How to Hang Your Hat
July 15, 2024 · Hanging Your Hat on God's Truth
Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Revelation 22 (water of life passage) Brian read it as the basis for a personal word given to Julie about a gift of healing in the leaves of the tree of life
1 He showed me a river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb,
2 in the middle of its street. On this side of the river and on that was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruits, yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 There will be no curse any more. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will serve him.
4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.
5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever.
6 He said to me, “These words are faithful and true. The Lord God of the spirits of the prophets sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must happen soon.”
7 “Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
8 Now I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. When I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who had shown me these things.
9 He said to me, “See you don’t do it! I am a fellow bondservant with you and with your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
10 He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.”
12 “Behold, I come quickly. My reward is with me, to repay to each man according to his work.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.
15 Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star.”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” He who hears, let him say, “Come!” He who is thirsty, let him come. He who desires, let him take the water of life freely.
18 I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, may God add to him the plagues which are written in this book.
19 If anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, may God take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.
20 He who testifies these things says, “Yes, I come quickly.” Amen! Yes, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with all the saints. Amen.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Numbers 14:1-12
Carla read it aloud as the main passage; Jay used it to set up the three hooks of circumstances, man, and God
1 All the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept that night.
2 All the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “We wish that we had died in the land of Egypt, or that we had died in this wilderness!
3 Why does Yahweh bring us to this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will be captured or killed! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return into Egypt?”
4 They said to one another, “Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.”
5 Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before all the assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel.
6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were of those who spied out the land, tore their clothes.
7 They spoke to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, “The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceeding good land.
8 If Yahweh delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it to us; a land which flows with milk and honey.
9 Only don’t rebel against Yahweh, neither fear the people of the land; for they are bread for us. Their defense is removed from over them, and Yahweh is with us. Don’t fear them.”
10 But all the congregation threatened to stone them with stones. Yahweh’s glory appeared in the Tent of Meeting to all the children of Israel.
11 Yahweh said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? and how long will they not believe in me, for all the signs which I have worked among them?
12 I will strike them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of you a nation greater and mightier than they.”
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Romans 8:31
Jay quoted it to support trusting God as the best hook
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
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Colossians 3:2
Jay quoted it to call the congregation to set their minds on things above rather than chasing their circumstances
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
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Matthew 6:33
Jay quoted it to encourage surrendering to God rather than chasing after the hat
33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things will be given to you as well.
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John 14:6
Jay quoted it to identify Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.
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John 8:31-32
Jay quoted it to show that abiding in Jesus's word brings freedom
31 Jesus therefore said to those Jews who had believed him, “If you remain in my word, then you are truly my disciples.
32 You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
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Proverbs 3:5-6
Jay quoted it to encourage trusting God rather than being paralyzed by uncertainty
5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don’t lean on your own understanding.
6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
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2 Corinthians 13:5
Jay quoted it to call the congregation to examine whether they are actually living in faith
5 Examine your own selves, whether you are in the faith. Test your own selves. Or don’t you know as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified.
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Matthew 7:24-25
Jay quoted the wise man building on the rock to show that only the Jesus hook will not fail
24 “Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.
25 The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock.
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Psalm 34:8-10
Jay quoted it to invite the congregation to trust fully in the Lord who lacks nothing
8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Oh fear Yahweh, you his saints, for there is no lack with those who fear him.
10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger, but those who seek Yahweh shall not lack any good thing.
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Ephesians 2:8-10
Jay quoted it to say salvation is by grace through faith, not by holding perfect theological beliefs
8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, that no one would boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before that we would walk in them.
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Joshua 24:15
A congregation member quoted it in the open discussion to close with the call to choose whom you will serve
15 If it seems evil to you to serve Yahweh, choose today whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve Yahweh.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Jay brought a message on what it actually means to hang your hat on God's truth, working from the series title that Brian has been building week by week. Using Numbers 14 as a starting point, he walked through why the Israelites struggled to trust God even after seeing him work, and traced that same struggle into everyday life. The whole thing came back to a simple question: where are you actually putting your trust?
What was said
Jay opened in Numbers 14, where the Israelites, having already seen God's miracles in Egypt and the wilderness, heard the spies' report about the promised land and fell apart. Ten of the twelve spies said the land was everything God promised and also impossible to take. The people wept, talked about going back to Egypt, and wanted to choose a new human leader. Caleb and Joshua pleaded with them not to rebel, but the community nearly stoned them. Jay pointed out that the people had every reason to trust God and chose not to, and that their response was shaped entirely by what they were looking at and feeling in the moment.
From there Jay introduced the central image of the series: a hat rack with many hooks. The hat is your beliefs, and hanging it somewhere means committing to what you trust. He named three main hooks: your circumstances, other people, and God. Circumstances are passive, he said. You just go along with what is happening around you, the way the crowd in Numbers 14 did, letting fear become contagious. Trusting in people, whether parents, friends, or a church leader, is better because it involves some agency, but every person will eventually fail you. The Jesus hook, he said, is the only one that holds.
Jay told the story of being a short thirteen-year-old in middle school PE, where bigger kids would take his hat and play monkey-in-the-middle with it. He used it to show how easy it is to feel like a victim to your circumstances and to forget that you actually have a choice. He never thought to ask God what to do about the hat. He was so busy chasing it down that he forgot he did not have to play their game at all.
He then laid out three steps. First, get your hat back, meaning recover your own beliefs from whatever is currently pushing them around, whether that is social media, the news, or the mood of the people around you. He quoted Colossians 3:2, "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of this earth," and Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." Second, find where to hang it. He walked through different areas of life, finances, church, where you live, and in each one described choosing to put it on the Jesus hook rather than a more obvious or convenient one. He quoted John 14:6 and John 8:31-32 to make the case that Jesus is not just one option among many.
Third, actually hang your hat. Jay said this is where a lot of people stall. He connected it to the Pharisees, who were so focused on having the correct theological position that they could not recognize the Messiah standing in front of them. He saw the same thing happening in the modern church, where people argue over doctrine and forget that what Jesus is after is the heart. He quoted Ephesians 2:8-10 directly: "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." Perfect theological beliefs, he said, are not the criteria for salvation. Trust is.
He closed by saying the story was never really about the hat. The bullies wanted to get to his heart, and they did it through the hat. That, he said, is how the enemy works. He pulls on beliefs and opinions and peer pressure until the hat is flying around and you have lost track of what you actually trust. The invitation was to stop managing hats on a dozen different hooks, find the Jesus hook, and put everything there, because Matthew 7:24-25 says that house built on the rock does not fall when the rain and the wind come. Every other hook, he said, will eventually fail.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Set aside time this week to honestly ask yourself where your hat actually is right now, meaning which hook, your circumstances, another person, or God, are you really trusting with the thing that is weighing on you most.
- Pick one area of your life where you have been playing monkey in the middle with your own beliefs, and instead of chasing the hat, stop and ask God what he wants you to do about it.
- When you catch yourself scrolling or staring at the news, pause and ask whether what you are taking in is forming your own beliefs or just telling you what to think.
- Write down one belief or worry you have been holding onto and pray Proverbs 3:5-6 over it, trusting that if you acknowledge God in that area he will make your path straight.
- Examine one decision in front of you right now and ask honestly whether you are following God or following the money, the convenience, or the popular opinion.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- The Israelites had seen God's miracles firsthand and still struggled to trust him when they faced the giants in the land. When have you found it hardest to trust God even after you had already seen him come through for you?
- Jay described three main hooks where people tend to hang their trust: circumstances, other people, and God. Which of those hooks do you find yourself returning to most often, and what does that look like in your day-to-day life?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Jay, quien ayuda a liderar a los jovenes adultos en Tribe, predico sobre como elegimos en que depositar nuestra confianza. Usando el relato de los israelitas en Numeros 14, donde el pueblo preferia volver a la esclavitud en Egipto antes que enfrentar los gigantes de la tierra prometida, Jay mostro que todos tenemos tres opciones principales: confiar en nuestras circunstancias, confiar en otras personas, o confiar en Dios. Para ilustrarlo, conto como en la secundaria sus companeros le robaban el sombrero cada dia en la clase de educacion fisica, y como el se sentia victima de sus circunstancias sin darse cuenta de que el tenia la libertad de elegir como responder.
A traves de esa imagen del sombrero, Jay explico que nuestras creencias son como un sombrero que podemos colgar en diferentes ganchos. El gancho de las circunstancias falla cuando cambian los sentimientos. El gancho de las personas falla porque nadie es perfecto. Pero el gancho de Jesus, aunque no siempre es el mas grande ni el mas llamativo, es el unico que nunca cede. Lo importante, dijo Jay, no es tener todas las creencias teologicas perfectas, sino tener el corazon orientado hacia Jesus, porque somos salvos por gracia mediante la fe, no por tener todo resuelto.
Al final, varios miembros de la congregacion compartieron como esto se conectaba con sus propias experiencias, incluyendo una mujer que hablo de como Dios ha ido lavando las mentiras del enemigo de su mente a lo largo de este ano. La invitacion final fue personal: recuperar tu sombrero de donde lo hayas perdido, encontrar ese gancho de Jesus en tu vida, y colgarlo ahi con todo lo que tienes.
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Pasajes biblicos usados
- Numeros 14.1-12
- Salmos 34.8-10
- Proverbios 3.5-6
- Mateo 6.33
- Mateo 7.24-25
- Juan 8.31-32
- Juan 14.6
- Romanos 8.31
- Colosenses 3.2
- Efesios 2.8-10
- 2 Corintios 13.5
- Apocalipsis 22 (citado al inicio por el pastor Brian, no por Jay)
Read the full transcript 11,446 words
Just making sure I had the d. Okay. I'm gonna ask you to do something very bold. Would y'all just move to the front two rows? Just in case, this is it for today.
Just in case. Thank you. Thank you. Just remind yourself this morning, the God that you worship. But we need forgiveness today.
Just thank him for this morning. Ask him to just remove the distractions from your mind today. Just talk to him from your heart. Ask him to search your heart today. Let's sing this together.
Just put your trust in him We thank you this morning that these aren't just words to songs but they're actual truth that we can hang our hat on today. We just ask that our lives would be all for your glory. Lord, we put our country in your hands. We put our family in your hands. We put our health, our future, all of it Lord.
We put it in your hands. Again this morning, we surrender again this morning. We just tell you we love you. We trust you. Help us with our unbelief, Lord.
Help us to trust you more today and as we dig into your word today, we ask that you would reveal your nature and your character to us because we know that you are never finished with us. Refine us, Lord. Today, we wanna leave this place different than we came because we met with you. Savior, king of kings, lord of lords, God almighty. We give you permission in this place to come and speak to us as a body, as a church.
Come have your way in this place today in Jesus name. Everybody said, amen. We have a special treat today, Jay's bringing the word. Oh, come on, Jay's bringing the word. Fill up your coffee, get out your bible, greet somebody.
It's a good day to be at church together. It's a good day when you break your pick on all three sides.
Yeah. Just down here. Okay. Thank you.
You can have a whole lot more room. Do you want me to just move this back? Nope.
This is great. That's all good. Yeah. Feels great. Like, right now?
I want to put more on my knees.
Your call.
Do you want
me to rally him or you got it.
Yeah.
Good morning. Hey, tribe fam. As as we transition from one type of worship to the next type of worship, I was sitting up here this morning before I turn it over to Jay to lead us in the next type of worship by getting into and honoring God's word that was preached. During worship, I was doing my own little Jesus thing, and I felt like the Lord put, like, a He showed me a picture. And then when I saw the picture, I was like, okay, what do you wanna do with that picture?
And is it for anybody? And so I wanna I wanna share it with you just really quick, and then we can pray over it. And then I'll turn it over to Jay. But this word is for you, Julie. And just looking at worship and seeing there there, Julie and James, they are honorary tribe members who spend several weeks every summer down in Star Valley, and they they found us maybe three summers ago.
And they get to be a part of our tribe fam for several weeks every summer. And this morning, I just saw I saw you, and this picture came to my mind. Thank you. And it was like a twig and then your iconic, just round green leaf. And then, was like, okay, that's cool.
What's that about? And then, I feel like the Lord directed me to Revelation chapter 22, and it says, then the angel showed me a river with the the water of life. When it says the angel showed me, this is the apostle John who's exiled on the island of Patmos. That's what's happening in this context. The water was clear as crystal flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb.
It flowed down the center of the main street on each side of the river, grew a tree of life bearing 12 crops of fruit with a fresh crop each month. And then here is the the crux. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. And the the what I feel like the Lord placed on my heart was that there is a gift of healing in you. And when I was asking about, like, how does that look?
He was like, Dev, like, that's not your assignment. And so I don't know if you know that about you. But here's the interesting thing about this. We can assume from the text I think it's a safe assumption the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. Now, do you take the nations and, like, rub them on the tree?
Do you, like, like, pick up the tree and move it around to the nations? What would make the most sense logically is if the leaf or leaves are broken off and then used somehow medicinally for the healing of the nations. And so the moment you pluck a leaf from the tree, it it dies. And it costs the tree something to have the leaf be removed from the tree and then have it be used for a purpose. And so what I feel like the Lord would say to you is that he is acutely aware of the great cost that you have paid and that you are willing to pay out of love and gratitude for your love for Jesus.
I'll I'll pay any cost to to to use the leaves of my life in whatever way for the healing of those that you bring to me. And so, to summarize, two things. Number one, the Lord sees you with a healing gift. And it's not for me to say what or how that work. He didn't say.
Number two, it costs you something to operate in that. And he sees it and keeps a great account of that. So, could we maybe have a few people just lay a hand on her shoulder and let's pray for Julie. Oh, really quick question. Do you two women know each other?
There's a connection there, too. There is a great, wonderful connection there. That's cool. You can be sisters. Okay.
Before I pray, I'm going to be I'm going to be still for just a moment. Lord, help us. Lord, thank you for what you have done in Julie's life that would cause that gift to sprout out from her heart. Lord, thank you that there is a special grace on her life to be a minister of healing somehow, someway. I don't know.
And, Lord, thank you that you keep a close record and account for any leaf that has been plucked or broken off of that tree of that gift of hers, and that it has cost her something. Lord, you see the exact cost, and you your word says that you are a debtor to no one. So, God, I ask that for every leaf that is broken off and used for the healing of other people that you bring across your path, that you would cause 10 more to sprout up. We bless that gift in her, in Julie. In Jesus' name, everybody said, amen.
Okay. Take it away, Jay.
My my mom, when I was growing up, used to always say that I learned to run before I learned to walk. And that was just to keep up with my older brother. So if you're new here to Tribe, we're running today, if you can't tell, by Brian just coming up here and having a word. Yeah, if you're new to Tribe, hi, my name's Jay. I help lead the young adults here.
And this week, I was trying to give Brian a break from speaking all the time, but he still found a way.
Oh, you're sending me a message.
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. But, yeah. It's so cool what Brian and Alyssa are doing here and how they're focused on raising up leaders and making disciples. And so thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
Really, really appreciate it, Brian. Okay. So some of you guys may be familiar with the format I tried, but if you're new, again, this is not meant to be a monologue. It's not just meant to be someone up on stage just talking at you guys, it's more meant to be a conversation, a dialogue. So if you have a word, just like Brian just did, feel free to raise your hand.
Lanisha is in the back there, she'll be running around the mic. And please, please, please, I'll open it up a couple different times, make sure would love to hear from you guys. But we're in the middle of a series called did you name the series?
Hanging
Hanging Your Hat on God's Truth. And so Brian comes up here every week with his hat and keeps just putting them on, making it look really easy. And so when I was just asking the Lord what he'd have me speak on this week, he was like, Ah. He's like, I don't think it's quite as easy as Brian makes it look when he's just moving his hats around like so. So this week, we're going to talk about how to hang your hat.
It's not quite as easy as it seems. So let's get into it. First things first. We all are given free will. That made evident to us.
In the beginning of this book in Genesis, you see Adam and Eve in the garden, and you hear God say, you are free to eat from any tree in the garden. So what this hat symbolizes is your beliefs. So this could be my beliefs on Bigfoot, as Brian puts out there. This could be my beliefs on what team is going to win the Euro or Copa America today. And when you put it on the hook, that is saying you are submitting that belief.
You're like, yep, that's what I truly believe in. You're putting your trust in that belief. That's for everybody to see. So if your hat's off there, it's maybe not decided, when you put it on there, you're like, all right, that is, in fact, what I believe. So God has always given us the ability to choose.
So I I have my beliefs, whatever it is about Bigfoot, I can hang it here. I can hang it here. I can be like, Oh, I do believe in Bigfoot. I don't believe in Bigfoot. This is the reason why.
But He allows us to choose and make up our minds about what we believe, whether that's to love him or to disobey him. So one of the main beliefs that you see in the garden. And so I would love to start by getting into the word. So if you have your paper Bibles with you, I would love you turn with me to Numbers 14. And Brian, I know, as well as myself, is very passionate about having a paper Bible.
And so he sometimes could be very nice and patient, but I won't hold as many punches back, and I'll let him come up and pick up the pieces. But, yeah, there is something so special about having the written word of God. Really, really encourage you guys to just feel and touch a paper Bible. Right? I know about me.
If I was given shot a text, it could be a really sweet text. It's awesome. But if someone wrote it down in a letter and I can just feel it, seeing the time and intentionality in that, that is so, so special. And that's exactly how I feel with the written word of God. Having it in a book, carrying this around with me, it's not as convenient, it's not as easy, the print's really small, but And it's your sword you.
There you go, Nancy. Yeah, it's your sword to carry carry with you. So if somebody wouldn't mind reading Numbers chapter 14 verses one through 12, if you want a popcorn, you're more than welcome to. But let's get into it.
Raise your hand.
And if you don't raise your hand, Lanisha will anoint you with the mic.
Then the whole community began weeping aloud. They cried all night. Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. If only we had died in Egypt or even here in the wilderness, they complained. Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle?
Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder. Wouldn't it be better for us to return to Egypt? Then they plotted against among themselves. Let's choose a new leader and go back to Egypt. Then Moses and Aaron fell face down on the ground before the whole community of Israel.
Two of the men who had explored the land, Joshua, son of Nun, and Caleb, of Jephunah Jephunah. Okay. That was hard. Tore their clothing. They said to all the people of Israel, the land we traveled through and explored is a wonderful land.
And if the Lord is pleased with us, he will bring us safely into that land and give it to us. It is a rich land flowing with milk and honey. Do not rebel against the Lord, and do not be afraid of the peep and don't be afraid of the people of the land. They're only helpless prey to us. They have no protection, but the Lord is with us.
Don't be afraid of them. But the whole community began to talk about stoning Joshua and Caleb. Then the glorious presence of the Lord appeared to all the Israelites at the tabernacle. And the Lord said to Moses, how long will these people treat me with content? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?
I will disown them and destroy them with a plague. Then I will make you into a nation greater and mightier than they are.
The word of the Lord.
Thank you, Carla. So a bit of context on this passage. The Israelites have left Egypt not too long ago, and now they are kind of wandering around in the wilderness being led by Moses and Aaron. And they sent a bunch of spies out to check out the promised land, right, to go ahead and make sure that this is in fact what god is is is promised and was telling them all about all the way before the exodus. And two of the spies came back, Caleb and Joshua, and they said, let us go up at once and take possession for we are able to overcome it.
And then 10 out of the 12 of the spies came back and said, what God has promised about the land is true. Nevertheless, the natives of the land are too mighty, and we cannot overcome them despite what God has promised. I just think that is so interesting. And, like, I I I can understand why they feel this way. If you read just right up a couple verses in chapter 13, they're talking about the Nephilim.
So Nephilim are essentially giants. It's Goliath, if you know about Goliath. It's like a whole country of Goliath. So they were like, I don't know that this is what the the Lord really gave to us. I don't know if we can do this, essentially, is a little bit of the context.
And so I'd love just to ask you guys, what do you notice from that passage? What stands out to you? Because the Lord is speaking to you guys just as much as he's speaking to me.
Well, even before she read it, what stands out to me about this whole thing is they had seen with their own eyes the miracles that god had already performed. So how could you not trust him seeing what he had already
done? Right.
So I'm gonna follow-up. Verse four, and they said to one another, let us choose a leader and go back to Egypt. The, it's always baffled me why they want a leader and not just to follow god. I mean, how much faith do you have if you want a man to lead you versus god to lead you? And that's that's kind of troubling to me.
Right. Yeah, both both both Clay and Nancy are touching on the fact that people are in this passage presented with a lot of options. So the spies are coming back. They're just informing the rest of the tribes about what's going on in the land. They're like, Okay, what are we going to do about this?
This is what I think. I don't think we can do it. I think we can do it. Some people are like, hey, want to go back to Egypt. And all that all those choices that are presented, they're they're picking what to put their trust in, what Nancy was saying.
Some people are like, oh, like Caleb and Joshua, they've seen all the miracles that the Lord has done already. So they're like, I'm I'm gonna put my trust in the Lord. He said he's gonna give us this promised land, and I believe him. Other people are reconsidering because they want a leader. They're like, I'm I'm just like you, Clay.
I'm like, ugh. Like, if I was if I saw a pillar of fire and and I was following that, I I think that's pretty cool. And I I don't think I'd have a hard time following that, but apparently, lot of people do have a hard time following that. So we got something over here too. Go ahead and say it right into the mic for me, Janet.
Perfect.
Why would they want to go back to Egypt? They were slaves. They were oppressed. So there's nothing good about returning to Egypt. It was familiar, but they were still enslaved.
Absolutely. Right? And so that's a little bit of what we're going to be touching on here today is how are we deciding where to put our hat? How do we hang our hat on that truth? Whether we're looking at our circumstances of like, oh man, like, out in this wilderness, I'm hungry and I don't want to go fight some giants, so I'd rather go back and be a slave in Egypt where I at least knew I had some food on my plate or I had a place to lay my head at night.
So that's a little bit of the conversation that we're going to go ahead and get into. And so when we're thinking about who or what we put our trust in, there are three main hooks that I see. There's three main options. So we, there's so many hooks on this rack about all the beliefs that we can talk about here today, but I like to boil it down to three main ones that kind of encompass all the different hooks. Number one being your circumstances.
Right? Depending on your circumstances changes maybe what you put your trust in. Number two, you can put your trust in man. So instead of being kind of a, I guess, a victim to your circumstances, You're just waiting there. You're waiting for things to happen.
And you're just kind of like, all right, well, guess it's just destiny or it's fate. You are putting your trust in man. You're kind of taking it in your own hands. You're like, Okay, I have a little bit of say in this. I can choose what I want to do.
Or maybe I have a leader that I'm following, and I'm putting my trust in him to go ahead and follow him. And then the last one I would say, if you wanna go ahead and put some of the slides up there, Ryan, is you can trust in God. Those are the three main hooks that you can put your trust in here today as you hang up. It could be circumstances. It could be man.
It could be God. Those are the three main categories. And so touching a little bit more on your circumstances, I find that this is more of a passive stance. Right? You're letting things kind of happen to you.
You see in this passage, they're talking about how Moses and Aaron fell on their feet in front of all the congregation. All the people were mourning. It's kind of this infectious mindset of everyone just kind of goes along with each other because of what they're seeing happening around themselves. It's they're basically going off of feelings. Right?
Our feelings fluctuate. They change. They go in and out. And then number two in man, a couple of different people we can put our trust in are you might put your trust in your parents. Right?
I love my parents. I was blessed with an awesome family growing up. I trust my parents a lot. I I trust that they they raised me well with good values. They they taught me how to do things.
I put my trust in them. Or you might put your trust in your friends to be there when you're down. It could be it could be a leader. It could be your pastor at church. But at the end of the day, no one's perfect.
Right? And so it's pretty devastating to see, especially church leaders that that may fall. Right? Someone that we we love, we trust, we listen to, someone like me. And if I were to stumble, if your trust was in me, you might quickly find that your faith wasn't actually in Jesus, and those are the people that end up falling away from the church.
It's because they were putting their trust in man rather than in God, which leads me to my next one, which is what I personally think is the best hook. May not be the biggest hook, but putting your trust in God. He's all knowing. He's perfect. Romans eight thirty one says, if God is for us, who can be against us?
And so as we continue on in this conversation, I'm going to give you a real world story that happened to me in middle school to help illustrate kind of an a scenario of the choices that we are given, and whether we put our trust in our circumstances, in man, or in God. So this story comes from when I was in middle school, and you can go ahead and throw the picture up there. This was me, and I know, I know. I had to go dig in for that one. That was first picture I ever took on an iPhone.
I just got my first iPhone, and of course, what do I do? I look right at me and I take a selfie, Super cool technology. I'm probably 13 years old. And so when I was 13 years old, I was a really big hat guy, which I thought was kind of interesting about this series. I loved hats.
And so every year on my birthday, my mom would take me to Tilly's, which was a cool store at the time. I don't know if it's still cool. They don't even have Tilly's out here. And for my birthday, she would let me pick out any hat that I wanted. So I'd take my time, and I'd find the perfect size, and I'd find this cool hat.
And whatever hat I chose, I would wear every single day for the next year until my next birthday when I got a new hat. So I was a big hat guy. I really was. I didn't have a bunch. I just had that one hat, and I always wore it.
And so, when I got to middle school, so right here, when I turned 13 years old, went into sixth grade, I noticed a lot of my peers were hitting puberty. They were growing up, they were getting bigger, they were taller, they were stronger, and I was not among those people that hit puberty in middle school. So I stayed very short. Was like five'two, well into high school. And I had this great Justin Bieber hair, which was cool at the time.
You can even say I got some goofy braces on there, which, believe it or not, were actually cool at the time. Like, everybody had braces, right? So it was pretty cool. And that was me. And so I noticed, kind of as all these people were growing up and getting bigger, a lot of the other kids in my third period PE class noticed that I really cared about my hat.
They're like, You wear that hat. Every day you love that hat. And so their favorite thing to do was to take my hat and make a game out of it. Right? So if monkey in the middle hadn't already been invented, we definitely would have pioneered it.
Literally, Nina, if you want to come up here, and Erica, you can take this hat, and it would look just like this. Erica, if you want to stand up. I would try and get after my hat, but it didn't matter what I did. They were doing or sometimes, Erica, if you don't mind, I'm trying to grab the hat. They turn into a tug
of war. What do you think happens when we
start tugging over the hat, right? You think it stays in good shape? No good. No. No good.
Right? You're gonna ruin the hat. So that was a little bit of what my third period PE class looked like for an entire year. And that was tough, each and every day going to bat over my hat. So what I'll ask you guys is how would you deal with this situation?
I'm not no agenda. I'm just curious. What how would you guys deal with this situation? You really care about this hat. Right?
Leave it at home, right? Right? So like, just give up. Just be, oh, I'm so sick of these kids taking my hat. I'm going to change something about me, which is loving hats and wearing a hat every day, because don't like my circumstances.
So I'm going to leave my hat at home, right? What else? What are some other options I had?
Find a bigger
Find a bigger friend to stand up for me. Yeah, there you go. There you go. And he would either guard me from them or would just hold on to my hat for me, and I I trust that it wouldn't get thrown in the dirt and stretch it out.
Sit your hat on super tight.
And then get it ripped off my head. Say that one more time, Nancy? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Again, just kind of like give up. Just be like, all right, you guys have my hat.
Better that you have my hat than me. The only issue with that one was they would love to get it all gross, they'd throw it around. Yeah, they just wouldn't take good care of it. So I wasn't a big fan of that option, because I did try it. I did try it, try not caring.
What else? Any other ideas? Take it off before I go to PE, maybe leave it in my locker or something like that. That's actually a pretty good option. I don't know why I didn't think of that one.
It's a pretty good option. But yeah, I was if I were to hang my hat on my circumstances, the reality is I was smaller. I wasn't strong enough to win my hat. I literally was too small to catch my hat, as they would throw it over my head. And with that, the kind of options would be to give up.
Right? I could either just not wear my hat. I could let them have it. I could just try and not care about my hat. I could try and change something about myself, not wear my hat.
Yeah, just let them kind of mock me. They'd love to put my hat on and do whatever and make fun of me. So that was one option, is just kind of like let it go and go along with the circumstances. Or I could trust in man. Right?
I could trust in myself. I could try and fight. I could do my best to try and keep my hat. And they might surprise me and still take it from me. Or maybe oh, this might be a good one.
I could try and get an adult, right? An adult will come in. Adult will give them a good finger wag and give me my hat back. A couple of different people I could trust in. Or what just dawned on me as I was writing this, I could have put my trust in God, which at the time didn't seem like an option.
But I could have asked, Lord, what do you want me to see in this situation? What do you want me to do or get out of this situation? How do I what does it look like for me to trust in the Lord and hang my hat on my beliefs of like, you know what, Lord? I want what you want, and I'm gonna put my trust in you even though I know what I want, whether it's to have the hat or not have the hat. I'm going trust in you, Lord, rather than this.
That never dawned on me. And so we're going to get into it now. We're going go over three steps to hang your hat. Right? So how to do it.
Number one, you've to get your hat back. Right? If you don't have a hat, there's nothing for you to hang. So number one, you've got to get your hat back. Number two, find where to hang it.
Right? There's all these different hooks, so many choices to choose from. So once I have my hat, I've got to figure out where am I actually going to put it. And then number three, you've to hang your hat. You actually need to do the work of putting it up and hanging it up, just like so.
So we're going to walk through that really quick. Number one, get your hat back. So in middle school at the time, probably when I would say, how do you get your hat back? I probably would have given you the typical middle schooler, maybe even high schooler response of, anybody know it? I don't know, right?
I don't know, like, how was your day? I don't know. Did you do anything cool today? I don't know. Yeah, right?
And it's like our favorite response. And so that's probably what I would have told you at the time. What are some other ideas about how I would get my hat back? Erica? Lenny, she's running the mic.
Up to you.
I'd probably be sneaky and take something of theirs. Oh. And then I'm like, well, if you want it back, you got to
give me my hat back. Oh, yeah. Two can play this game. Right? Yeah.
There you go. That's a great idea. And so what I'd love for us to start to do is to connect the dots from my from my middle school story to this sermon of thinking about, k. All of the beliefs in my life, what am I think about those three hooks that I presented. Your circumstances, man, and God.
What are you putting your trust in? What does that look like getting your hat back with your life of, okay, what are you trusting in to get your hat back? Any other ideas? Authority. Authority, right?
Yeah, I talked about getting a teacher or something like that. Someone with authority helped me get my hat back. B, did you have something? Yeah. If
you're, like, thinking of, like, the transition between coming from, like, a worldly point of view to, like, god's point of view, starting somewhere new, which would be, like, the Bible, getting to know your word because I feel like you wouldn't know if your beliefs are necessarily misplaced Mhmm. If you're not look looking to a new source because if you're just living the same old life, you're like, you know, I don't know. If you are starting somewhere new and, like, I want to find where this belief should be hung, you know, in the Bible, so starting somewhere new.
And so maybe to paint it in a little bit of a different picture or to connect some of the dots for you guys. Thinking about those kids taking my hat and throwing it back and forth, that hat represents my beliefs. Right? I'm fighting for my beliefs. People are trying to dictate my beliefs for me by taking it, by putting it in places that I don't want it to be.
They're doing other things with my hat that I don't want. So thinking about fighting to get my hat back, I want you guys to introspectively look at yourselves and look at your life and say, where is my hat? Because I can't hang my hat on anything if I don't even know where it is. So that's the action of getting our beliefs back. So to do that, I want you guys to focus.
So get your mind right. When the Israelites are out in the wilderness, and they are they're tired, they're hungry, they're cold, or like us with this heat wave, we're hot, and so we're angry. We're not really necessarily thinking about our beliefs. We might not be thinking as critically as we can. I know last night when I'm super tired, I'm trying to get a bunch of work done, I'm not thinking straight.
I'm not necessarily introspectively thinking about what I do and don't believe. And it's so important for us to realize that the world that we live in today is constantly vying and fighting for our attention, fighting for our beliefs. They are trying to whether you're scrolling on social media and what they're feeding you, or if you're staring at the news, whatever they're just telling you and and and not forcing you to believe, but the more we watch that, the more it shapes what we do believe. Where we do put our hat is shaped by all of our external stimuli. And so I want you guys to be sober minded as we get our hat back.
Think about, Okay, if I'm only staring at the news, if I'm only getting one perspective, am I really forming my own opinion, or am I just listening to what I'm being told? If I'm getting intoxicated all the time, I literally cannot think straight. It is so important to be sober minded as we think and focus. Colossians three:two says, Set your mind on the things above, not on the things of this earth. So rather than, like, chasing after my guys and and and playing their game and and and trying to play monkey in the middle, I need to set my mind on things above.
So the question I wish I would've asked in middle school would've been, Lord, what do you want me to do about my hat? Where do you want me to put my hat? You don't have to play their game. You do not have to play their game. I was so busy and focused on chasing down my hat that I forgot that I got to decide what to do about my hat.
I felt like I was such a victim to my circumstances. These guys just kept taking my hat and throwing it and doing whatever they wanted with it that I forgot that I had a decision. I did not have to chase after them. I did not have to wear my hat to school. I could have left it in my locker.
I could have gotten a a bigger, badder friend to stand up for me, or I could have gotten an adult and authority someone in authority to stand up for me. I forgot that I was in control of my own thoughts and beliefs. So I wanna invite you guys today, as we think about what to do with our beliefs, realize that you are in control, that God has given us the opportunity to choose what we believe for ourselves. So stop just listening to whatever is being put out there, whether it's your it's a popular opinion from your friends at school, or it's what we see on TV, or what the influencers are doing on Instagram. Right?
Form your own opinion. Matthew six thirty three says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. I like to think that if I would have surrendered to God in that third in third period, that he would have added all things unto me. Maybe my mom would have got me a new hat. Maybe I I have no idea what he would have done.
If I just would have had a heart posture of surrendering to him rather than chasing after my hat and trying to fight my circumstances, I'm I'm just so curious what he would have done. So that moves me into number two. Where do I hang my hat? So we've gotten our hat back. We're focused.
I'm setting my mind on the things above. I'm looking at my beliefs. Now I need to figure out, okay, what am I actually going to believe in? You can go ahead to the next slide. Where am I going to hang my hat?
Right? Okay. So number one, let's evaluate our hooks. I got all these different options here. Okay?
So many different options. Brian always says, eat the meat and spit out the bones. So as we are going through here, I may hang my hat on my soccer team from middle school. And I had a great coach. He was awesome.
He was a great mentor figure. And he taught me a lot of things, but he also lived a pretty wicked lifestyle. Does that mean that I should put all my trust in him? Maybe not. Does that mean that everything he taught me was bad?
Also, no. So is that necessarily the hook that I want to put my hat on? It was on there when I was in middle school. And so what I'm inviting us to do, now that we have our hat, is I want you to look at each and every one of these hooks in your lives. Okay.
I had my hats on all these different hooks. I'm not saying you should throw away your coat rack and take everything off all at once, but I'm inviting you to really evaluate and inspect each hook for what it is. Eat the meat, spit out the bones. Take what was good, and leave behind what was bad. And so I want to invite you guys to look at the Jesus hook.
Right? This is my favorite hook. There are so many hooks that we're talking about in this series. And Brian already spoke on it a little bit, but one of these hooks is the Jesus hook. And it's no surprise, but it's it's my personal favorite.
And so as I look at what's going on with our country and the candidates that are running and whether they're getting shot at or not, I decide, Lord, I surrender my my beliefs about politics, about this country, and I and I choose to trust you, Lord. So I place my beliefs on the Jesus hook in regards to the country, and I I look at the my job and the things that I own and whether I'm able to put food on the table or make rent this month or I have a car and it needs maintenance that I can't afford, Lord. And I I could hang my hat anywhere. I could I could ask my parents for for help with finances, or I could I could just allow my car to be running to the ground or but instead, I still really love that Jesus hook. So I'm gonna say, Lord, I surrender my finances to you.
I trust you with everything that I have. And notice I'm I'm doubling up. I'm I'm putting two hats on that Jesus hook. Right? I look at my church.
I ask the Lord, alright, Lord. I came to Jackson for you, and you gave me a good church home. And I miss my family, and it's expensive to live here. So Nina and lived in a van for a number of years, and it was brutal. But the Lord said he said, I want you to try.
And so I surrendered my my thoughts and beliefs and my wants and desires to the Lord with my spiritual life and where I go to church. And then where to live. Right? So many places we could live. This one might be one of the easiest ones to hang on the hook.
But I could hang it on, oh, I want to live in Jackson because the climbing is rad. Right? Or I want to live in Jackson because that's what all the cool skiers are doing. I want to ski and instruct at one of the most epic mountains in the world. Right?
I could put my trust in so many different things, my job, whatever. But instead, even with where I live and what I'm doing in this valley, I say, Lord, I surrender that to you. I trust you. Oops. And then the hook notice the hook didn't fall off.
My hats fell off. It's a good, independent hook, that Jesus hook. It can hold everything. Everything. So find that Jesus hook for you and your life.
He says in John fourteen six, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Right? There's so much good on some of these other hooks, and there's a lot of bad hooks. Don't get me wrong. There's lot of bad hooks hooks where I can hang my hat.
But Jesus says, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. In John eight verses 31 through 32, he says, if you abide in my word and you are truly my disciples, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. So instead of looking at all these hooks and being intimidated by all the different options that you have, whether or not you feel like you have a lot of options, I think there's only one option that you should really consider.
Find where that Jesus hook is, and whatever it is, align your mind and your heart with that Jesus hook. That is where you should put your trust in today. Number three, hang your hat. Right? So I can I can have all my hats, all these different beliefs?
Right? Kind of looks like Chris Baxter. No, Shiloh Buff. And you might know the meme that that's from, but it's from he's like, Just do it. Oh, I love that meme.
It's so good. But it doesn't matter all these different beliefs you might have or hold if they're, number one, if you don't have your hat because they're not your own beliefs. Number two, if you're holding onto your beliefs, if you don't actually put any weight on them, do they really have any impact? Do they really do anything to your life if you're just like, well, rather than having my own opinion, I'm just going to say, I don't know about everything. Right?
How are you ever going to make any decisions? About your life, about your job, about your friends, right, if you don't have any beliefs that you actually commit to? I love living an active lifestyle, so I want to make friends with people that are going to encourage me to run my first marathon. So you might want to, oh, where do I put that? Still, I'm going to put it back on the Jesus hook.
But I'm going to need to hang that hat there if I'm going to walk out my beliefs. So don't be afraid to hang your hat. I find that when there's so many everything seems controversial today. Nina loves to look over my notes or anything when I'm ever speaking because she is so good at picking out all the politically incorrect things that I I had written or whatever. She's like, oh, don't say this.
Oh, don't say that. Make sure you're this. Because she's so dialed on that, and I love her for it. But I'm like, man, I feel like I can't say anything without offending or hurting someone's feelings. I can't express my own beliefs.
I can't actually commit to something because it would hurt somebody's feelings. And so it's real like like, don't get me wrong. I understand that it could be scary to hang your hat on something, but I'd invite you to look at Proverbs three, five, and six. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. So rather than me being paralyzed like, oh my gosh, lord. I I'm I'm not an expert in this field, and I and I I haven't read the whole Bible for myself, and I didn't go to seminary, so I don't know what to do, or I feel insecure in my job. Like, oh, like, trust the lord with your beliefs and your opinions. He will make your path straight.
In second Corinthians chapter 13 verse five, examine yourselves to see whether you are living in faith. Test yourselves. Do not realize do not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless indeed you fail the test. When when we got saved, you invited the Holy Spirit to live inside you. That's what's going on when Brian's coming up here and speaking, is God is speaking to him, and he is just being a vessel, letting that out here.
Instead of being paralyzed, thinking that that it's all up to you and that this is the most important decision of your life, trust that God is with you. He will not leave. He will not forsake you. If you are truly seeking after him, he will make your paths straight. So in that second Corinthians verse, it says, examine yourself.
See whether or not you're living in your faith. Because I might be trying to go over this Jesus hook, but when I'm presented with the Lord's given Nina and I a lot of favor in one of our side hustles, we've been given an opportunity to do something that maybe compromise our beliefs. And so even though it's maybe even a lucrative opportunity and I see how the Lord's providing for our family, I end up trusting and following the money rather than following the Lord and what he wants for our lives. So I'd compromise on our beliefs to take a lucrative, kind of business opportunity. And so it's so important to examine all of your ways.
Look at your life. Really understand. Okay, Lord. Is this am I actually seeking after you and trusting in you, or am I trusting or am I trying, and am I missing the hook just by a little bit? Really examine yourselves as you do that, trust that the Holy Spirit is going to make your path straight.
If you know where the Jesus hook is, what's stopping you from putting all your hats on the same one? Right? Rather than spreading out all your hats all over, it's really, really scary to manage. And it's really stressful. Right?
Because they're they're moving around. They're flying around. You've seen me doing it this whole time. Why not hang all of your hats there? In Matthew chapter seven verses 24 through 25, it says, everyone who hears the words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on the house, but it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock. All of these other hooks, whether it's your circumstances, you feel financially secure in your job or whatever, or you've had a mentor that's walked you through a lot of life, taught you a lot of things, it's awesome, all of these other hooks, at one day, time, or another, as the wind is blowing and the rains are beating down, every single one of these hooks will fail. Every single one will fail you, except the Jesus hook. Psalm 34 verses eight through 10 says, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who trusts in him.
Fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The young lions lack and suffer hunger, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. I don't know about y'all, but I'm putting all of my trust in this Jesus hook. I'm putting all my eggs in this basket right here because I know. I've tried.
I've tried the other hooks, and they fail me every single time. Every single time I find myself falling into sin. But when I when I get my hat and I look for that Jesus hook, you've got to find it. It's not always the biggest hook. Right?
Brian's been talking to us about the the principle of the biggest hook. Society will give us some big, shiny belief, popular belief that everyone's hanging their hat on there. Right? Oh, that hook? I could hang a billion hats on that hook.
It looks so good. Right? That's what all the successful people are doing. That's what all the people that are happy. That's what I see them doing.
Right? The Jesus hook comes from a tiny little town in Bethlehem. It's a carpenter. It's not always the biggest, the shiniest. It's not always obvious.
You gotta look for that Jesus hook. And then you gotta hang your hat on that Jesus hook. And so as I start to land the plane, as Brian would say, The story and message today you can go ahead and go to the next slide, Ryan was never about the hats. Never about the hats. The bullies in my middle school PE class, they wanted to terrorize me.
They wanted to be entertained by me, and they got to me by taking my hat. That's how the enemy gets to us. He plays around with our beliefs. He tugs on what we think, what our peers think. And that's what gets down to our heart.
That's how they steal our heart away. I think of the Pharisees in scripture. They were so paralyzed by their beliefs. They were so focused on the hat. They were just staring like, oh, well, like, what I know about the Torah, what I read in this law, they were blinded by their hat that they literally they couldn't see the very their very own messiah right in front of them.
They were so focused on the hat that they forgot that it's really about your heart. And I see that today in in the modern day church. I see it today between believers. We get so focused on our having the the correct and the perfect theological position that we argue over, oh, oh, this or that, or predestination or free will, or or Israel or not Israel, or or whatever we argue about. We get so fixated on having the correct belief that we forget that this entire gospel message, that Jesus is after our heart.
Because if if the criteria for for us to be saved and us to go to heaven is having all of our hats on the perfect hooks and having all the correct and perfect theological beliefs, I'm sorry, but I don't think any of us are gonna make it. We are saved by grace through faith, and that's what I'm talking about. Do not be paralyzed as the Pharisees were as you look where to hang your hat. Trust that the Holy Spirit and that what Jesus came and did for us on the cross, trust that he's going to guide us to find that Jesus hook, to find our hat wherever our hat may be, and he's gonna help us to hang it on this hook as long as we're willing. Ephesians chapter two verses eight through 10 say, for by grace you have been saved through faith.
And that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, or I like to add this part, or perfect theological beliefs, lest anyone should boast. There is nothing that I can do or talk about, no belief that I can hold that gets me into heaven, that saves me aside from putting your trust in Jesus. So today, as we leave, I want you guys to get your hat. Wherever it is, you found your hat taken away from some bully, or your circumstances that might be blinding you,
focus.
Realize it's not about the hat. It was never about the hat. Get your hat wherever it is. Pick it up out of the dirt, stretched out, whatever it is. Figure out where it's supposed to go, and hang it there.
Do you love Jesus? Do you trust him? Do you trust him with everything or just with some things? Do you trust him with your future? Do you trust him with your finances?
Do you trust him with the elections coming up and with our country and our nation? Do you trust that he's in control? Glad you have something.
I think the focus is so important When I was going through the cancer treatment, the one thing that I found that I had a lot of time and I would listen to a lot of podcasts and things like that and what I realized is that so much of my life had been wanting to give a little bit to Jesus but not everything. I would look for when I would go on YouTube looking for a sermon or something. I always look for the shortest thing that they had and now, in the mornings, I find the, I don't care. I just tell god, show me what you wanna show me today and when it comes up, I don't look at how much time it takes. Just get through it and most of the time, 99 times out of a 100, I don't want it to end.
We are not of this world. So, stop putting all your time in things of this world. I used to look at for music, for sports, for politics. Those aren't important. We need to be seeking Jesus a 100% And if you want to be your best, then be your best for Jesus.
I I forget who who says this, but yeah. Right. Lanisha right up up here as well. But anything that isn't eternal is eternally worthless. Do we know who said that?
Lewis. CS Lewis. Any other hook that you're putting your trust in will fail. Ashes.
I hope I can share this clearly, but I got this vision when we were worshiping, but I just feel like the Lord gave me a word. This week was my birthday, and birthdays are really hard for me. And so you're talking about beliefs and it just got me thinking. I mean, I just turned 48 and when I was 12, I got saved and filled with the spirit and the lord just lavished his love on me and said, though your mother and father forsake you, I, the Lord, will not. And so I was not loved well and my birthdays weren't celebrated.
So this year, the Lord takes me away and he he loves on me and he fills me with how he created me. And anyway, so I was having a beautiful time walking along the water and there was a waterfall and it was going through the rocks. So bear with me, guys. This is Oh, I was talking about beliefs. And last year at Tribe, Lee gave me a word.
Well, he gave the body a word, but it was definitely funny. And he said, the Lord is like putting a water hose into your brain. And I love the brain. It fascinates me how the lord has designed it and heals it and Lee said, the lord is putting a water hose in your in your mind and he wants to wash away the lies of the enemy and he wants to flush it with truth and that changed my life that day because when I got saved at 12, I also was given a thorn in the flesh that I just got delivered of this year. Praise god.
And and it started when we was saying that word of god flushing mine and bringing, flushing me with living water in the new pathways of my brain. And he said, you're gonna have to walk it out. You're gonna have to stand in the truth. You're gonna have to speak it over yourself. So I've been doing that all year, and he's changed my life.
And this year, when I saw the waterfall and it was going through all the rocks, the Lord said, let me fill you up. And as I do, I'm gonna wash out the debris of the lies the enemy has stuck in you. Because my parents, that happened when I was a kid. Even though I got saved at 12 and had my new life at 48, I'm still sad that my parents aren't celebrating me. That's stupid.
Right? But but I had to remind myself like the Israelites, they saw the miracles of god. Yet, in their circumstance of feeling unloved and forgotten, they forgot. Right? And they wanted to die and that's where I would go.
I just wanna die. I can't do this anymore, Lord. It's too hard. And so it just all tied together to me that it's our beliefs. And I felt like the Lord said this is for you guys too.
So he gave it to me but as you worship, Lissa, I just feel like he wants to pour his living water through our minds and refresh and and wash out the lies the enemy has lied to us about our beliefs that we've gotten since we were 13 and then bullied and made fun of. He wants to wash away the lies and tell us today what his truth is about us.
I don't know if you guys have these in your seventh grade middle school science classes, but they had the like or even high school, like that emergency like water eye station. If you got some chemicals in your eyes or whatever, and you'd literally just like lean over and just get blasted by these faucets or whatever right into your eyes. And I just I just I just feel that over our beliefs today. It is not comfortable. You think about how it feels to get shampoo in your eye, just getting blasted straight water to the eyes.
Lord, help us to see clearly. Help us to see our beliefs for what they really are. Help us to take the log out of our own eyes before pointing out the speck in others, Lord. Wash us. Make us clean.
We pray the prayer of Solomon, Lord. Give us wisdom. Help us to know and help us to find you, that Jesus hook, that firm foundation. Help us to walk the straight and the narrow.
How about we just invite him, just with your eyes closed, just invite him just like Julie said, just to come and wash whatever those lies. Maybe there's areas where you've hung your hat that he needs to just wash clean and you need to start with a clean slate and ask him, okay, Lord. I surrender this area, this thought to you today. And just let him pour out his spirit. Just wash your mind today.
Just give him permission today.
Led the Israelites into the promised land. He gave them a choice, just like God gives us the choice. In chapter 24 verse 15, he says, but if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose yourselves. Choose yourselves this day whom you will serve. Whether your gods whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in the land that you were living, your old life or or those other friends that you think are cooler than the ones that are at church.
Choose choose who who you wanna serve. He's not gonna force you. But then he says, but as for me and for my house, we will serve the Lord. Brian, if you wanna come out and close this out.
Such a good word, Jay. Thank you.
We're gonna worship the lord one more way this morning before we get you out of here, and that's with a portion of our finances. We worship the war the Lord this morning through song and pouring out our hearts to him, talking to him, allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in front of him as if you can really, like, fake fake it in front of him and fool him. We worship the lord by honoring the word that was preached, and the last way that we'll worship the lord this morning before we get you out of here is by bringing a portion of our tithes and offering to tribe. And so there are a couple of ways that you can give. One of them is through cash or a check, and there's a little little box tucked back there.
Ella is pointing to it. So you can drop that there. It's also a good spot to drop that connect card that you've been sitting on. If you would take just a moment, if you're new or passing through, or you're looking for a church to call home, we would love to have a record of your visit. There's also an opportunity on the back there for prayer requests.
So if there's anything that you need prayer for, on at staff meeting on Mondays, we take those prayer requests. We take them seriously. We lift them up for the lord before the lord on your behalf. Speaking of prayer, when we dismiss, I'm gonna invite Lanisha and Micas family to be in the back here. If there's anything that you need prayer for, they would love to agree with you in prayer and pray with you and pray for you.
Another way that you can give is by going to our website, tribejh.com in the upper right hand corner. There's a little tab there that says give. You can give that way. But a lot of people are generous, and they tell the Lord, I love you, and I trust you with my finances by being generous through their smartphone. And it's really easy if you open up a new text message to 84321.
Yep. It's been a while since I've set the number. I have it in my phone as a contact for Tribe Tithes, but you can send a new text message with a dollar amount. If it's the first time that you're giving, you'll be sent a quick link that you can enter your bank card information. After that, it's as easy as texting a friend.
Why don't I pray over the tithes and offering this morning, and then I'll share just a couple of quick announcements with you. Oh, goodness. Lord, how we love you. The one hook that will never ever ever disappoint our financial portfolio when we trust you with our finances. Lord, thank you for a tribe fam that is so generous with their finances.
God, I ask that you would measure back to them all that they pour out financially and that you would supply all of their needs according to your riches and glory. God, as you receive these tithes and offerings, would you use them to make your name famous here at Tribe, in Jackson Hole, the surrounding region, and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. We pray these things in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. The Lord bless your giving this morning. Let me check my phone for make sure I get all of the announcements.
Number one, tomorrow on Monday, we're gonna do a tribe mountain adventures trip, TMA event, and we're going paddle boarding up at String Lake. We're going to leave from the TMC. So we only meet here on Sundays, but the TMC stands for tribe ministry center. You can go to our website, tribejh.com, and find out the address. It's kind of on the South end of town or near Smith's and near Hull Grocer.
You can find the address there. We're going to meet at 1PM. We'll all hop in the tribe bus, which is a really fun experience of itself. Sure. Sure.
You've never ridden on a bus before.
Yeah. Small bus.
And
we'll load up paddle boards and tubes and stuff. If you need a paddle board or some aquatic flotation device, you can either rent something or see Lanisha after service. Lanisha, where are you? Oh, there. She's right here.
I've been looking at you all service. There you are. So that's happening tomorrow at 1PM. We'll be back by 5PM. Second thing is this coming Saturday, there's going to be a ladies hike up Table Mountain.
We'll start early Saturday morning. We'll meet at the TMC at 7AM. Hop on the tribe bus. It's about five miles out, five miles back, 10 mile round about
there. It's steep, y'all.
It's steep. Those are all of the announcements that I have for you. Would you please stand up? Would it be alright if I prayed over you? Don't forget, there's prayer in the back.
I hope you have an amazing eye blasting Jesus hat hook hanging incredible week here in Jackson, whether you live here or you are just passing through. Lord Jesus, I pray for my tribe fam, and I command a blessing over their life, Lord. Reveal yourself in new and astonishing and incredible ways that you are the most worthy hook that we could hang any of our beliefs on. Yes. That you are trustworthy.
And father, according to New Testament, I can't remember if it's first or second Timothy, We are admonished to pray for all different kinds of people, those in leadership over us. Father, we pray for our government leaders and the institution of our government. Jesus, to the extent that we have turned our back on you, God, I ask that we would turn again towards you, that our nation would repent and seek your face, Lord. We trust you. We trust you.
We trust you. We pray for the safety and prosperity of all of our leaders, Lord. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. I love you guys so very much.
Have a great week. And remember, Ryan, you got this.
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