macro theme of endurance. So that's kind of like if you categorize all the messages and you have the notes and then, you know, you have tabs that you go back and study, just this will will fit under the category of endurance. And if you're taking notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation at the top of your notes. The title of this morning's conversation is drinking deep, choosing endurance over escape. Drinking deep, choosing endurance over escape.
In this life, we're offered the choice to drink from one of two cups. The first cup and we're gonna look I I think we'll be able to get to both cups this morning, but I wanna be mindful of time. I don't wanna rush, and I want us to enjoy this conversation together. But the first cup, Jesus calls the cup of what? We just read it.
The cup of suffering. Yay. Like liquid death. The cup of suffering. And we just read about Jesus and that cup that was was offered to him.
Earlier on, if you're familiar with the story, Jesus told his disciples the cup that was set before him that he would have the opportunity to drink. And the disciples were like, I don't whatever it is, I'm in. I'm in. And Jesus is like, you don't understand what you're saying now, but someday you will, and the same opportunity will be presented to you. And I'm praying for you now that when the day comes and you're presented with two cups, that you will make the wise choice.
I didn't say easy choice. I didn't say convenient choice. I didn't say the choice that you wanna make. I didn't say the the anything else other than the wise choice. Mhmm.
Jesus goes before us, and he himself has had the opportunity to drink from two different cups, and he chose the cup of suffering. And I love the humanity that we see in Jesus. He is not some distant, removed superhero that is untouched and unfazed by the reality of the life that we live. Like Superman, for example. He doesn't even need to breathe our oxygen.
I mean, he's great with the speed and the cape and that hair and the muscles. Like, I know it's great. And for some of us like Lissa, she feels like she gets to be married to him. So but for the rest of us, like superman baby, it hurts me when you laugh like that. And you too.
For the rest of us, we need a superhero that's a little bit more relatable, somebody that breathes oxygen, somebody that that is faced with the same things that we are faced with, yet is able to transcend or move through or pass the test, if you will. Jesus, wracked with agony and torment in the garden, prays to his father. If it's possible, if there's any other way around this, I'm open to your creative ideas and solutions, Lord. But then watch the beauty of the next words that come out of his mouth. Nevertheless, my will, my choices, my life is not my own, And I will trust you, Lord, and I'll grab ahold of whatever it is that you put in front of me.
And in this particular instance, God. Remember the one that loves you and cares you, reckless love, and and he's so great and wonderful and the soft, fuzzy feelings that we're supposed to get when we think about God? He goes he just pours a nice deep draft. Figure I'll use a quick bar analogy. A nice deep draft of suffering to hand to Jesus.
This cup of suffering, it is a cup that every single one of us at various times are presented with the option or the opportunity or the crossroads of what we will choose to be able to drink the cup
of
suffering or to drink another cup, a different cup. So let's just talk really quickly about, like like, what is this what is this cup of suffering? What do I mean by it? Well, you can look at this word in the Greek, this word suffering in the Greek, and the word suffering in the Greek has with it this idea of pressing under immense pressure, strain that results in something coming out. And I'm not talking about, like, squeezing a zit.
You're like, great. Now that's stuck in my head. Think more instead about grapes being crushed or olives being crushed to produce something amazing and incredible that was in the grapes and in the olives, but it took pressure in order for the wine or for the olive oil to be released. Now I I'm pretty sure you all know this about God, but he does not crush for the sake of his ego, that he needs to put us down in order for himself to feel better. Right?
Like, banish the thought. He does not crush to punish. That does not mean that he does not chastise and discipline. That's different. And sometimes it can be hard for us to tell the difference because all we feel is pain, and we're like, I don't want it.
I don't like it. What I'm talking about is the kind of pressing, the kind of pressure, the kind of crushing that results in the expression from our lives that he knows is in there that we might not even know is in there ourselves. Beautiful sweet wine, valuable olive oil. You know that, in the Bible where it says that Jesus went with his disciples from Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley, which is maybe about a twenty minute walk in Jesus' day. It's about eighteen minutes now because you have to dodge big tour buses and traffic and busy streets and crowded people everywhere, but up to this place called the Mount Of Olives where there was a garden that had an olive press in it, and the name of the garden was the Garden Of Gethsemane.
Gethsemane, do you know what that means? Have you heard that before? That's right. It means press pressing and crushing. Jesus went to the garden of crushing and pressing.
There, he drank from the cup of suffering. That word suffering, not only does it mean pressing and pressing together and pressure, but it's also understood as a metaphor for affliction, tribulation, there's that word, distress, trials, and opposition. So when you hear that word suffering, I'm inviting you to not necessarily change, but modify your understanding of that word so that it doesn't only ever have a negative connotation in your mind. In fact, I would tell you, you can never grow as a Christian until you understand God's definition of suffering and knowing that he uses it as a tool for our maturity. Spiritual maturity is not measured in age.
Clay, would you stand up for just a moment? Nina, would you stand up for just a moment? Okay. Now is it easy or is it difficult to tell the difference in human maturity between these two individuals? It's easy because one has a baby face and the other one has long hair.
Sit down. Sit down. Sit down. Right? It's it's easy.
It's easy to tell the difference in in in, physical maturity of humans. It's tricky to tell the difference between spiritual maturity because spiritual maturity is not at all based on how many years you have gone to church. Spiritual maturity is not based at all on whether or not you own a bible. Spiritual maturity is not based at all on how much you go to church. Spiritual maturity is not based at all on how much you read your Bible.
Spiritual maturity partly is based upon how much have you suffered. How much have you drunk from the cup that God gives us? That's one one metrics for measuring maturity. Have you suffered for the Lord? Have you suffered the things that Jesus the 12 disciples have suffered?
Are there any marks on your body from suffering? And I'm not talking about suffering from the consequences of your own sin and your own choices. That's different. I'm not talking about, like, I've been suffering all summer long, and finally, pumpkin spice latte season is here. That is that was directed at no particular person at all.
That's not the kind of suffering that I'm talking about. The cup of suffering you can write these down. I don't have them on the screen. The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline, bossing yourself around. Do you give in to all of the things that only you want to do, or do you boss yourself around?
Are you disciplined? The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline, Either delayed gratification or or abstaining from gratification from that thing completely and entirely. What is the cup of suffering? The cup of suffering is discipline. I'm just not getting that many amens.
Only a few back there. Stay with me. The and then we'll come back. Because whatever it is that could be rattled around up there, you're probably not the only one. So, hearing hearing what you're confused about, may be helpful to other other people.
Hang in there. The cup of suffering is drinking from the cup of staying engaged. Staying engaged with what the Lord is doing in your life. Staying engaged in prayer for those things that the lord has put on your heart that have not poofed into reality yet. Staying engaged means pressing into relationships with friends when they have rejected you or when when it's tough or when it's not convenient or when you've messed up and you need to come to them and say, oh, I'm sorry.
Please forgive me. Suffering. Drinking from the cup of suffering means staying engaged. Drinking from the cup of suffering means you being conformed into the likeness and image of Jesus instead of you conforming Jesus into your own convenient likeness and image that you then worship and pay homage to, but is really an idol and not the real Jesus. Here they come.
Oh, that's a cute one. Staying drinking the cup of suffering means not giving up. Well, I prayed 20 times. Nick's all the way Nick, all the way in the back row is helping me preach this. It's you and me today.
Drinking the cup of suffering sometimes means not taking those matters into your own hands. Well, I've waited long enough. I've prayed enough. If it is to be, it's up to me. Drinking the cup of suffering means trusting the Lord for the timing of your pregnancy.
I'll say it again. Drinking the cup of suffering means trusting the Lord for the timing of your pregnancy or the timing of getting married. Okay. Without the mic coming up here, you said I'm confused. What are you confused about?
Let's address that, and then we'll keep going. And I'll you can leave the mic back there. You tell me, and I'll tell everybody in the room, and then so our livestream families can hear you. Or is it becoming clearer? So
suffering for him. Like, when I when I
this week has been a tough week,
and I and I, like, shouted out, like, come on. Mhmm. Come on.
Yes. And,
you know, I look up, and I'm like, I know there's a lesson in there, but I don't think that that suffering is the same thing that you're talking about.
Okay. So, well, I don't know what you've gone through, but maturity spiritual maturity is growing in your ability to tell the difference between just a flat tire because you were at a job site and you ran over a nail, and it just happens, and the cup of suffering that the Lord would hand to you.
And then I would also say another is suffering because of your own.
And then and then suffering because of your own. The Lord says, hey. There's a rake there. Whatever you do, don't step on it because the handle is going to snap up and smack you in the face. And you go, what?
That rake? And you stomp on it. And you got a big old goose egg on your forehead, and you're like, I'm just really suffering for the Lord. No. You're suffering because of your own rebellion and stupidity.
The majority of us don't really understand true suffering is.
Oh, the majority of us don't really understand what true suffering is. Oh Never had to experience it. Never had to experience it. Oh, tribe, family, the days are coming. If you are alive in the generation before the Lord's return, you can expect an exponential amount of increase of suffering, the cup of suffering that the Lord prepares you for.
Better to drink now and not shun that cup so that as the days of complexity increase, as we've talked about at the beginning of the year, there will be this beautiful clarity. So to come back around, maturity is and I won't say the ability to to know and to to learn, but listen to my words carefully. Maturity is growing in your discernment that you can better tell the difference between something that you've done, something that's just happened, or what the Lord would hand to you. And I say growing as a pre in the form of present progressive, to go back to grammar school, ongoing. Only Jesus has perfected knowing that difference.
The cup of suffering is the cup of discipline, the cup of staying engaged, the cup of you being conformed into the likeness of Jesus, not Jesus being conformed into your likeness. The cup of not giving up, the cup of trusting the Lord, the cup of getting up when you fall down. I was curious to hear, is there any way for me to grow in spiritual maturity without undergoing a ton of suffering?
I just feel like, like, when I look
at my own life, I I was raised in a great family. My parents are still together. I've been given an incredible education and tons of opportunities, an incredible body, earth suit to be able to do just about anything that I wanna do. Does that mean that I'm gonna kinda stay in this apathetic, immature state spiritually? I love your question.
And I'll it by saying by by restating your question. I think that your question, do I miss out on growth opportunities because I've just been so blessed, and I feel like I haven't suffered much? I would I would I would say two things. Three things. Number one, increased suffering is coming.
Just just, like, you know, look at the plot line, how things are gonna fall. Number one, Jesus says, I am going to a place that you can't come, but I'll come back and I'll take you to be with me. And when he says that, what he means is by the same way that I came through into the glory of the father, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna lead you down that same path, which includes suffering. So so number one, it's coming. Number two, praise the Lord that as you survey your life, you look back and you have the benefit, the blessing of thinking that I haven't, like, suffered too much.
Praise the Lord for your perspective. Number three, there might need to be a bit of a shift in your perspective because I know you, Jay. Jay, you live a disciplined life. Every time you reject passivity, that's suffering. Every time your flesh wants to just indulge or or whatever, and you say, no, and you wrestle with that, making the right choice, that's suffering.
I know you, Jay. You have experienced a a a great amount of suffering because I see maturity in your life. So be encouraged, but then also buckle up. I love you all of you enough to tell you the truth. Greater measurements of suffering are coming now.
Get trained up now. You suffer a lot. And and and for those of you who meet with Jay on a regular basis, like in bible study or things like that, you know that guy suffers because you see him making good wise choices. His the Yes? And he's life down
You started hitting on what I was gonna say. So amazing. Off of your question, Jay, just for anyone else in the room, emotional suffering is still suffering. You might have money, a good car, a good marriage, or good family, or good grades, all these amazing good tangible things. But that intense anxiety you're going through, that's suffering.
The pride in your heart, you gotta release that. That's you also realizing,
like, I got to get rid of that.
Yeah. Yeah. That's suffering. The fear you may have going into a new job or new situation, it's easy to think since I wasn't either abused or didn't have a drunkard as a father. I was fine.
But you still have other ways of being handed the cup of suffering. So for anyone who may think, oh, my story is just Jesus and bam. Here I am at church. Go home tonight and, like, really think what areas of my life have I suffered, and let the Lord use that and grow you in that. Because everyone's suffering is different, and everyone's suffering can be used by the Lord.
Absolutely.
I love the cup of suffering is the cup of discipline, the cup of staying engaged, the cup of not giving up, the cup of trusting the Lord, the cup of getting back up when you fall down. I love this quote, by Theodore Roosevelt, and he says this. It's not the critic who counts. It's not the man who points out where the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who actually strives to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spins himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold, timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.
When we were talking about the stepping on race, it made me think of Paul talking about thorn in his flesh in second Corinthians is in verse starting in verse five. That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not gonna do it. I'll boast only about my weakness. If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so because I would be telling the truth, But I won't do it because I don't wanna give any anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message even though I have received such a wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from being proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan, to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
And then I was thinking about what how ambiguous that is and if a thorn in his flesh could be self inflicted or something out of his control. And no matter the origin of that, that suffering was used to bring glory to God. And so I was just curious about that dynamic, whether if having stepped on a rake himself or that being given to him from God, how he could suffer and have this cup of suffering have the same outcome?
Two things. Go back and and read the first part of it again, and I'll I'll stop you.
That experience is worth boasting about, but I'm not going to do it.
Keep going.
I will boast only about my weakness.
Okay. Pause right there. Here's what Paul is saying. He's warning the Corinthian church, quit stepping on rakes. And then he says this, he says this to the Corinthian church.
Corinthian church, come up here, feel my forehead. See all these bumps and lumps and knobs? Those are from stepping on rakes. Don't be like me. That's one thing.
God did not put a rake in his path for him to step on as a thorn in the flesh. Those are different. Okay? And we're not gonna get into what is Paul's what was Paul's thorn in the flesh and what what God was doing with Paul in that, but I just wanna I wanna point out that I wanna divide your thinking so that you can consider accurately. The thorn in the flesh is not a rake that Paul that God tricked like like like camouflage to put in his path.
Wham. Now that'll keep you humble. That's not what God does. What God is talking about in the first part is look at all these rakes that I've stepped on in my life, And specifically, he says, I would I stepped again and again on the rake of religious arrogance that I could earn right relationship with God by being good, by being perfect, by being a good Jew, by being super observant, by being a Sadducee. I was stepping on the rake of thinking that my pedigree, because of who I studied under and my parents and the lineage and the tribe that I come from, grants me and qualifies me for for having right relationship with God, and I just stepped on this rake again and again.
And even Jesus himself when he encountered Saul on the road to Emmaus, he says, Saul, Saul, why are you kicking against the goat persecuting me? How many more rates are you gonna have to step on bro? Different than the thorn in the flesh, but is related to the cup of suffering. Like the Grammys, I'm being played out here. Let me land a plane with with this.
How about come back next week and we'll talk about the the the other cup. Alright? Well, because I don't wanna keep going. We've covered enough really good nutritious ground here today. Next week, we'll talk about the the the second cup.
But let me land a plane with this. Most people avoid the cup of suffering because we live in a culture of immediate gratification and ease. I literally have seat heaters and seat warmers in my truck because if my biscuits are uncomfortable, I can cool them. Don't. Just in case anyone is wondering.
Suffering. You're taken away from what I'm trying to say, babe. I know. I'm sorry. We live in a culture of of instant gratification and instant satisfaction.
And we we we are conditioned to avoid and move away from any type of suffering that either the Lord has for us or that he would like to use for our maturity. There's a great quote by Thomas Edison who said, opportunity is overlooked by most people because it's dressed in overalls and looks like hard work. I just want it to fall in my lap because that's what I see on on Instagram.
Are you gonna talk about the o word next week? The o word.
Obedience. I'm gonna talk about a different cup, and so give us a little nugget on obedience. No. No. You're good.
The the that's the metric that I've always used to with spiritual maturity. Yes. Not how old you are, not how born your bible is, but your obedience. And the bible calls the voice of the holy spirit a still, small voice. He doesn't scream at you as a gentleman.
And so I just wanna encourage you to, we all at Tribe, always talk about cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit, meaning learn to listen to him, learn what his voice sounds like. And even in the small things, like the other day I was in the Smith's parking lot and a gum wrapper fell out of someone's pocket, and the Holy Spirit was like, pick that up. I was like, oh, no. But sometimes he's gentle, but he has to be really firm with me too. He said, Alex Stanley, did I stutter?
He said, pick it up. I was like, ugh, okay. And I just and it's so silly and so small, but I just heard in that moment, because I'm really trusting and asking the Lord for some big things right now in my life, and he was like, if you can't pick up a gum wrapper, I'm gonna be talking all day long, and you're not gonna get the answers that you're seeking. So I just say that as an encouragement, just learn his voice, which is time spent in the word, you know, worshiping, just quiet time, alone time, because he is giving us direction through suffering all the time.
You're so right. One of our other macro themes is that of obedience. So think about this. This is a great example of of of suffering, and it may seem small and insignificant, but it's poignant to the Lord because the Lord says, all it takes is faith at the size of a mustard seed. The Bible says that even a cup of cold water offered in my name, so in that moment of you seeing the gum wrapper, the Holy Spirit say, hey, pick that up and you're going, ew.
The wrestling that you do in your heart deciding whether or not, oh, was I making that up? Was that the voice of the Lord? I'm already in my car. I'm late. I gotta go pick up hugs from football practice.
I gotta get to do the thing and the stuff and back to all the things. That is suffering. Do I respond in obedience? And when you surrender and respond in obedience, that's where the Lord's like, now you've given me something to work with for maturity. Suffering doesn't have to be your flesh being filleted off of your body.
Suffering many time looks like the Holy Spirit saying pick up that gum wrapper. Okay. Okay. Okay. Last passage, don't turn there, but let me read it to you really quickly.
Why? Why drink from the cup of suffering? Why? Because we've talked a lot about surrender, obedience, growing in maturity, those all sound like grown up words. He loves you as children, but he's looking to pass on the kingdom of God to you so that you will receive an inheritance as sons and daughters.
He loves you right where you are, but he wants to raise you up into sons and daughters. So knowing the why is super important. Write this down, and I'll read it to you really quickly. Mark chapter 10 verse 29 through 31. Yes.
Jesus replied, and I assure you that everyone who has given up a house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or property for my sake and for the good news will receive now in return a 100 times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property along with persecution. People think that, like, people granted because it's it was taken too far, but, they they throw the prosperity gospel baby out with some bad example bathwater. If you need to not call it a prosperity gospel just so that it's more palatable for you, fine. But consider what Jesus literally just said. I think maybe part of the bad taste in our mouth for prosperity gospel is those preachers left out and persecution.
My definition of prosperity or a prosperity gospel is that what we do, what we invest in the kingdom has eternal significance, dividends, and rewards. What's more prosperous than that? So, yeah, I believe in a prosperity gospel. He says, you will receive now in return a 100 times as many houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, property, along with persecution. And in the world to come, that person will have eternal life.
Many who are greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem to be least important now will be the greatest then. What is the why? Eternal reward. Why suffer now? Because of the reward that God is proportioning out and holding for us that will be guarded, never to be stolen, where moth and rust can destroy, but he's an accurate accountant.
He is fastidious with the books. Picking up a wrapper, and I'm not talking about a wrapper, I mean a gun wrapper. Suffering for when you're faced with with taking the easy way out. Suffering when you've messed up and you've blown it and you fall down, but you get back up. The Lord sees those things and is actively preparing your reward for you.
When all of the other girls in your circle of friends are dressing a certain way and acting a certain way and laughing at a certain way and pursuing a certain thing and you're like, that's not what God has for me. And you suffer because your friends don't think you're as cool, or you suffer because your friends might mock you, or you suffer because you do see the attention that they're getting from those boys that that you want yourself because you're human, and you're like, no. I wanna do it God's way. He's like, oh, I'm just gonna add up that reward, and I'm gonna throw a bonus on top. And he's delighted.
He delights not in your suffering, but he delights in your surrender and in your obedience. And with that, we will land the plane and talk about the second cup next week. Let's invite the Holy Spirit to take what we've talked about together and you take personal responsibility and invite him to help you make the 18 inch drop from our thinker down to our what? Knower. Our knower.
As long as it stays in our thinker, we remain unchanged. But when it makes the 18 inch drop down into our knower, that's the catalyst for change and for growth. Holy Spirit, help us. Help us. Help us.
If you need to change our perspective on suffering, do it. If you need to gently, I'm asking that you would be gentle, tap us on the shoulder and say, hey, you've been avoiding suffering in this area. Embrace it. Drink deeply. That you would convict us of areas in our life where we've taken the path of ease or convenience.
Lord, if we are right now find ourselves in a situation in life where we have our nose pinched and we're just trying to choke it down. Lord, help us. Your word says in Philippians chapter two verse 13 that God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. Now you just take a moment and talk to him from your heart. Help us, Lord.
Isn't he such a great leader that he would never invite us to a place that he himself hasn't been? He's the forerunner. And he didn't make it through the cup of suffering because he's Superman. The bible tells us in the book of Hebrews that he learned obedience through the things that he, what, suffered. Hang in there through that cup of suffering.
He drank it down, the Bible says, to the dregs. You know, the not the floaties on top, but the one the sinkies at the bottom. That's a great face. Drank it down, swirled it with his finger, because he was captivated with a vision of the future. That's my prayer for you.
Lord, let me just pray it over you right now before we do the last form of worship. Lord, captivate our hearts with a vision for the future that you have for us. The end result of suffering. Help us in Jesus' name. That's all they could take.
Lucky to make it out with their lives. One more way of worshiping the Lord, and we worship him with song. We worship him by honoring the word that's preached. We also have an opportunity each week to worship the Lord by bringing a portion of our tithes and finances. And I know that there's always more month at the end of the paycheck.
Right? I mean, it's Teton County. It's where we live. Even if you're coming from Idaho, that's just the way it goes. And so when we ask the Lord to when we surrender a portion of our finances to the Lord, that is in some ways of of a measure of suffering, and we stretch that obedience muscle.
And so here at Tribe, are a couple of different ways that you can stretch that obedience muscle. There are a couple of ways that you can tell the Lord that you love him, you trust him, and that you're surrendered to his leadership. There is a little black box right behind one of the swinging saloon doors, which is fun to say, that you can drop cash or check or bitcoins. I think we're taking those. Are we taking those in the back?
And
bitcoins. You can give online by going to tribejh.com. And then a lot of people are generous and they practice surrender and they worship the Lord with their tithes and offerings through their smartphone. And if you start a new text, 84321, and then in the amount, you just press send. If you have your bank card connected, it's great.
If it's the first time you're giving, you just enter in a little bit of information, and then after that, it's as easy as texting a friend. Let me pray over tithes and offerings. I'll share a couple of quick announcements with you, and then we can get out and enjoy this beautiful fall day. Lord, thank you that you present us with the opportunity to express our love, gratitude, and trust for you practically with our finances. What a great way.
Thank you, Lord. God, I ask that as people give sacrificially that you would return their investment into the kingdom back to them with your word that says, you literally promise that you will supply all of our needs according to your riches and glory, which are in Christ Jesus. So thank you in advance for taking care of every single one of our material and financial needs. God, I ask that you would receive these tithes and offerings to make your name famous here at Tribe by allowing us to continue to meet at the Saloon, in Jackson, the surrounding region, and to the uttermost bounds of this earth. To the uttermost bounds of the earth.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. The Lord bless your giving, whether you're giving right now or in a little while. Announcements, we have there are two sign up sheets over there by Steven. If you could give us a hand gesture to demonstrate.
Wow. Very effective. Wow. Well done. There are two sign up sheets.
One of them is to sign up for bringing a meal on Tuesdays. We have a young adult service, but you don't have to be a young adult to to feed young adults. We have a young adult service on Tuesday at the TMC, and they're always appreciative of your display of the culinary arts to feed them. And they're like kind of like college kids, maybe a little older, they'll still eat anything you put in front of them.
Lots of it.
And lots of it. And so if you would like to serve your tribe family by signing up for a meal, you may do that. Also, right next to that Steven, one more time. Wow. Wow.
Wow. As your attention is thoroughly drawn by Steven's gesture, there's another sign up sheet there for Wind River Outreach, and we are going to hop what is the date of that?
Tenth through the twelfth.
Tenth through the twelfth, October 10 through the twelfth, we're gonna all load up on the tribe bus. We're gonna drive over to Riverton, Wyoming, and we're going to help a friend church of ours called Foundations for Nations who does a big extensive outreach ministry to the Wind River folks living on the reservation. They do like a children's fall festival, so they they promote it. They bus in children from the community, pump them up with sugar, tell them about Jesus, love on them, and we send them home. We have an opportunity to partner with them.
They have asked for a number of volunteers to come and serve on that ministry. So we've got people signed up, but there are a few more spaces left to sign up to to do that. And Lanisha, wave your hand. Lanisha and her team would love to pray for you. If there's anything that you need prayer for, when we dismiss here, she'll be back at one of those booths and she would love to pray for you whatever it is you're going through, even if you need to, like, have her help you pinch your nose so that you could swallow that suffering to grow in maturity.
Lanisha would love to prayerfully pinch your nose. Stand up. Let me pray for you.
Can I add one thing while you're standing up?
Please.
I'm gonna just step out in faith, I think that Mike and Micaiah would be more than happy if you're struggling with something similar to what they've been through to pray over you before you go agree with you. Is that good, Mike, Micaiah? So just find them and just don't leave here today without just having someone agree with you and help you break those bondages.
Come on. Thank you, Lord. There's no mountain you won't climb up. Mhmm. Thank you, Lord.
You love us so much that you're committed to our growth and maturity. Lord, thank you that you are working in us, giving us the power and the will to do what pleases you. I command a blessing over each and every member of our tribe fam here today. Give us a great victorious week. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God.
And everybody said a resounding Amen. Amen. I love you so very much. Remember, Clay, you got this. Have a great week.
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