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Let's stand up together. Welcome to tribe. We're glad you're here. Let me pray before we start. Lord Jesus, we invite your presence in this place today.
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Thank you for your
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amazing grace on our lives. As
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we open our mouths and sing today, we ask that you would meet us in this place, That these wouldn't just be words to a song, that they would be praise to you, Jesus. Come, have your way in this place today as we sing to you. Amen. Let's worship him freely this morning. Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me.
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Just thank him
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this morning. Just take a minute
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right where you are and just thank him. Thank him for that he's done for you today. Worthy of this time. You're worthy of our lives.
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Sing it to him. Worthy is a lamb. Worthy is a lamb who was slain. Worthy is the king
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Let's lift our voice as a prayer, as a declaration, and sing that. This is
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amazing grace. This is amazing grace. Let me hear you singing.
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Jesus, I sing for all that you've done for me. And Lord, we acknowledge if you had never done anything more for us than lay your life down, you've paid it all. And yet you continue to meet us. You continue to love us. You continue to woo us and bless us.
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We do sing today as a thank you of all you've done. Let's sing that one more time. This is amazing grace. Just think about these words. Jesus, I'll sing for all that you've done for me.
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Yes, Lord.
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Just take a minute and just right where you are, just give him praise and give him glory this morning. Maybe you've never spoken to the king of kings and the lord of lords who created you and maybe today is the first day you have the courage to just close your eyes and remember the very first prayer that I earnestly prayed was, God, if you are real, would you reveal yourself to me? I've done everything and tried everything. And at 23, I just was at the end of myself. God, if you're real, will you reveal yourself to me?
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And at that time, the most tangible thing I could think was, Lord, will you bring me peace? I got all the chaos in my life and he brought peace.
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It was like
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he just calmed the storm inside me. So just have the courage today with whatever size faith of a mustard seed you might have today to just say, if you're real, if you're really who people talk about you as they think that you are, can you talk to me? Can you whisper to me today? And then have ears to hear. Lord, we invite you.
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Invite you to come and speak to us.
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You. You turn more into dancing. You give beauty for ration. You turn shame into glory you're
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And we sing about it, Lord, and we thank you for it. Lord, thank you that there is always new mercy in you, new mercy today found in you. And as we sing this last song, new wine, Lord, let us just really lay our life before you and say, Lord, come and have your way in me. Because Lord, we know that there's no end to your love, no end to your greatness. And so if we feel dry, then maybe we haven't made the vessel of our life.
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We haven't emptied out our life so you could come and fill us with new wine. And Lord when you come or you try to reveal to us, Lord let us not try to take that new wine, that new revelation and try to apply it to who we used to be because we're a new creation in you. Let us not try to put the newness of who you are and your grace under an old covenant, but under a new covenant of grace. Thank you that you were the fulfillment of the law. And that even in the pressing, it's where the grapes are pressed and crushed that new wine is made.
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Forgive us that when times are tough we thought that you were absent, you're there in it and not that you caused necessarily every pressing in our lives. Sometimes our sin, sometimes our choices, sometimes this fallen world, but sometimes, Lord, you you come and you press to make new wine out of us. So to come today, search our hearts. We long to be a vessel ready to receive, ready to receive what you have for us.
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Sing this together. Surrender. You are breaking new ground. So I yield to you and to your careful hand. We can trust you.
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When I trust you, I don't need to understand. So make me a vessel. Make me
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an offer.
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Jesus, bring new wine out of me. Yes, Lord. In the crushing you want me to be. Because God, I came here with nothing, but all you have given me. Jesus, bring new wine out of me.
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Jesus, Jesus, bring new wine out of me. One more time, Jesus. Jesus, bring new wine out of me. Lord, that's our prayer this morning.
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Would you speak to us through your word today As we continue to worship you by honoring the word preached, that means listening and being hearers of the word, allowing it to penetrate our hearts and then obey. So today we long to honor your word. We long to meet with you. Thank you for your presence in this place today. Thank you for every precious heart that's gathered here today.
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You know every single one of us right where we are. And today on Father's Day, you you come with just like your arms open
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wide
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for any child who might be far from you that would turn and run to you today? Then just say, Abba Father, would you hold me today? Would a father. Father. I'm
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going to
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good does because you are the best dad we could ever ask for. Thank you for your discipline. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your guidance in our lives. Thank you that we expect to leave here changed today because we met with you.
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We tell you we love you in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. I feel like God has something really special for us today. If your heart is open, fill up your coffee, grab a donut. If they see someone that you don't recognize, I see a lot of new faces, introduce yourself. Say good morning and say, he's a good, good father to you today.
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Yeah. Think so. This is where I normally am. Oh, on the stage. Yeah.
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Yeah. Alright. Good morning. I like this. Great to see y'all this morning.
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Here we are, church back in a bar. Last week, we were at a office space that we own called the TMC, or the Tribe Ministry Center, because there was an event in here. This Sunday, we're back in a bar. Kind of feels like home being in here, doesn't it? I like it.
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I like it. People are like, wait. Do I answer that or no? Is that a trick question? It could be.
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So this morning, something that I always like to do whenever we get to this portion of worshiping god, one of the first things that I always like to say is, if you have your bible with you this morning, let's turn to the book, and we go right into god's word. I do that intentionally for a couple of reasons. Number one, so that the preeminence of the focus of whatever words that come out of my mouth are centered around god's word. That's where I wanna direct your attention first. And so most Sundays, I start with, if you have your bible with you this morning, let's click on, then off we go.
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Right? So but this morning, I need to do an object lesson first. But how about this? If you have your bible with you this morning, let's open to the book of Isaiah. Okay?
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I like it. Anybody else coming up front? Please stop and give hill. Your affection? Yep.
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Right there. Okay. Anyone else? Isaac? Yeah.
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He's saying I'm good. If you have your bible with you this morning, let's turn to Isaiah chapter 22, but we're not gonna read because I need to I need to tee up this week's conversation, and I use that word intentionally as well because I really do want this to be a conversation that we engage in together. Now maybe you live here in Jackson, maybe you're traveling through, maybe you're visiting you're you're from out of town and you're visiting your kids that have are calling Jackson home. For right now, we're trying our best to take good care of your kids, and they're doing a great job taking care of us. And we're so glad that you're visiting your kids with us at church on a Sunday morning.
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And I use that word conversation intentionally because I don't want this to just be a sage on the stage, but I want this to be a conversation where we interact with one another. And so as we are going through today's conversation, if you have a question, a comment, or a connection, I would love to hear from you. And the way that that works is if you just put your hand up, then we have a mic in the room, and we'll run the mic around to you. The reason why we use a mic so that we can help to hear your voice in here, but then also all of our families that are watching the livestream for for our tribe fam and others that are tuning in or traveling, they get to stay engaged and be a part of the conversation because the mic goes through the livestream. So that's why we have that.
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And one last part of the preamble is I've worked I've worked really hard. I know this is gonna put a lot of pressure on me, but I've worked really hard at trying to convey what I feel like the lord has put on my heart for a couple of weeks conversation that we're gonna have in a way that makes sense and is as easy to digest as possible for you, which is why we're gonna I'm gonna start with an object lesson, and then and then we'll roll right into god's word together. So with that in mind, let's see. I need a volunteer. Okay, Zoe, you'll help me out, won't you?
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Alright. Alright. Zoe, come stand up here, and stand right here and face out there. Oh, this is Zoe. Close, Zoe.
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Zoe was sprinting up here. Alright.
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Zoe, you get full credit for being willing to just, like, jump right up. And Zoe's mom's here. Let's clap for Zoe's mom. Everybody say hi, mom. Hi, mom.
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Yep. Yep. We're like Olive Garden. If you're here, you're family. Okay.
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Zoe. Now, Zoe, would you go over on that bar top and grab that baseball hat for me, please? Yes. Okay. Great.
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Does it fit you? I'm just curious. Oh, yeah. Cute. Now you can't have it, but alright.
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So so so now you can turn this way. So you have your hat, and let's say that you are done wearing that hat, and you needed to put that hat in, I don't know, the most reasonable or logical place around you. If you were to look around and take the hat off and place the hat somewhere and there was a there was
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a gasp from the crowd. The brilliance.
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Okay. You can sit down. Yeah. Incredible. Incredible.
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Now, it might really it might seem really simple, and if you're like, I'm fully tracking with you, good, because we're trying to we're trying to start really simple and easy. And this is the object lesson that I brought today. Coat rack, hat rack, call it whatever you will. Its intended purpose is to hang something on. Now, this is where we get into my analogy.
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And no analogy is perfect, but this is what came into my mind's eye as I was trying to come up with something to visually represent what it is that we're going to talk about for the next couple of weeks. Think of and I'm kind of confined here up on the stage. Oh, Corey, would you put that right up here for me, please, so that I can reference it regularly and frequently? Yes. That is perfect.
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Okay. Thank you. Variety of hats. I'd like you to think of these hats like the entirety of a belief that you may have about any particular subject. This hat, or any of these hats, represents the total the summation of all of your beliefs about a particular subject.
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And we'll start really, really simple with something like, say, Santa Claus. Now what you might believe about Santa Claus could be different than what somebody else might believe about Santa Claus. Right? But all of your beliefs about Santa Claus are represented in this one hat. So simple start.
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Then you take something else of your beliefs, and you take it off the rack. You consider it. Maybe you maybe you use it, and this would be something a little more relevant and serious. Maybe this is maybe maybe this is, like, a a political party that you follow or subscribe to. Maybe ah, here's one.
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Here's one. This is this hat would represent the totality of your beliefs about the shape of the earth.
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So far easy.
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So far easy. But we got several weeks to develop this. And the hat rack or the hook represents the reality of those beliefs. What is actually true? So we've got lots of beliefs about all kinds of things.
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Right? And the the summation of all of these beliefs make up our worldview, the lens at which we look through the world at. For example, do you have a belief that man is essentially born good? And that any kind of evils that is seen within an individual or within society comes from the constraining restrictions of popular moral code, or social mores, or or oppressive establishment of sexual taboos, and for man to be really good, he needs to throw off those confines and constraints, and then he can reach his maximum good potential. Do you believe that man is inherently neutral?
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Man is born neither good nor bad, but like the like the phrase, they are a tabula rasa, a blank slate. And through whether through nature or nurture, they develop into a good or a bad person? Or would another one of your beliefs be that what would the what would the other option be? Man is inherently, what? Evil.
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Wicked. However you wanna say it. Oh, such pessimists. So so you can have a variety of of beliefs about the the inherent nature of man. Right?
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But we take these beliefs, and we hang our hat, which is the title of this morning's and this week's conversations, on a peg that fits in with the the rest of our entire world view. The real question becomes the belief that we have about any one subject. How well does that belief conform to ultimate reality? Transcendent, objective truth. Why I tell you wanna get into a great conversation here in this town?
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You just tell people, I've just really been on a journey for truth, and you're gonna get backslaps and pats and, like, ride ons and, like, that's so cool. I'm just really searching for truth these days. Great. Wonderful. You'll get all kinds of compliments.
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But the moment you say, I've really just found truth, There's a record scratch. Or at least the needle jumps a little bit because the next word out of somebody's mouth is, that's great for you. As if you can have a belief system that you would consider true that is completely subjective, even if it does not conform to the ultimate reality and the ultimate truth. As long as you're living out your truth, then great. But what happens when one person's truth is diametrically opposed to somebody else's truth?
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The simple rules of basic logic states that if a is a, then b is non a. B cannot also be a because it's b. Will, are you following me so far? Right? And so this this hat wreck, so to speak, represents ultimate truth and reality.
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And what makes a good hat rack separate from a bad hat rack is, I would say, a couple things. Number one, what good is a hat rack if there's nothing to hang your hat on? That's just called a stick. Right? And not a very good stick at that.
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The other thing is now this is not very heavy, but whatever hooks are on the rack, it needs to be able to support the weight of whatever is being hung from that. Simple, straightforward. Right? Okay. Now with that object lesson kind of, like, used to to prime the pump, we're gonna come back to this.
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But now we're gonna take this, and we're going to go into god's word. We're gonna read two different passage that illustrate this principle that I feel like the lord wants us to to begin to wrap our minds around and conform ourselves to the ultimate truth and reality of god's word and who he is. So with that in mind, where did I tell you to turn and put your finger? Isaiah where? Isaiah 22.
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With the mic in the room, would somebody please read Isaiah chapter 22 verse 22 through 24? Just those few verses. Thanks, mom. I
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will give him the key to the House of David, the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them. When he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. He will bring honor to his family name, for I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. They will give him great responsibility, and he will bring honor to even the lowest members of his family.
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Oh, that's so good. Very well read. I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall. What's the purpose in this passage of driving a nail into the wall? What's the purpose?
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Just just tell me. To hold stuff, to hang stuff. Now, have you ever heard of the principle of the biggest hook? Of course, you haven't, because I just made it up. Here's the principle of the the biggest hook.
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At at school, or at the gym, or or if maybe you're out, like, hunting, or or climbing, or something, and you need to hang your backpack, or your gym bag, or your jacket, or whatever, The principle of the biggest hook is it's always easiest when you're gonna hang something up to hang it on what?
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You do know the principle.
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You know the principle because you all live your lives conformed to this principle. We all look for the biggest hook to hang our stuff, to hang our hat or our jacket or our backpack. Did you know that our beliefs are the same way? Whoever or whatever has the biggest or the shiniest or the most compelling hook usually gets the hat of our belief. And here's what I mean by that.
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Take the entirety of a belief that you have, and then someone or somebody or something says, oh, here's where that belief fits. And you're like, yeah. That that kinda sounds right. Or that's where all my friends are hanging their hats. And you're like, okay.
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And you hang your hat there. That's the principle of the biggest hook. There are things in your life where you take a belief that you happen to hang somewhere only because of the principle of the biggest hook. It's what social media is just ramming down your throat. Okay.
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Well, I guess I'll believe that. Hang your hat on that. Oh, it's what my parents have always thought or said. Okay. Well, I guess I'll hang my hat there.
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And you hang your hat there simply only because of the principle of the biggest hook. I I'm seeing a few noddings. Like, okay. That's encouraging to me. Look at the passage that we just read in Isaiah.
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Number one, the hook is designed to hang stuff on. The second thing about that hook is it is intended to hold what? Great responsibility or heavy weight. Now I don't ever wanna just, like, cherry pick a verse because it says something that sounds good with what I'm talking about. So let's let's look at this passage within the context that Isaiah is speaking.
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And in order to do that, we need to we need to understand what all is going on. I will give him the key to the house of David. So god is speaking to a person on king Hezekiah's executive leadership team, and this guy has not done a very good job. And so the responsibility will be removed from him, and it will be handed to somebody else. And he literally holds the key to the door.
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Now that might ring a few bells of some churchy language or some some, like, bible language that you've heard before. When he opens doors, no one will be able to close them. When he closes doors, no one will be able to open them. Here's what if you were reading that passage in the contemporary context with which it was written, you would immediately understand what that meant. For us today, we're like, I I I don't follow you.
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What are you talking about? So picture picture a a a king's throne room, And in the throne room are all of the king's court officials, his executive leadership team, and he sits on the throne, and he is the man in charge. What he says goes, and he conducts his business from the throne room, exercising his kingly authority sitting on his throne. And he does business with with one official or one citizen of his kingdom at a time. And he looks to the back of the room, and he says, bring in the next person to conduct their business.
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So here's what would happen. The the person with the key to the throne room would snap to attention. They would put the key in the lock. They would unlock and swing open the big doors for the throne Room. Then the person waiting outside would be like, okay.
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It's next. It's your turn to see the king. That individual or delegation or whatever, you're picturing this, right, would come into the room. And when they came into the room, the the gatekeeper or the doorkeeper, the person with the key, would then close the doors to conduct private business, and he would lock the door. Business would be conducted, and then the king would say, alright.
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I'm done with you. Off with your head. No. Just kidding. Next, the person would unlock the door, open the door.
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That person would leave, and the next person would come in. The door was always opening and closing, being locked and unlocked. So in this passage, if you if you look at the the text surrounding the passage that we just read, the individual who had that job had a very important and significant position of authority. That person with the key the king didn't have the key. He delegated that authority to the person who had the key.
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So you decide. If you had the key, you decide when to unlock it and open up the doors and when to lock it and keep people out. You alone were responsible for who had an audience with the king and who had access to the king. And the previous person in this in the passage that we were reading thought that that key and that position was really more about them. So now let's think about politics for just a second, ancient politics with the key.
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If you wanted to get in to see the king, you're not ever gonna see the king, but you might have a chance to rub shoulders with who? The key holder guy. So you're at some, you know, political function, and you're walking around with your little plate of, like, you know, sausage and meatballs or whatever it is you're eating in your little fruity drink, and you're like, there he is. And I'm gonna go up to him, and you talk to him. And you're trying to win his influence so that when you come to do business, you catch his attention.
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You're like, hey. Remember me? Like, we we met at that party the other night. I if I could just just let me in to see the king for, like, three seconds. So this guy, the the the the key holder, goes around his his life, and people are always trying to win his favor.
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It doesn't take long before that just goes to his head, and he becomes prideful. He does not realize and keep at the forefront of his mind that all he is is just a a doorkeeper. The flattery and the praise of people go to his up to his head. His pride swells, and he thinks that the position somehow is about him that maybe even he's more important than the king. And god says, that is not how this works.
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I will remove you from that position, and I'll put in this god by the name of hill Hilkiah. I will give him the key to the house of David, the highest position in the royal court. When he opens doors, the door is now open. Nobody can be like, hey. Close the door.
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Close the door. Nope. I'm operating under the authority of the king. He wants those doors open. The doors will be open.
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No one when he opens doors, no one will be able to close them. When he closes doors, doesn't matter how long you knock. Let me in. Let me in. I just gotta say one thing.
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He's like, nope. Door is closed right now. And he will bring honor to his family name, and then the lord uses an analogy. What is the analogy that the lord uses? Very unlike a key or a door.
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What is the analogy that the lord uses? Right here. You can just shout it out. Tell me. A nail in the wall.
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I will drive him firmly in place like a nail in the wall, and then I will give him great or heavy responsibility, and he will bring honor even to the lowest members of his family. So this guy, Sebna, he was he was a jerk, and he thought it was about him. He was eliminated from that position. But to be fair, if you've read ahead in verse 25, what does verse 25 say? Because all analogies break down at some point, and I know that some of you were like, what about verse 25?
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Alright. We're gonna read it. But the lord of heaven's armies also says, the time will come when I'll pull out the nail that seemed so firm. It will come out and fall to the ground. Everything it supports will fall with it.
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I, the lord, have spoken. So there's there seems to be a little foreshadowing that there will come a time. So if Hilkiah is the person that the lord is going to install as the new nail in the wall to support great and heavy responsibility, if there's some literary the literary device of foreshadowing is being employed here, what could what could the author of this passage, Isaiah, be looking forward to? This is not a trick question. Who in the future, there you go, could be a greater nail?
1:05:11
And he will be in the position of the doorkeeper. Is there a way that Amanda, since you said it, put you on the spot here. Jesus, being that peg of great responsibility or the position that Hilkiah was in being the door, is there any way that we can prove that Jesus is that door somewhere else in text? We don't wanna say it's Jesus just because it sounds good, but is there a way that we can prove that? Is there anything that comes to your mind scripturally where we can prove that?
1:05:55
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You can thank you.
1:06:02
The thing that I'm thinking of is not necessarily where Jesus is the door, but where he says in the gospels that I knock on the door of your heart.
1:06:10
Okay. Yes. Yep.
1:06:13
C plus, b?
1:06:16
B minus. B minus because there's there's a there's a verse. I'll I'll let you off the hook. Revelation chapter three verse eight, which is probably what you were just going to say next. It is.
1:06:26
Revelation chapter three verse eight. This is the message from the one who is holy and true, the one who has the key of David. What he opens, no one can close, and what he closes, no one can open. Who is the greater Hilkiah?
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Jesus. Jesus.
1:06:49
And we can prove that scripturally. So here's what here's what I'm here's what I'm getting at. Any hook that you hang your hat on, it must be able to bear the weight of reality and objective, and I say transcendent truth. Truth that doesn't come from, like, hey. What do you think is true?
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What do you think is true? Alright. How many of us wanna vote for this truth? Okay. That sounds good.
1:07:18
Let's decide that's true. Even if it happens to conform to the ultimate reality, that's kind of like groupthink. What I mean by transcendent reality is reality and truth that exists outside of whatever a person may think or whatever we may collectively decide upon. Truth, by the very nature and definition of true, is objectively true, whether you know it or believe it or have ever thought of it or not. It is transcendent.
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It is outside beyond. It doesn't need your ability to think of it in order to make it true. It exists wholly in the universe with or without you. Objective transcendent truth. That's what we're talking about here.
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This is a good point for me to to stop and and check-in with you to see if you have any questions or thoughts or check for your understanding. Just talk to me. What do you got? Oh, b.
1:08:35
I was just thinking of the scripture, John fourteen six, when Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the father except through me. And I was just thinking that's another connection of him being that door holder
1:08:51
Yes. Or the key You are you're you're so onto it. You're you're hitting the nail on the head. Right. Is that passage, by chance, is he talking to Pontius Pilate?
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Is this during his, like, arrest and trial?
1:09:09
I don't think so.
1:09:10
Okay. So another time, Jesus makes that statement that he is the truth, and he's speaking to Pontius Pilate. And Pontius Pilate goes, what is truth? As a way to dismiss and to get himself off the hook, so to speak, of being able to conform to it. And I understand that people here would try to it would be it would be easy it would be easy to dismiss what we're talking about by saying there is no transcendent objective truth out there, that you can't even prove objective transcendent truth.
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Okay. Go ahead. Hang your hat on that. See we'll see how well that stands the test of time. And we're gonna look at another one more passage here.
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Here it comes. Okay.
1:10:04
I'm I'm loving, you know, you're talking about hang your hat on god's truth but I'm just going go in a different direction.
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Oh, well, should I should I just fold up my notes and
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tell you. I'm glad you're you're speaking on truth because this is what I think pastors and the church in general need to be preaching is truth. And I think the world now needs more truth than ever because everybody seems to have their own truth, just like you were saying. Everybody's got their own opinion. And I hope you sort of dig deeper about truth.
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A and B, A can't be B because A is still A. So there's a lot. You're opening a big can of worms. And I hope you go fishing, Okay?
1:10:52
Yes. Yes. Thank you. I hear that.
1:10:55
Brian, can I add to that? So I think a good contrasting verse would be one John two fifteen, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. So the con the complete opposite of truth would be putting our faith in the world.
1:11:22
Certainly. The world has all kinds of hooks that they invite you to hang your hat on for a particular belief. But some of them are really sparkly and really popular, and they're pretty. But do they can they bear the weight and conform to reality? Any belief we hold that doesn't conform to reality disconnects us from the fabric of God's created order.
1:12:10
I don't think I have I don't think I said that, do I? Okay. Well, I'll say it again. It's not on the screen. Any belief that we hold that doesn't conform to the to reality, it disconnects us from the fabric of god's created order.
1:12:30
And the more beliefs that make up our personhood that we hang on hooks that do not conform to the reality of god's truth. The more hats we're hanging here, there, willy nilly, all over the place that don't conform to the reality of god truth, it disconnects us from reality, which is why we see lots of people in The United States and around the world today that are doing and saying things that we find ourselves going, child, what's wrong with you? You've have you lost your mind? And they fully believe it. And not only do they believe it, but they chant it, and they preach it, and they make signs about it, and they march about it, and they post about it, and they they they hang their whole identity on it.
1:13:28
But if it doesn't conform to the truth of reality of god's created order, it it it really tears us and separates us from the fabric of the universe of god's created order. And if it separates us from god's created order and it doesn't make us it doesn't make us we we cease to be terrestrial. And then what do we become? Extraterrestrial. Okay.
1:14:09
It's one thing if you don't know. You have this belief, and and we have been taught, trust your parents, trust the world, trust academic institutions, you know, trust trust government. And you're like, oh, okay. You just hang your hat there if you don't know any better. I mean, where else are you gonna hang your hat?
1:14:34
We already saw what Zoe did. The most natural, reasonable thing, if you have a hat, is to hang it somewhere, if you don't know, if you're if you're ignorant. But when you encounter the truth, the responsibility then shifts to you. Does that hook that's being offered, does it conform with the reality of god's truth? If it does, great.
1:14:59
It's trustworthy. Hang your hat there. If it does not conform to the truth of the reality of god's word, it's your responsibility. Oh, I didn't know any better. The world has always told me.
1:15:13
Whatever. Fill in the blank. Okay. Well, that's doesn't conform with god's word. I'm gonna remove my hat, and I'm gonna hang it here according to god's truth Even if the world is gonna get really mad at you for this, you narrow minded, bigoted, foolish, don't matter.
1:15:39
God's hook is always the most reliable hook you can ever hang any belief you have in the entire universe. It's a whole another thing if you know if you know the truth, but you're like, yeah, but I wanna live my life this way.
1:16:03
Fire.
1:16:16
Ezekiel chapter 15. Every man's work will be tested with fire. Ezekiel chapter 15 verse one through five. Would somebody please read that out loud? Thank you, Adam.
1:16:57
Then this message came to me from the Lord. Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine's wood as useful as the wood of a tree? Can its wood be used for making things like pigs to hang up pots and pans? No.
1:17:14
It can only be used for fuel. And even as fuel, it burns too quickly. Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire.
1:17:25
So before we apply this passage to to continue to defend the conversation that we're having, let's put it in its proper context. Ezekiel is speaking about who or what in the bigger picture. Jews, Jerusalem, Israel. Israel. And here's what he says.
1:17:55
I've selected you out from among the nations to be my own special possession, treasure, and to reveal my nature and qualities to set you apart as a people that will reflect my glory so that the whole world will see there is no god like the god of Israel. Other gods, little g gods, and in Hebrew, it's a little e, Elohims, multiple plural, who were established as part of god's divine council, had various responsibilities over various people groups among the nations, And they really biffed it because they allowed humans to worship them instead of directing that to the king of kings, the lord of lords, the ruler of heaven's armies. They allowed the worship of humans to be directed at them, and god's like, ain't having that. So god says, I'm gonna select for myself a group of people that weren't even really a group of people, and I'll make an entire nation out of them. I'll reveal myself, my nature, and my character to them by my words and through my deeds and my actions towards them.
1:19:22
I'll love them. They will reflect my glory. And here's what god, through the prophet Ezekiel, is saying about Israel. Come on, guys. Come on.
1:19:36
I'm trying to hang on you this great responsibility like a peg. But as I hang this revealing of my nature and character, you're not a strong nail. You're not a branch. You're not a coat rack. You're like a scraggly grapevine as a peg to hang something on.
1:20:00
Now, how many of you in here have ever worked with, like, actual grapevines living? How about dead ones? Okay. So, like so you're, like, really strong. Right?
1:20:10
You make furniture out of grapevine wood? No. No. Even though we've never handled, we can imagine. They're vines.
1:20:19
They're they're measly. They they don't hold up weight. You can't mill it like lumber. You can't build a house out of it. It's got no structural integrity, and that's what god is saying about nation of Israel.
1:20:31
And if it's beautifully for our analogy, your beliefs are too valuable and important to be trusted with something that is weak and cannot support the weight of that belief. Your belief, god places so much value in you and giving you autonomy to think whatever you think, believe whatever you wanted to want to believe. That's called free will. He values that so much that he says, and he exhorts us. Whatever you hang your hat on, it better be able to support that weight because you are valuable.
1:21:10
And then he invites us, hang your hat on my truth. I am the way, the truth, and the life. One more opportunity to check-in with you. How about maybe questions? If you're like, it's kind of clear as mud right now.
1:21:32
And the question that is rattling around in your mind, I promise you, if you just be brave and ask it, six other people are probably thinking it already. What questions might you have? I know Adam's ready to pounce, and then we're gonna start to land the plane. Hill. And yes.
1:21:57
Right here. New person, and then hill.
1:21:58
Yeah. I guess, like, seeing truth and things like that, it all seems kinda, like, big and abstract, but then we're making daily choices. I guess the obvious answer is really, like, how do you know when you're one choice versus another? I'm assuming the answer is read the bible as often as you can. But, like, what are some other ways that you can, like, some concrete examples of truth of guiding morals for your life, of making decisions, to making sure you're connected to what is God's truth when that seems like such a big and reaching topic.
1:22:36
It's great. I think I think as a human, the most contrite and vulnerable prayer that we can pray that the lord loves to answer is, lord, where do I hang my hat? You you tell me. Like, help me. Just ask him instead of so, well, my mom hung it here or my dad hang it hung it here.
1:23:02
Society hangs it here. Or for two hundred years, as long as we've been a country, we've hung our hat here or social media tells me. You ask him. And as we drill down a little deeper, the Bible says that your word is a lamp into my feet and a light into my path. Psalms one nineteen, it's a big Psalms, but that Psalms alone talks so much about his law and his ways.
1:23:29
Proverbs is an amazing place to read. There are 31 proverbs, one for even the longest day of the month that we have in our calendar year. And when you read Proverbs and you look to apply those to your life and you ask the lord, help me to apply those, your principles, and your truth to my life, it takes practice. It takes practice. So many people are not willing to put in the practice and the time to to to expand and to invest in discerning god's will by reading his word.
1:24:07
But you are totally on the right track. His word. Seeking wise counsel. The Bible says that a king's path is made secured through a multitude of counselors, so seeking wise counsel. Hey.
1:24:22
I'm thinking about I've got option a, b, c, and d in front of me. Seeking wise counsel, people who you can see their life, their beliefs are hung on the truth of god's word. What do what would you say for me about that? The other thing that I would tell you is the Bible says worry about nothing, pray about everything in Philippians four six, and the peace of god that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. The peace of the holy spirit, whoo, there ain't nothing like it.
1:24:58
When you make a choice or have a belief or hang your hat on a hook that conforms the with the reality of god's truth, there is a peace that comes over your entire life, whether it's in the issue of finances or health or raising your children or or voting political. Like, there's every single belief that you have, there is a hook for of god's truth to hang your hat. Is that helpful to you? God's word, wise counsel, the peace of the holy spirit? That's really good.
1:25:36
Adam, Hill has a question.
1:25:42
I think my question is similar but worded differently, in that you talked about we hang our hat on things that the government tells us or our family decided or these external things but we're often told to trust yourself and like was wondering if you could expand a little bit on examining ourselves as well as a something we hang our hat
1:26:11
on. The Bible says that the heart is wicked and deceitful above all else. You've heard me say this before. It really makes for a great little stencil on your coffee mug like the heart wants what the heart wants. Follow your heart.
1:26:34
Where do you end up if you follow your heart? That's right. Straight into a ditch. Can anybody testify to that? That's why the Bible says in Romans twelve one and two, don't be conformed any longer to the patterns of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
1:27:03
Don't lean not on your own understanding.
1:27:05
Proverbs three five, lean not on your own understanding, but trust in the lord. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will give you a nice, sturdy hook on which to hang the belief of whatever it is that you're chewing on in the moment. And so so so how do we know what hooks are god's hooks, and we'll just lump them into all of the other categories. Do they conform with ultimate reality? Well, how do I know ultimate truth?
1:27:38
It's right here. Jesus said it himself. Cultivating a relationship with the person of Jesus conforms your personhood into his likeness and image. Remember what your mom said to you? Like, I don't need to I don't need to hear the words that come out of your mouth.
1:27:59
All I need to do is see who you're hanging out with to know what you're really like. You are who you hang out with. And when you hang out with Jesus, your beliefs and values become conformed to the truth of the ultimate reality of god. Just saying that statement alone is a big flag planted. God is the only the god of the Bible is the only source of truth and reality.
1:28:34
I don't I don't take it personally that that god's word may come in direct conflict with a belief that you have about your sexuality or your friend's sexuality or gender or identity. Just just don't hang your hat on something that can't bear the weight of reality. But I don't want to. That's on you. You will be judged according to this standard.
1:29:11
Not. But I wanted to live my life this way. I thought this was true. God's gonna be like for the glory what does it say? For the heavens declare the glory of god.
1:29:30
There's no person that's left in ignorance of the truth of god. The Bible says that our conscience either condemns us, that is a weak hook to hang that belief on, or it approves of us. That is in alignment with reality, god's truth. More questions. Just there's a couple more.
1:29:52
Let's all the way in the back to Kate.
1:30:03
I just I wanted to respond a little bit more to Hillary's question about, kind of following your heart or checking your heart. In Psalm one thirty nine twenty three and twenty four, I just love I love this prayer to God. It says, search me, oh, God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Mhmm.
1:30:31
And I just feel like that's just such a powerful prayer because when we pray it from a vulnerable place of really wanting to know, he will show us if there's any grievous way. Any weak hooks? Mhmm.
1:30:48
Yeah. Are there any weak hooks in my life that I'm hanging beliefs on, Lord? Show me. Would you read the address in that passage one more time for us? Read it slowly like you're eating a good steak.
1:31:00
Okay. Or if you're vegetarian, like a It's soy burger.
1:31:03
A good
1:31:06
a really good beet salad. Because I love beet salads. Psalm one thirty nine verse twenty three and twenty four says, search me, o God, and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts, and see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
1:31:51
We're gonna continue this conversation for several weeks. I don't know perhaps all of the hooks that we're going to examine. I'm still, like, praying, considering, like, workshopping it with the Holy Spirit. Like, what do you want, Lord? But I know two of the hooks.
1:32:13
One of the hooks that we're gonna specifically look at is the nation of Israel. The city of the great king, the land, and the people of the covenant. Because there are a lot of various hooks today that people are hanging their hats. And and there are people who have hung their hat here, but as this war drags on and as they hear certain reports, they're like, ugh. Can I maybe move my hat over here?
1:32:54
It does not matter. It does not matter what your friends tell you. It does not matter what whatever news source you're looking at matter. It does not matter your intellectual, lofty, and educated ideas on what you think of the situation and the people. It don't matter.
1:33:27
There's only one thing that matters that is worthy of hanging your hat and can sustain and bear the weight of really such a heavy belief. That's God's word. So we're gonna look at we're gonna look at the hook of Israel. Where should we hang our our hat there? Another another hook that we're going to look at is the return of Jesus.
1:33:58
And I understand that Israel may not touch you right now, but we feel the ripple effects maybe even distantly right now. You might not even be thinking about the return of Jesus. The Bible is super clear that he will return someday riding on the clouds. When and how and what's he gonna do? It may be really far from your intellectual purview right now, but it is a very important hook that we will come smack dab confronting that reality someday, each and every one of us.
1:34:40
And if you happen to have your hat, your beliefs hung on the wrong hook, number one, it won't bear the weight. Number two, it doesn't conform to reality. It it separates you and disconnects you from the fabric of God's created order, but it will also leave you completely disoriented when the reality of who he is and what he's come to do for a second time, you're confronted with it. If you've maybe there's no maybe there's no hook on your rack for that. And so you're like, I don't know.
1:35:12
I just he's kinda tuck it over there somewhere. We're gonna be talking those two hooks for sure and and possibly one or two more. We are I'm leaving it up to you to look at other hooks that perhaps may be more important to you personally? How do I come to terms with with with the fact that my marriage is over and shattered and now I'm living like divorced, or I'm remarried, or I'm living as part of a blended family. Really important hook to to look at and to consider.
1:35:53
You have to dig into God's word for that. What about not being able to seem to climb out of this rut of repetitive sin that I keep finding myself in? Well, I guess I'm I'm just a sinner and just forgiven and well, I just kinda climb along like like a like a worm on the ground. That might be I might be the wrong climb. Yeah.
1:36:21
Wiggle. Wiggle along like a worm on the ground trying to claw my way Thank through you. Some of these some of these where do I hang my hand on this? Really, you really you you already really know. You're just trying to avoid conforming to that.
1:36:46
We were talking about this on Shabbat on Friday. That passage where it says, you can fall on the rock and be broken or someday the the rock will fall on you and you'll be crushed and devastated. Conform your life now to the reality of of God's truth. That's really the bottom line. Lord, help us help us for this message this morning to make that 18 inch drop from our thinker that we've been considering these things deep down into our knower, whereby an encounter with the Holy Spirit, revelation just bursts forth that's in conformity with your word.
1:37:45
Lord, if there are any if there's anyone that you want to address in this moment, any one hook that we've been hanging a a belief, sleeping with my boyfriend or girlfriend is okay. Everybody's doing it. Just doesn't conform with reality. God's truth. Well, it's my partner.
1:38:16
I don't care what you call it. The bible's super clear. It's sexual immorality. If there were one hook, holy spirit, that you would want to draw our attention to in this moment to challenge us on, hey. Look at that hook that you've been hanging that belief on.
1:38:43
Lord, we we have the courage to hear your voice speak to us, and if necessary, move our hat. Just let the Lord speak to you for just a moment. His his his words may be like thunder, but is the most gentle, loving thunder you have ever encountered in your life. In the the innocence of the moment that you're having with the lord, I just see a picture in my mind's eye of you having the bravery to say, Lord, just look at the hat rack of of my life. And he looks at it, and he says, hey.
1:41:50
What is what is this hook? There's a label right there. What does that say? And you read it to the lord and it says, failure. And he says, why are you hanging your hat there?
1:42:08
And then you try to you're trying to argue with the Lord. Yeah. But I've messed up here, and I've messed up there, and I've blown it here, and I've dropped the ball there. And God says and then he just puts his little finger on it, pray, and it snaps off like a like a a grape a dried grapevine measly. And then you say in the stillness of heart, well, where where do what what do I do with this hat?
1:42:35
And he goes, here, look at this hook. And there's a label there, and it says, you are my beloved. Hang your hat here, my son. Hang your hat here, baby girl. This is where I want you to hang your hat.
1:43:01
You are my beloved. What is this hook? Condemned? Hang it here. Redeemed.
1:43:18
Oh, his hair ex depends hair ex. Thank you. Help us.
1:44:10
As we transition into our next form of worship, I couldn't help but think of another hook analogy, but this one involves fish. Some of you guys might be familiar with the show SpongeBob. I don't know if you're from my generation. There might be some parents in the room that didn't allow their kids to watch SpongeBob. Sorry.
1:44:30
I was I was I watched SpongeBob. And I couldn't help but think of this episode where and for those of you that don't know about SpongeBob, it's basically this show about fish under the sea, just the lives that they live down there. And in this one episode, Patrick and SpongeBob are walking around and they're noticing all these hooks in the water. And Patrick decides to grab on a hold of one of these hooks and he goes, wee. And then you see him float on down.
1:44:56
He's like, oh, that was so fun. And I just couldn't help but think about how the world that we live in, the second we step outside these doors, how hooks are just all around us fighting for our attention, our time, our talent, our money, our hearts. But one of those hooks is Jesus. There's so many things that are pulling us in every which direction. I think about the show, The Chosen, Jen Jen Green's wearing a shirt up here from The Chosen.
1:45:28
And in their intro, there's all these fish swimming in the same direction. But you notice these different colored fish swimming against the grain in the opposite direction. Jesus asked some of his disciples if they wanted to become fishers of men. So I just think of all the hooks in life that we get to get to choose from and get to look at. And I hope that I choose the Jesus hook because that's gonna pull me towards him.
1:46:09
And as we bring our tithes and our offerings, just one way that we get to become more like him, to make us more loving, to make us more generous, to surrender our hearts and our lives to him. If you don't mind bowing your heads in prayer with me. Father, we are so tempted to chase after things that are not of you. They're shiny, they look nice, but they make us more like the world, they make us more selfish, they make us more egocentric, just self absorbed. They leave us empty.
1:46:55
They pull us to somewhere that I didn't wanna go. God, as I bring my tithe and my offering before you, I just ask that you bless it. Help me to see the fruit. Help me to see what you're doing, Lord. We give you everything that we have, Lord.
1:47:23
It's in your name that we pray. Amen. If you're new to tribe, there's a couple different ways you can give. You can go to our website, tribejh.com. There's a gift tab there.
1:47:35
You can go to the little box back there next to the saloon doors. You can drop cash or check-in there. And my personal favorite is you can open up a new text to 84321 and just type in a dollar amount. Couple quick announcements for you guys. Again, if you're new here, we have some connect cards on your seat.
1:47:54
If you wanna fill those out, it'll help you stay in tune with the vibe of Tribe. We're always switching it up on you. Last week, we didn't meet here. We met back at the TMC. And in two weeks, on June 30, we are also gonna be meeting outside.
1:48:07
This is at Powderhorn Park. So not this next Sunday, but the one following that. So when you sign up and fill out one of these connect cards, it's it's a tool for us to remind you guys, hey, don't show up to the Virginia. No one's gonna be there. Come meet us at Powderhorn.
1:48:23
That being said, the backside of this also has prayer. So if you're if you've already filled out one of these, nice. You get to graduate to level two with the prayer request. Right? And if you guys fill one of these out, just, yeah, drop it back in that little offering box that's next to the saloon doors.
1:48:39
Tomorrow, we have a TMA event. We have rock climbing. Pastor Brian is gonna take you out top roping in Wilson Canyon. And if you wanna come out and do that, it's a great way to create some shared memories. Feel free to talk to him after service and get plugged in.
1:48:55
We also have our men's bible study on Mondays. We are going through a watchman ebook called walking in the spirit or journeying towards the spiritual. Sorry. That's a great great time where we all gather together as men at 6PM at the TMC. Feel free to talk to me or Brian after service as well.
1:49:12
And then, again, on June 30, right after that Powderhorn outside service, we are gonna have a Snake River float and some Astoria hot springs. So feel free to join us for that. It's gonna be a really, really good time. That's in July 20. Right?
1:49:30
Yeah.
1:49:30
On the twenty second, we might do something else. Oh. So because Table Mountain still has snow on it. I'll send this all out tomorrow.
1:49:40
Sounds good. Yeah. So make sure to fill these out so you can stay up to date. PB, if you wanna come and press out.
1:50:01
Yeah. But what about them aliens? God has a hook for that too. If you're weird, stand up. That was for Carolyn.
1:50:13
Let me pray for you. Thank you so much for coming through Jackson Hole. Thank you so much for taking time out of your precious vacation to be with our tribe fam here today as as you're going continuing your whirlwind tour of wherever it is that you're going to visit next. Couple things, remember, don't feed the locals and don't pet the wildlife. Alright?
1:50:47
Close your eyes. Let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much that there's a hook for every belief we could possibly have. Lord, help us to conform our lives with your truth. Thank you so very much.
1:51:03
You are a good, good father. I command a blessing over all the dads in here today. Lord, strengthen them, encourage them, give them endurance to continue to be great dads. I pray for all of the future dads in here. Train them up right, Lord.
1:51:21
Get them ready. I command a blessing over each and every person here today. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. I love you so very much.
1:51:35
Have a great week. And remember, Sarah, you got this.
