Easter Sunday at Tribe Tribe 2024-04-01 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Lord this morning to remove the distractions from your heart, what led up to bringing you into this room today. Just lay it aside. Just exhale. Lord, we come expectant to be changed by you today. If you just got invited by a friend and you're just kinda looking around like, what in the world is happening here? Maybe just take a big deep breath and say, alright, well, I'm here. I'm here. Lord, if you're real, would you meet me in this place today? Maybe you're far from him today and you need to experience his presence. Well, tell you what, guess what? He's here today. His spirit's here today and what his spirit does best is changes us. He doesn't want us to stay in bondage or addiction, stay in sin today. So as you worship him, repent of your sin, ask him to forgive you, We pray you. Just think about that. The sacrifice that he paid so we can rejoice today. Overcome. You have overcome. Yes. You have. Yes. You have. Jesus, if you overcame death, hell, and the grave, what can you not do in my life? Lord, we just ask that you would come today, break bondages. Amen. World. We're gonna There's no other name. No other little g god. No idol. No lifestyle. No pursuit of these beautiful outdoors can fill name of Jesus. There's power in your name, Jesus. There's power in your name. It's why people use your name as a curse word because there's power in it. As the world tries to diminish you, Lord, we're inching, inching every day closer to your return. King of kings, Lord of lords. Where every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that you are Lord and you are alive. Your name is power. It's coming burn like a fire what else to say. We just say, Jesus. Jesus. Would you speak your name over whatever is going on in our lives right now? Would you just let him come and be God over your life right now through the sacrifice of Jesus? I speak Jesus we ask that you would search every one of our hearts in this room today as we go from this kind of worship to the next kind of worship, which is honoring your word and digging in to your promises. Lord, we would ask that our entire life would be a hallelujah to you. And the things that are yucky that we think that we've hidden from you, God, just a moment in your presence. A moment in your presence can convict us, can change us. So have your way in us today for this resurrection Sunday where we celebrate the empty tomb. And no other faith, no other religion can say that. Thank you, Jesus. We give you name the of thank thank Jesus. Jesus. Say, he is risen. Introduce yourself to someone. Say, good morning. I know. I know. I know. We took a great we took a great risk this morning having our drummer not be in a cage. Everybody feels safe. Right? Right? He ain't tame, but he's safe. Thank you, Caleb. Alright. If it if it's convenient, only if it's convenient. I don't need you to, like, like, unlace everything. But if it's convenient, just just slip your shoes off right where you are and get a feel for what's under your feet. Just go go ahead. Because I wanna draw your attention in a sensory manner to what's under your feet right there. Because it's not it's not the the the floor pan of your all weather mats of your vehicle. It is not sand and ice. It's not standing on a gravel parking lot, which is where we've had a number of Easters. But under your feet this morning is some nice soft carpet. And if you're brand new to Tribe and you're like, oh, there's carpet under my feet every Sunday. Well, count your blessings. Tribe is about seven years old. My name is Brian Hunter. I I love this church. I go to this church. I happen to be the lead pastor of this church. And for the last several years, we have had Easter in a variety of locations. How many of you remember the Easter during COVID? It was like quarantine Easter where we were meeting like like, the town ordinances here in Jackson required that we stay in our vehicles with the windows rolled up. Now we love we love all of the members of our law enforcement and EMS community. We love you, and they're they're in here this room today. They were just doing their job, but there were literally patrol cars that were that were roving in and out of of the the Rosen Isles. We we came to church on Easter Sunday. We stayed in our cars. The service was broadcast throughout a a radio, and Jesus was glorified. We were up on scissor lift like 20 feet off the ground in what's now the Target parking lot. We've had Easter where it's been only online. I guess that was nice and cozy. You got to be in your jammies that Easter. We've had Easter service outside. Last year, it was like frozen and snowing and we threw sand down so that you wouldn't slip and break your hip. And now here we are this year at the Virginians. So this is great. We're gonna do church together and then we're gonna eat together. And for some of you, this is the first time that you have ever been to this, what we call tribe. I want to welcome you. And you might be here, you might think that you are here as a result of an invitation of a friend, or maybe you saw an advertisement that that led you here. But the truth is, there are forces much bigger than you realize at work that have literally orchestrated your schedule and time in order for you to be here because today is a day of destiny that you might not yet realize. But as we get into today's conversation, you will feel a growing sense of this entire morning orchestrated just for you. And the truth is, it has been. And I personally cannot wait to meet you to find out who is it that's here today that has been brought here by the God of the Bible because he has something very special in mind for you today. Oh, I can't wait to meet you. You're you're out here. You're here in this room and or maybe you're one of the livestream families that are watching online. But I'll get to meet you, and the rest of us will get to meet you soon enough. What I'd like to do this morning is start out by reading an eyewitness account of Jesus' crucifixion and him being raised from the dead. So if you have your bible with this with you this morning, would you turn to the book of Matthew? We're gonna read the last part of Matthew chapter 27, and then we're gonna read just a little bit in Matthew chapter 28. And I should probably turn there myself. I'm going to start reading in verse 57. Now to catch you up on what all has happened in the story, Jesus is about 33 years old. He has just spent the last three years of his life in and around Israel. He has really stirred up and kicked a hornet's nest with the Pharisees. He basically has comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable. He's walked on water. He's turned water into wine. He has he has dignified and honored women. He has healed lepers. He has raised the dead, and the religious institution of that day was so fired up mad at his words and his life and his actions, challenging the status quo that they've decided the only thing that we can do is to kill him, take him out. The religious leaders of the day conspire with the Roman governing authorities. He's whipped. He is beaten. He's ridiculed. He is mocked. He's had soldiers pull out the hair on his beard. The bible says that he was beaten so bad, he was unrecognizable as a person. And then the most humiliating forms of capital punishment, Jesus was subject to, crucifixion on a Roman cross. Now I know that this looks good on I don't know what you put it on. Your coffee mugs, it almost said t shirts, maybe not your your greeting cards this time of year. But the cross on which Jesus was crucified is often depicted being way up tall. Right? And on his right and his left, there were other criminals crucified. And and the cross is really tall for all to see. History actually tells us that he was closer to eye level. Not distant and removed, but right there in front of you. A lot easier to to throw rocks at, to hurl insults at, to observe up close what would happen if you were to defy the Roman government. You got it. And then we pick up the story in verse 57 after Jesus dies. Verse 57 in Matthew chapter 27. As evening approached, Joseph, a rich man from Arimathea, who had become a follower of Jesus, went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. And Pilate issued an order and released it to him. Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a long sheet of clean linen cloth. He placed it in his own new tomb, which been which had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance and left. Both Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb and watching. Two eyewitnesses watching the body be placed in the grave. The next day on the Sabbath, the leading priests and pharisees went to see Pilate. They told him, sir, we remember that this deceiver once said while he was still alive, after three days, I will rise from the dead. So we request that you seal the tomb until the third day. This will prevent his disciples from coming and stealing the body and telling everyone that he was raised from the dead. If that happens, it'll be worse than at first. Pilate replied, take guards and secure it best you can. So they sealed the tomb and posted guards to protect it. Not just rolling a stone in front of it, but it was actually sealed, like, as in a wax seal with a a cord wrapped around the tombstone so that if it were tampered with in any way, that seal that Pontius Pilate carried on his signet ring, that cord would be broken, and it it was like a like a tamper proof tomb. Oh, it was about to be tampered with. Alright. But not from the outside, not from the disciples. K. Let's continue reading verse, chapter 28. Let's keep going. Early on Sunday morning, as the new day was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went out to visit the tomb. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and rolled aside the stone and sat on it. And just for your information, this was no polite, I'll just, you know, crack it wide enough for a person to come through, to go in or to go out. If you look at this word in the Greek when it says the stone was rolled away, there were three different words that could be used for the word away. One of them has to do with with just out of the way so that you could pass. Another one was rolled clearly out of the way, but the third word was used. The word in that Greek word is a word called arrow. Aero apo, and it's where we get our word aeroplane or aerodynamics. And it what it means is that word that stone was sent for a ride, kicked like a beach ball far and away. And an angel came and sat on it. His face shone like lightning. His clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint. Then the angel spoke to the woman. Don't be afraid, he said. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He isn't here. He has risen from the dead just as he said would happen. Come and see where his body was laying. And now go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead and that he's going ahead of you to Galilee, and you will see him there. Remember what I've told you. The women ran quick from the tomb. They were very frightened, but also filled with great joy. And they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And Jesus said to them, don't be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see me. Here's the bottom line takeaway. Jesus is alive. He is alive. Take a look. Do a quick survey of all of the other popular world religions. Where are their founders? They're dead. The Buddha, dead, gone. The prophet Muhammad, dead, gone. Joseph Smith dead, gone. Elvis Prince Michael Jackson dead, gone. Why so many of these different religions around the world? Here's the truth that you may not know about all of mankind and about yourself. Here's what you need to know. Man is hardwired for a relationship with God. And somehow, instinctively, intrinsically, we know that that relationship has been broken. There's a disconnect somehow, someway that relationship has been forfeited. And for thousands of years, man has been inventing ways that he can earn his way back into a right relationship with God. That problem, that disconnect is a is a word that you hear in the church, but is never talked about outside of the church, but is every bit as evident outside the walls of the church just as much as it is in here. When people break God's moral law and his standards, you're a lawbreaker. Let me ask you this. How many laws does a person get to break before they are a lawbreaker? Whoo. You guys are strict. Not two, three, four, five, or six. It's that seventh one, bam, you're in trouble. How many laws do you get to break before you are a lawbreaker even if you don't get caught? One. We all know that. When we break God's moral law, it's called sin. You hear that word mentioned in the church, but never outside the doors of this church. But it's the same thing when we break God's moral law. It's called sin. Now, let me ask you another question. How many sins does a person get to commit before they are a sinner? You said it, and it's true. The bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Lord, soften people's hearts in here today so that they are their mind might be offended too, but, Lord, let their heart be revealed. Nobody likes to have their a finger waved in their face and say, you are a sinner. But that's where it must begin in order for there to be any kind of rectifying of the situation. No one would go to the doctor and say, haven't been feeling well, and for the doctor to say, you have a terminal disease, and then for you to get mad. The doctor's just doing his job. Right? And there is no judgment from the doctor. In the same way, there's no judgment from my heart. Whoo. Talk about sin and being a sinner. Like, for those of you who called tribe home, well, you know me. And you know my you know my story. I moved from Colorado to Wyoming up here to Jackson Hole, and I got I got to Jackson Hole having lived my whole life in Colorado thinking I was cool till I moved to these mountains. And I was chasing big ski lines, climbing adventures, girls, and the Lord got a hold of my heart. And and now look, there's hope for you. The thing with man's religion is this, that it's all about man inventing ways, things that you must do in order to earn your way to heaven or to earn your right standing with God. You can take all of the religions of the world and put them on one side And on the other side, in stark contrast, is a relationship with Jesus called Christianity. It is holy and completely unlike all of the other religions in the world. Christianity stands alone, unique, and different. Why? Because only Christianity says there's no way that you can earn your way to heaven through right words or right thoughts. There's no amount of paper straws you can drink out of that's gonna make you a good enough person that you qualify for heaven. In fact, not my standards, but according to God's standards, any of your attempts at good behavior or right thinking, if done in the name of trying to earn a right relationship with God, it stinks in his sight. It would be like this. First of all, I'm a terrible cook. But let's say that that I I wanted to make you some brownies. Okay? And I've got my brownie mix. Okay. I'm making it from a box. I can even mess that up. And I take my brownie mix and I put it in a mixing bowl and I take my other ingredients. What what what are they? Oh, yes. Some eggs. I put some eggs in there. Some some oil. Okay. I wouldn't have thought of that. And then I I I take one dollop of dog poop and I just put it in there. I mix it all up. I watch the the the cooking instructions carefully, put it in the oven, and then I pull it out. I slice them up. How many and I say here you go, how many of you would eat one of those brownies? Don't even raise your hand. It's not junior high. How disgusting is that? But here's my thinking. Surely, all of this good brownie mix will outweigh the little bit of dog poop that I mixed in there. Nobody in their right mind would mix that into their recipe nor would they eat it. But listen, when we try to live a life that pleases and honors God by trying to be a good person according to God's standards. It's like mixing a little bit of dog poop in with the brownies that you offer up to the Lord. It's crap. So here's a question. How does sinful man enter into a right relationship with God whose standard he can never achieve? What is God's standard? To be sinless. Yeah. But I'm a pretty good person. I've never robbed a bank, Never, like, kicked a dog and tried to recycle. Like, I'm a pretty good person. When you compare yourself to others, the tendency is always to compare yourself to somebody a little further down on the scale. I'm a pretty good person. But a right relationship with God is not based upon your standards. They're based upon his standards. The bible says if we keep all of the law and stumble at just one point that we are guilty of having broken all of the law. And you yourself said, all you have to do is break one of God's moral laws, commit one sin. And God gave us 10 commandments, 10 simple, easy, like, righteous living starter pack. Here, start with these 10, see what you can do. To prove to us and to show to us that on our own efforts and merits, we will never be able to climb like that Led Zeppelin song, a stairway to heaven. So this makes for a very interesting problem. The most difficult problem man has ever known required the most brilliant solution in the universe. And maybe for some of you, this is one of the first moments, but this is what separates Christianity from all of the other religions in the world. Instead of man trying to climb up to God, God became a man and came down to us. God became human in the person of Jesus. He did live a sinless life, and he died to take the punishment that we deserve. In the same way that if you break one of the laws of this land, maybe you get a fee or a fine or jail time or all of the above. According to God's standard because he made this universe and he gets to set it up any way that he wants. The Bible says, and God is very clear that if you break one law, the the punishment, the penalty is forever separation from God. Death and spending eternity in a very real place called hell. Break one of God's laws, and that's where you're going. Well, good thing that it's not me. Alright. Well, so add pride to the list. If you think that that you haven't broken any of God's laws, even if you're a good person. One of my favorite lyrics from a old, like, Christian rap song says this, sin's fatal long before the cradle because it done crept in through your navel. You are born fallen. You are born having broken God's law. But that's what's amazing about Christianity is that Jesus came down to earth. He lived a sinless life, and he took the punishment that we deserve so that we can have that right relationship with God again. And if that were all that happened, I mean, that would be a pretty awesome religion. Thank you, Jesus, that died for me. Jesus came down to Earth. He lived like me. He gets me. He understands me. And now I just do my best to try to follow his example. But here's the thing, God didn't stop there. And if you don't know this, it's one of the wonderful things about God. He always goes one step further than what you expected. God didn't just send Jesus down to Earth to set an example to show us how to live. Here's your example. Good luck trying to live like Jesus. Remember when you were a kid at the pool and you tried to see how far you could, like, run across the water? Okay. Maybe I was the only one. I gotta live like Jesus. And then you're like, okay. I need a little help. So you put, like, a kickboard out there to, like, get one extra step. Here's the amazing thing. Jesus lived a sinless life. He died for our sins. But because he was sinless, the law had no legal right to keep him. Once the debt was paid for, the law could not any longer legally keep him in the grave. And now he lives immortal. Jesus is alive. Okay. I get it. I get it. Jesus is alive. Or maybe you're soaking in. Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive. But but tell me tell me more. Tell me about what what's the big deal about that? The deal with Jesus is so much better than just him paying the price for our sin so that if we ask him to forgive us, we go to heaven. The deal is so much better than Jesus just living a perfect life so that we could try to follow his example and and emulate him. Because Jesus is alive, if we lay down our life, he offers to live his life through us. Let me show you. I'm gonna read a couple of bible verses. You you might not be in a note taking mood, so it's okay. You can take a picture of them, I guess, or just let them sink in. Let these I'm gonna like like Salt Bae, I'm gonna sprinkle some seasoning on the on the good recipe that we have going here. Galatians two twenty. Listen to the words from the book that is alive. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. I live so I live in this earthly body by trusting the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. It's Christ who lives in me. Colossians chapter one verse 27. For God wanted them to know that the riches and the glory of Christ are for you Gentiles too. That's us. And here's the secret. The Greek word is mysterion, not hidden from, but hidden for you to discover. Like when you were a dad playing hide and go seek with your child in the house, and you hid behind the draperies with what's sticking out? Your feet. Why? So your child could come and find you, maybe like half of you is sticking out. And they're like looking around and looking around. Like, you're you're a you're a full grown adult. You could hide. You could get in your car and leave, and they'd be looking for a long time. Come back two hours later from skiing, and they're still looking for you. And you're like, I guess you didn't find me. God didn't do that to us. He's a good father. He hides with like most of him sticking out from behind the curtains and we still are like, where are you? Mysterion, not hidden from but hidden for. Here is the mystery. This is the secret. Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing in his glory. John 14 verse 23, in Jesus' own words, he says, all of you who love me will do what I say. My father will love them, and I will come and make our home within each of them. Two more verses. Romans chapter eight verse 10. I don't know how much more plain this can be. For a person who has laid down their life, there must be an exchange. Lay down your life to receive his. For the person who does that, the bible says in Romans eight ten, and Christ lives within you. So that even though your body will die because of sin, the spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. And then finally, Ephesians chapter three verse 17, then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him, and your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. So this idea and this concept, it it could be a little bit challenging to comprehend. And maybe with your thinker, you can you can perhaps intellectually grasp it. But there could be a challenge in that 18 inch drop from your thinker down to your knower. So let me give you an illustration that's quite easy to understand. Okay? Okay. Now to in order to do this, I need I need a a a a quick volunteer. Andy, would you come here for a second? Come on up here. Hop up on the stage right here. Okay. Now, I'd like you to examine this thing that I've got here. Is it real? Is it actual? Yes. Has this been generated by AI? No. Okay. Alright. You can touch it. Okay. So it's real and legit. Thank you very much. I just wanted to to to verify that. You are amazing. All that money you're paying for community school is really paying off. Yeah. Okay. What I have here is an obstacle course. And I'm going to make a selection here at which glove you think has the best probability or likelihood of being able to successfully run this obstacle course. And so I'm not gonna try to I'm not gonna you you know, I don't have it rigged in any way. In fact, I'm gonna allow you to pick which contestant is going to get to run the obstacle course first. Alright? So this is where you can, like like, be a little bit rowdy and participate. So just by, you know, good old Wyoming hoops and hollers, which glove would you like to see attempt to run the obstacle course first? Option one? Whoo. Option two? Whoo. Option three? Whoo. Hestra. Okay. Alright. Now, I'm gonna I'm gonna give this glove a a head start setting it here. And, would you start a a timer for me? You got it? Okay. When I say go, we're gonna count to see how long it takes for this glove to run the obstacle course. He's gotta make it up this ladder. There's like is there's some balancing involved here. And then, you know, you gotta hop to this and then. This is probably the most difficult and potentially dangerous. So if you're if you're weak of stomach, I don't know, Hansen, maybe. I don't know. Like, avert your eyes or something, but or just grab the person of the hand next to you if you're a little frightened. Okay. Is your timer ready? The timer is ready. Glovey, are you ready? On your mark, get set, go. Help him out. Come on, Glovey. Come on, Glovey. Maybe some more encouragement. Come on, Glovey. Get up. Get up. Disappointing. Do you think any of these other gloves would would fare any better? That's a real bummer. Now, you're smart. I know that you know where this is going. And if you don't know where it's going, by by by the gasp of what I'm about to do, you will have played your hand of cards. We'll run it we'll run it one more time. We'll use the same glove. One slight difference. Is the timer ready? You know I love to compete. After service, we will be allowing members of the congregation to try their hand to try to beat my score. This is going on Strava, by the way. On your mark, get said, go. Close the glove. Big jump. Into this one. Into this one. Into this one. Into this one. God's a train. Prayer team activate. So you know where I'm getting at. Now I wanna if you are not a Christian, if you've never invited Jesus into your heart, but maybe you've gone to church before, Maybe you've been to church a bunch. And what you thought Christianity was is not what you are experiencing by way of revelation in your heart right now in this moment, on behalf of all the Christians in the world, I want to apologize. Because you have gotten a perhaps you have gotten a poor example and reflection and representation of what Christianity is. Because many people live their lives going to church, trying to follow the principles and the examples of the Bible, and they're like, yeah, Jesus. And, like, remember in, like, the early two thousands when we would wear those bracelets, WWJD? What would Jesus do? Okay. So I know what Jesus would do, and now it's up to me and my own strength to try to live a life that pleases and honors him. They, and at times myself, have completely missed the beauty and the truth of the gospel and the whole reason why we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Not because he died and I mean, yes, it is because he lived a sinless life and died for us and that he rose from the grave incredible. But that God's spirit, the spirit that lived within Jesus, there's an invitation, as long as it's called today, for you to exchange your life, to receive his life that takes up residence within your heart. And to the extent that you will surrender, Jesus will live his life through you. Now did the glove, I don't want to, like, break your hearts and, like, you know, show you the the the mystery behind this, but did the glove do the obstacle course? No. In fact, we gave Glovey a chance. Who really did the obstacle course? It was my hand in the glove. In a similar way, Jesus stands ready not for you to try to live a life like Jesus does, but for you to lay down your life, to surrender your life so that Jesus can live his life through you. And he is qualified to do that because he is alive. And what does that mean for Jesus to live his life through you? Remember, he did it perfectly. He's already done it. He's not asking you to try to be a good person, a great person. Here's what he's asking, inviting you to do, and that is to just simply lay down your life and get out of the way. And it looks a lot like death. Now, you're still alive. You still have a heartbeat. Let me check that radio pulse. Yep. Carotid. Yep. Femoral. Just kidding. That's a medical joke, all you woofers out there. So an example from from fatherhood. I'm an at best, I'm like an okay dad. At best. I heard that amen. But here's the thing, when I lay down my life and I invite Jesus to live his life through me, he's an amazing dad. He's patient. He's kind. He knows what each of my children are going through. And here's what here's what he says. He says, Brian, you you lay down your life. You get out of the way of being a dad, and you let me be a dad to your children through you. And I say, okay, Lord, I surrender. And then and then I say, what do you want? And he says, okay, go into the room and talk to him about this. Write them a card and say this. Send them a text message and say that whatever you do, don't do that thing that you want to do in your heart right now. Is that making sense? What about being a a Jesus living his life through you as a ski bum in this town? Jesus, how how how how do I allow you to live your life through me in this town? He's really good at it. He's been doing it a long time. He'll he will as you surrender to him, he will replace the affections of your heart so that you chase after instead of chasing after things that have no nutritional value, He replaces that with something that has provide so much peace and meaning and fulfillment that you could take or leave skiing. And I'm not saying that skiing is bad at all. Certainly, I ain't saying that. But it has its place. Jesus, live your life through me. This is what it means to make Jesus the leader of your life. He has something to say about every single aspect of your life. He knows where you've messed up and where you've blown it, where you fall short. And that's the place at which his tender mercies engage and interact and touch your human heart to bring healing to you, to bring peace to you. He doesn't bring judgment and condemnation. All of that was poured out by God the Father on the Son Jesus on the cross, and it's called the wrath of God. It has been put to rest so that you can come running home back into his arms. Not redouble your efforts, not try in your own strength to like, okay, I'm gonna come back to Jesus. Thank you. And and and and then you try running the obstacle course on your own strength again, like lovey here. You can lay down the leadership of your life and ask Jesus to forgive you of your sin and invite Jesus' Holy Spirit to fill you and animate your life with his life. That's the gospel. So how I do that? The Bible says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth. So in just a moment, I'm I'm going to lead all of us in a prayer, and I'm gonna invite you, even if Jesus is the leader of your life, I'm gonna invite you to say this prayer out loud as well. And what that will do is it will give the your neighbors, people around you privacy that they might need in case they are praying this prayer for the very first time. And there's nothing magical about the prayer in the same way there's nothing magical about Glovey doing the obstacle course. Right? But it's believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth. And you know the gravity and seriousness of this moment because even right now, you're experiencing a variety of emotions. Maybe your heart is beating out of your chest. Maybe you're feeling the weight of sin and the lifestyle that you've been living. Or maybe you're just itching for freedom. And then when we're done, I mean, is a town of bold moves. Right? When we're done, I'm going to invite you to do something very bold. And I'm gonna give you once you've already sealed the deal and taken care of of business with the Lord, laid down your life in the best way that you know how, invite him to be the leader of your life. I'm going to invite you to make a public declaration of the faith that you have just made by standing up so that the rest of us can celebrate with you. Yeah. So would you close your eyes for just a moment? And before I lead you in a prayer, just be still and listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit whispering to your heart. Call them back to you. Call them back to you. Call them back to you. Go ahead, Liz. Just with your eyes closed, as people were praying this morning and praying over these seeds and praying over you, God was just speaking to those hearts and bringing to light those not just those that are lost, but those that have been be midst time. And in some ways, even has kept them from falling into the things of the world in some ways. But man, they're tired. Then in Matthew, it says, all of you who are burdened and heavy laden, come, come to me. Jesus says, and I will give you rest. So as you're searching your own heart of whether you've ever even given your life to Jesus Thank you, Jesus. Or you've been striving, I just encourage you today. Run to him. Run to him and let him put his spirit inside Maybe you think, yeah, I know I I I need to, but you should see the glove of my life. It's not some good looking Hestra glove. Well, my life got some holes in the fingers, got some stains of who knows what is on there. Try to be stitched up, pass it down that road. Been stitched up, fallen apart. Maybe one of those good gloves could do that, but the glove of my life, little too much mileage. You you know that, like, that's who Jesus specializes in reaching out and loving. All you gotta do is look at the glove of my life before that. If he can grab a hold of me, so I wanna I wanna lead you in a prayer, and I'm going to invite all of us here to say that prayer out loud with you so that you can have some privacy as you pray it out loud. Does that make sense? You've counted the cost. Now it's time to die. I invite you all to say this. Jesus, I come to you today with a problem. The glove of my life ain't cutting it. I have broken your law, and I am a sinner. Jesus, will you pay the price that I deserve? Will your blood forgive my sin? Now you take just a moment, moment, and in the stillness of your heart, you make it personalized. If you wanna tell them that you're sorry, if you wanna tell them thank you, if you need to name some things, just in the stillness of your heart, you talk to them for just a moment. Make it personal. You ask Jesus a question, will you forgive me? His answer is a resounding yes, and he invites you to make an exchange. And so say these words with me. Jesus Jesus. I lay down my life I lay down my life. And invite you And invite you. To live in my heart. To live in my heart. Today in the best way I know how I invite you to live your life through me. Help me to die. Help me to die. Every day. Every And then ask him this. Say this. Jesus, will you help me? Me? Jesus, Jesus, will will you help me? Me? You've seen the holes in the glove of my life. You've seen the holes in the glove of And you have not judged me. Rejected You You have not And me. You have not abandoned me. And you have not abandoned me. Would you heal those holes in my heart? Would you heal those holes in my heart? And then say this, out of thankfulness and gratitude Out thankfulness and gratitude. I will live I will live. The rest of my life The rest of my life. Following your leadership. And I cannot wait I cannot wait. To see you in heaven To see you in heaven. Or when you come riding on the clouds. When you come riding on the clouds. Now you take just a moment and loud enough for your own ears to hear, you just tell him thank you and that you love him. Whatever you need to say to him, just talk to him. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for doing something amazing with this life. Last thing. Say this. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus, that you are alive and that you have given me new life. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Now at the beginning of service, I said I was looking forward to meeting somebody in here, and now this is your chance. I'm gonna invite if there's anybody in here that invited Jesus into their heart that died today, hey, what'd you do today? Oh, I went to church. I died. Then make sure you say tribe right after that. Oh, I died today. But I'm alive because Jesus is alive. If you have, through that prayer, invited Jesus into your heart for the very first time, I'm gonna invite you to to stand up in in a moment in a moment, and then maybe somebody's in here like, I already did that, but I feel like today, I like I reinvited Jesus to to to put his hand in the love of my heart, and I I I've come back to the Lord. You're gonna get your chance to in just a moment. But I'm curious to see if there's if there's anybody in here perhaps that invited Jesus into the heart for the very first time. And today, you would like to make a public declaration of that. Allow Jesus to fill you with courage and stand to your feet. We wanna celebrate with you. Alright. This is the next chance that you've been waiting for. You've you've you've you've done this, but but for whatever reason, you have disinvited Jesus to be the leader of your life through your choice, your actions, your lifestyle, whatever, fear, whatever. But today, over the course of our conversation, you're like, oh my gosh. I've been trying to run this obstacle course out of my own strength, effort, and energy. And I've I have that saving relationship with Jesus, but but I've lost the leadership relationship with Jesus. And and you prayed today to reinvite him to be the leader of your life. And today, you would like to make a public declaration of of coming back to him to re acknowledge and reestablish him as not just your savior like fire insurance someday, but the leader of your life. If you prayed that prayer and you would like to make a public declaration of that, would you stand up so that we can celebrate with you? Yes. Good job. Now stay standing. Stay standing because your courage is gonna lead to others. Look at the men. Look at these men. Look at these men. Stay standing. Okay. I'm done asking. No. Just kidding. I'm not done asking. I'm gonna ask one more time. You don't you can't yank up the hand of your friend, your neighbor. They need to make that decision on their own. That's awesome. Somebody is like, I'm losing it. You don't need to stand. But let ask me you this, how well have you stood for Jesus outside of this room for the season that you've been here? Anybody else, would you bring that love up to me? He's waited so long where I can't stand up now. The food is in crock pots. It's gonna stay warm. Remember the day that I was in the night seat. I remember the pastor, he's just I mean, it was like a thirty minute altar call, and I was sweating. And I remember the last thing he said that brought me to my feet. I was just resisting is I remember thinking, you know, if this is an inward decision in my heart, I don't need to make it public. But then I remember what he said was, something happens when you stand for what Jesus did for you. He hung on a cross. And I wrestled with that again and then I remember he said, when you stand up from that seat, he said, something supernatural happens. Chains literally fall off of you when you do Lord. I'm gonna pray for that it's not magical to stand, but there is something that happens supernaturally. He literally said chains will fall off of you. And guys, I'm telling you what, I was lost as a ball in tall weeds, as Brian says. I stood up out of that chair and I knew my calling, I knew my destiny, and I knew who I belonged to in that moment. From sitting to standing, all that changed. So I just encourage you today, wherever you are in this I like I like I like the buddy system. I like the buddy system. Maybe you're like, oh, I know that I need to, but like I just can't somebody to your right or to your left will stand with you. If you just like grab their hand, they're like, I need to do this, but are you okay? Yep. Just grab their hand and they'll stand with you. This is so awesome. Okay. Okay. Okay. Stay standing. I just got a a text message from our our friends, Susan and Stephanie, who are watching Easter service live in Israel from the Golan. She just sent me a text message and says, oh, it's hot in there. Let it burn. Says Susan, who's all the way in the Golan. In the middle of a war. In the middle of a war. Anybody else? So Ian just shared with me, and I'm gonna use my words for your sentiment. When is the better time to put on your rain jacket? After the deluge has started or when you see the clouds gathering. Don't wait. Don't wait until the storm is on you. It's what the Lord Ian feels like the Lord put on his heart to share that's good. Alright. Oh my gosh. Let's do this. Can we all stand together in support and celebration of those that have stood today? Midst storm. Resurrection of Jesus together corporately in with those who stood and everybody that's in here, the fact that Jesus is alive. Allow the affections of your heart to be released to him. Let's lift our voice. It'd be easy to stay there all day long, and we will in our hearts, but we're gonna move on with service now. But we are gonna stay in this attitude of worship just a few minutes more. And I know you're getting hungry, but just hang tight. Because when we come and we gather together and by the way, Sunday morning shouldn't be the biggest slice of your Jesus pie. It should just be the time where you gather corporately. And our goal and it's okay. We we're all coming in at different levels, but our goal is to just be mindful and worshipful and contemplative of what he's done all throughout the week. And we worship him in so many different ways. But when we come together on a Sunday morning corporately as a tribe fam, we worship him through singing and music and instrumentation. We worship him through reading his word. I think we even worshiped him through a glovy obstacle course today. He can use anything. But we also worship him every time we come together corporately by bringing our tithe and our offering, which is above and beyond the tithe to him. And I think that people can get tithing wrong and it could feel uncomfortable, or it could be the time of the service where, like, get out your wallet, pastor needs a new car. I heard that one time. That's not how we are here. I'm sorry if that's how you have felt about that because it is an expression of worship in your heart to Abba Father, our heavenly father. Does God, the creator of the universe, need our dollars to function? No. When I was in third grade, the church I went to, where the kids church was in the basement, and every time the ushers would would pass the buckets and everything upstairs, and then the the closet where they did who whatever was downstairs in kids church. And every time the ushers came down the stairs, little Amanda was always peeking because I was so convinced that the money in those buckets were gonna like just float up to heaven physically. And every time I always like, Amanda, pay attention. I was like, I'm looking for the cash. I thought it was gonna fly up, truly. And that's so cute. And that's we're cute like that, but God's like, oh, baby girl, no. Now, it's a triple win because it our the cash does do the work of the ministry. When you tithe and give to your local church, we help pay rent so we can be here. We help put donuts in your belly. We pay groceries for people in our community who are in need. We give to our service. Like, we do a bunch of stuff that that the Lord says, go do. So that's the first. The second is that it calibrates our hearts to his. Right? And so when we bring our tithe and our offering to him, he just says, thank you because I know money can have a hold on people. It just can't. And it's an expression where we say, it's all yours any heaven it's all yours anyway, heavenly father. So I'm gonna bring a portion of my hard earned money to you and not even think twice about it because it's an expression of worship. So Jesus, we love you, heavenly father. We do that today as we bring our tithe and our offering to you. We say thank you. Thank you for letting it do the work of the ministry. Thank you for letting it calibrate our hearts, and thank you that it, thirdly, brings you honor and glory, and you're so proud of us when we do that. So we say thank you, and we love you. So here at Tribe, we don't pass buckets, but if you have cash or check, there's a little box right there on the entry table says Tribe. You can just deposit it in there. You can always give online, tribejh.com. There's a little giving tab. And then the easiest way, if you have a smartphone, is just to type a new text message like you're texting a new friend, and their number is 84321. And you can see how to do that on the screen. And then you just type the amount that you wanna give in the line. If you've never done that before, there's, like, sixty seconds of instructions, and then you're all set up. So it's very easy. You can give any time. But, man, what an expression of our thanks and our love to the heavenly father. Alright. I have just a few announcements and we'll get you guys lunch. Did you guys like being in this big room today? I just wanted to say if you've never been here, we're always here. Tribe meets here in the room next door called the bar. We do cover up the album. It's called a different vibe. It's a different vibe, same Holy Spirit. But what we do is we meet here every Sunday at 10:00. So this is not I mean, this room was bigger, so it's special for Easter, but please come to the bar here at the Virginian where Tribe meets every Sunday at 10:00, just right here next door. And then we have kids service every week. If you're a young adult, we also have a special service at the TMC. That's that. So, And to do We're We're Just put that in your pocket or your car or your wallet. It's an it's what I just said We're with my words is on that little tiny circle. So just take that with you and hand it out when you see fit. But if there's anything if two reasons for this connect card. If you want to just be plugged in to tribe, get some text blasts like what's going on, what we're up to, where we're headed, what kind of mission we're doing, just fill this out and you'll get a text blast to be on our on our list. But also on the back, there's a place where you can write a prayer request. If there's something that you're with and you our leadership team reads these and prays for you on Mondays. And so if you just want to write it in, you can also put this in the box where the tithe goes on that front desk. Today is special, not just I would encourage you not to write anything prayer wise on the card today because we have people here you can, but people here who wanna pray with you. Right over here, there's a banner that says, get your prayer on. We have some cozy chairs, and we're gonna be milling about and starting lunch. But please, if there is something burning on your heart, there is nothing too small and nothing too big that we don't that God can't handle. We wanna partner with you in prayer today, so don't miss that opportunity. We have our prayer team that'll be right over here, Lanisha and her team, and we would love to pray for you, and then you can have some lunch. But let's let's not go another day without that thing that you're thinking of right now, partnering with prayer in prayer for that. Last thing is this, we're getting ready to have lunch. It's gonna be buffet style. The round tables are ready for you with the exception of a chair. So please grab your chair, take it over, and then we will go down the line. Anything else? That's a lot, guys. Thank you. There's a little area over there for you to take a picture with your friends or your family. Oh, yes. It's just right there in the entry. Don't miss that. Yeah. Okay. Pastor Brian, will you call praise praise out? Thank you. Jay and Nina, y'all come here. Hop up here. Hop up here. Jay, come in. Look at this couple. Don't worry. You don't have to do anything. Would you pray over the meal? And then I'm gonna pray over everybody here, and then we'll get our lunch on. And I'm gonna bow your heads with me. Father, thank for what you're doing here today in this room, in our lives, in Jackson, and all over the world, Lord. We remember you. We thank you for what you did for us on the cross. May you bless us food to our bodies. May you bless our conversation. As we leave these doors today, I ask that you just completely transform our lives. It's in your name that we pray. Everybody said, amen. Amen. I think I asked you to bless the food. Did you bless the food? Yeah. Great. Yes. Good job. I was already thinking about that fried chicken. Is that be would it be alright if I prayed for you? Lord Jesus, thank you so much for each and every person that's here today and all of our families that are watching the livestream. I command a blessing over every person here today, that you would bless their life, that you would bless their finances, that you would bless their health, that you would bless all of their relationships. And we tell you that we love you, Jesus. We pray these things. In Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said Amen. Amen. I love you so very much. Thank you for being here. Have a great week. And remember, you got this.