read aloud: Jerusalem made like an intoxicating drink that staggers nations, and an immovable rock all nations gather against
1 A revelation, Yahweh’s word concerning Israel. Yahweh, who stretches out the heavens, and lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him says:
2 “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of reeling to all the surrounding peoples, and it will also be on Judah in the siege against Jerusalem.
3 It will happen in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples. All who burden themselves with it will be severely wounded, and all the nations of the earth will be gathered together against it.
enemies mock Israel rebuilding the wall, saying even a fox would topple it
1 But when Sanballat heard that we were building the wall, he was angry, and was very indignant, and mocked the Jews.
2 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?”
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.”
4 “Hear, our God; for we are despised; and turn back their reproach on their own head, give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity;
5 don’t cover their iniquity, and don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
6 So we built the wall; and all the wall was joined together to half its height: for the people had a mind to work.
7 But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem went forward, and that the breaches began to be filled, they were very angry;
8 and they all conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem, and to cause confusion among us.
9 But we made our prayer to our God, and set a watch against them day and night, because of them.
10 Judah said, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is fading, and there is much rubble; so that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see, until we come in among them and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”
12 When the Jews who lived by them came, they said to us ten times from all places, “Wherever you turn, they will attack us.”
13 Therefore I set guards in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in the open places. I set the people by family groups with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 I looked, and rose up, and said to the nobles, to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, “Don’t be afraid of them! Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and God had brought their counsel to nothing, all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work.
16 From that time forth, half of my servants did the work, and half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows, and the coats of mail; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.
17 Those who built the wall, and those who bore burdens loaded themselves; everyone with one of his hands did the work, and with the other held his weapon.
18 Among the builders, everyone wore his sword at his side, and so built. He who sounded the trumpet was by me.
19 I said to the nobles, and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally there to us. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we did the work. Half of the people held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared.
22 Likewise at the same time said I to the people, “Let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and may labor in the day.”
23 So neither I, nor my brothers, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes. Everyone took his weapon to the water.
messianic promise given after the curse: from the seed of the woman a savior would come
1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?’”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden,
3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’”
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die,
5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate; and she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too.
7 Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves.
8 They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
9 Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 Yahweh God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed above all livestock, and above every animal of the field. You shall go on your belly and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.
15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said, “I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bear children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”
17 To Adam he said, “Because you have listened to your wife’s voice, and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ the ground is cursed for your sake. You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.
18 It will yield thorns and thistles to you; and you will eat the herb of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living.
21 Yahweh God made coats of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.
22 Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—”
23 Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.
spiritual beings took daughters of Adam and created hybrid offspring, men of renown
1 When men began to multiply on the surface of the ground, and daughters were born to them,
2 God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
3 Yahweh said, “My Spirit will not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; so his days will be one hundred twenty years.”
4 The Nephilim were in the earth in those days, and also after that, when God’s sons came in to men’s daughters and had children with them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
5 Yahweh saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was continually only evil.
6 Yahweh was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart.
7 Yahweh said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the surface of the ground—man, along with animals, creeping things, and birds of the sky—for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in Yahweh’s eyes.
9 This is the history of the generations of Noah: Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time. Noah walked with God.
10 Noah became the father of three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11 The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12 God saw the earth, and saw that it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
13 God said to Noah, “I will bring an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them and the earth.
14 Make a ship of gopher wood. You shall make rooms in the ship, and shall seal it inside and outside with pitch.
15 This is how you shall make it. The length of the ship shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16 You shall make a roof in the ship, and you shall finish it to a cubit upward. You shall set the door of the ship in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third levels.
17 I, even I, do bring the flood of waters on this earth, to destroy all flesh having the breath of life from under the sky. Everything that is in the earth will die.
18 But I will establish my covenant with you. You shall come into the ship, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
19 Of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ship, to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female.
20 Of the birds after their kind, of the livestock after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every sort will come to you, to keep them alive.
21 Take with you some of all food that is eaten, and gather it to yourself; and it will be for food for you, and for them.”
22 Thus Noah did. He did all that God commanded him.
demon cries out have you come to torment us, Jesus, son of the most high God
1 He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered.
2 They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him.
3 He said to the man who had his hand withered, “Stand up.”
4 He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?” But they were silent.
5 When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
6 The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7 Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples, and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea,
8 from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him.
9 He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him.
10 For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him.
11 The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, “You are the Son of God!”
12 He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.
13 He went up into the mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.
14 He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach,
15 and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16 Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17 James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
18 Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Then he came into a house.
20 The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21 When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him: for they said, “He is insane.”
22 The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”
23 He summoned them, and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can’t stand, but has an end.
27 But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder, unless he first binds the strong man; and then he will plunder his house.
28 Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme;
29 but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
30 —because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.
32 A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”
33 He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
34 Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!
35 For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
God chose Israel not for their size or perfection but simply because he loves them and keeps his covenant
6 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God. Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
7 Yahweh didn’t set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples:
8 but because Yahweh loves you, and because he desires to keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, Yahweh has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
9 Know therefore that Yahweh your God himself is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations,
light shining in darkness, yoke of slavery broken, child born to us called wonderful counselor mighty God everlasting father prince of peace
1 But there shall be no more gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time, he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali; but in the latter time he has made it glorious, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.
2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who lived in the land of the shadow of death, on them the light has shined.
3 You have multiplied the nation. You have increased their joy. They rejoice before you according to the joy in harvest, as men rejoice when they divide the plunder.
4 For the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as in the day of Midian.
5 For all the armor of the armed man in the noisy battle, and the garments rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6 For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Week three of the "Hanging Your Hat on God's Truth" series took aim at one of the most contested questions in the news and in the church: what do you actually believe about Israel, and where did that belief come from? Brian walked the congregation through the book of Zechariah and a handful of other passages to argue that Israel is not a topic Christians can ignore or dismiss, and that the most popular narratives about Israel are not automatically the most true.
What was said
The series has been building on one central image: every belief you hold is like a hat, and wherever you hang it, that hook had better be strong enough to hold it. Brian has been calling this "the principle of the biggest hook," the idea that the most compelling narrative in a room tends to collect the most hats, but popularity and truth are not the same thing. The congregation was asked to be honest about where their Israel hat had been hanging before and after October 7.
Brian opened Zechariah 12 and had someone read verses one through three aloud. Two images in the text got extended attention. The first was Jerusalem as an intoxicating drink that makes the surrounding nations stagger, which Brian linked to the moment in John's gospel when Roman soldiers and temple guards came to arrest Jesus, said they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, and he answered "I am he," and they fell backward. The second image was Jerusalem as an immovable rock that will injure anyone who tries to move it.
Three popular narratives about Israel were named and laid side by side. The first is that Israel is a colonizing, apartheid state oppressing innocent Palestinian people. The second is that the conflict in the Middle East is ancient and irrelevant, something to scroll past or set aside while on vacation. The third comes from within the church: the idea that God has withdrawn his covenant from Israel and transferred it entirely to the Gentile church, so whatever happens to Israel is no longer the church's concern. Brian described all three as compelling hooks that cannot actually bear the weight of a biblically informed belief.
To explain why Israel has been a target of persecution for thousands of years, Brian traced what the Bible says about Satan's origin and motivation. A once-glorious created being, positioned close to the throne and responsible for worship, let pride drive him to attempt to take the throne for himself, was cast out, and became what Brian called a vandal. Because he could not create anything of his own, his only move has been to destroy what God has made. When God chose Israel as the people through whom the Messiah would come, a promise first made in Genesis 3, Satan's hostility toward that specific nation and that specific piece of land had a clear target. Every wave of persecution since, Brian argued, from Egypt to Babylon to Rome to the death camps of Europe, has that same root.
Deuteronomy 7 and Isaiah 9 were read to show that God's choice of Israel was never based on Israel's merit or size, but purely on his own faithfulness to his covenant. The Isaiah passage, with its promise of a great light in Galilee and the child born whose government will have no end, was offered both as a text pointing forward to Jesus and as a word for anyone in the room carrying a personal burden. The "yes and" Brian used was deliberate: the passage was for Israel in captivity, it points to Christ, and it has a future literal fulfillment still ahead.
Matthew 21:44 closed the argument. Israel is a stone in the path and every person has to decide what to do with it. Brian said you can pretend it is not there, you can try to roll it out of the way and hurt yourself, or you can fall on the rock, meaning Jesus, and let him shatter whatever preconceived framework you brought with you. The invitation was not to adopt a political position but to pray honestly: Lord, look at where I have been hanging my Israel hat, and tell me if it belongs there.
The service ended with a direct announcement tied to the message. Tribe is hosting the monthly town-square gathering in support of Israel that has been meeting in Jackson since October 7. Brian invited the congregation to come to the town square at 5 PM that same afternoon, where he planned to hand out printed passages from the Old Testament for people to read aloud publicly, having submitted them in advance to the Jewish organizers for approval. He said it would cost something to show up on a packed summer afternoon, and he asked people to consider whether that was where God was calling them to be.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
Show up to the gathering on the town square at 5 PM today to stand with the Jewish community in support of Israel.
Open Zechariah 12 and cross-reference it with the Gospel of John passage where the soldiers fall back, then write the address in the margin so the connection stays with you.
Pray the specific prayer Brian suggested: ask Jesus to look at the hat rack of your life and show you where you have been hanging your Israel hat, and whether it belongs there.
Look up Deuteronomy 7:6-9 and Isaiah 9:1-7 this week and sit with what those passages say about God's commitment to Israel and how that might mirror his commitment to you.
Pick one time this week that you would normally fill with a screen or a scroll, and spend it with God instead, letting Nancy's honest moment in worship be the nudge.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Brian talked about the principle of the biggest hook, the idea that the most compelling narrative is usually the one people hang their beliefs on. Can you think of a time when you moved your hat from one hook to another on any subject, and what caused you to move it?
Nancy shared that she spent a day at home watching a Lifetime movie instead of seeking God, and said the conviction she felt came down to how she managed her time with him. Where do you feel that same tension in your own life, and what does it actually look like when you do make time for him?
Brian continuo la serie "Colgando tu sombrero en la verdad de Dios", esta vez enfocandose en Israel. Uso la imagen de un sombrero y un gancho para hablar de como cada persona tiene creencias sobre Israel, y que esas creencias estan "colgadas" en algun lugar, ya sea que uno lo reconozca o no. Presento tres narrativas populares: que Israel es un estado opresor y colonizador, que el conflicto en el Medio Oriente no nos afecta y no vale la pena preocuparse por el, y que Dios ya aparto su mano de Israel y la reemplazo con la iglesia gentil. Luego fue desmontando cada una de estas narrativas a la luz de las Escrituras.
Brian explico que la persecucion contra Israel no es nueva ni accidental. Desde el libro de Nehemias hasta el dia de hoy, siempre ha habido voces que ridiculizan y atacan a Israel. Detras de esa hostilidad, dijo, hay una razon espiritual profunda: Satanas sabe que Israel es el pueblo por medio del cual Dios revelo su pacto y envio al Mesias, y por eso ha intentado destruirlos durante miles de anos. Uso Zacarias 12 para mostrar que Jerusalem sera como una piedra inamovible para todas las naciones, y que quienes intenten moverla solo se haran dano a si mismos.
Al final, Brian invito a la congregacion a "caer sobre la roca", es decir, acercarse a Jesus con humildad y pedirle que forme en cada uno una teologia biblica sobre Israel, en lugar de depender de narrativas culturales o de conveniencia. Tambien invito a todos a unirse ese mismo dia a las 5pm en la plaza del pueblo para una reunion mensual de apoyo a Israel, donde miembros de la iglesia leerian pasajes del Antiguo Testamento en voz alta junto a la comunidad judia local.
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Pasajes biblicos mencionados:
Zacarias 12:1-3
Nehemias 4
Deuteronomio 7:6-9
Isaias 9:1-7
Mateo 21:44
Genesis 3
Genesis 6
Apocalipsis (mencionado en contexto de "aquel dia")
Read the full transcript11,465 words
Together and worship. I'm gonna pray for us as we get started. Lord, we invite your presence in this place. That's what we came here for today. Whether we knew it or not, Lord, that's what we're longing for.
Thank you that there's no place that we can escape your love this morning no matter how far we've been away from you or how close you're here today. So come and change us this morning as we worship, as we dig into your word. We long to leave through those swinging saloon doors changed today because we met with you Jesus. You are worthy of this time, you're worthy of this worship. We give you all the praise and all the glory in Jesus name, amen.
Well, welcome. If you're a visitor and you're just strolling through, we're so glad to have you. This is Tribe, worship freely. Let's do this.
Jesus, it's your love. Your love. Oh, no
your
place I would rather be.
Did you just cry out to him this morning? What is it that you need this morning? Maybe he's calling you this morning to repentance. Maybe as you're entering into his presence, he's bringing to the surface some sin that he longs for you to be. Set free from the burden of.
Ask for forgiveness this morning. Invite him to draw close to you today. Just take a minute just before him, just between you and him this morning. Just talk to him from your heart today. Invite him to pour out his spirit in a mighty way right now.
Oh, we're crying now, Lord. See our weary hearts here. See our weary souls, yeah. Come with living water and pour it out.
Just hold your hands before him if you want to receive. Just as a symbol, Lord, I'm here. I know you see me.
What
fruit of his spirit today do you need more of to walk more in?
Oh, it's available. Maybe it's self control.
Speak the name of Jesus over your life today. Powerful name of Jesus. Anyone needs strongholds broken off today? If you're in this room today and there's a stronghold that you just need someone to come alongside you this morning and lay a hand on you as we just sing this, just raise your hands up high and people will surround you and we'll just pray in agreement with what the Lord has for you, wherever the enemy's got you bound up today. We'll just pray in agreement.
So just raise your hands right now if you need someone to circle around you. Lay a hand here. Chris is on it. Anyone else? We're gonna agree.
Let's just put our faith together. Let's just declare the power of Jesus in this place right now to break strongholds.
Just surrender to him today and set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, I can't control. I want more of you, God. I want more of you God. That's the
key to not try to control what he's trying to set you free from. Even though it might seem scary because it's all you know. The Lord is saying, where do you really put your trust? It's really an issue of trust this morning. He is the most trustworthy of them all.
Heal our broken hearts today Give us your mind Jesus. No place I would rather be. No place I would rather be. Yeah. No place I would rather be.
Then here in your love. Here in your love. No place I would rather Don't be in a hurry. No place I would rather want more of God. Want more of you, God.
Oh, that's our prayer this morning.
Come, come, and fill us up. We know that you always have more for us. There's no end to you, to what you're teaching us, how you're refining us through every trial and every tribulation, through every joy. We long to see your glory in it. We long to see your glory and to glorify you with our lives.
No matter what pit we might find ourselves in. Lord, we say to you be the glory, to you be the glory as we lean into you and not our own understanding. It's never too late to surrender, to surrender more. So Lord, that's what we do this morning. We just ask Lord, show us anything in us that would keep us from being intimate with you, feeling your presence, hearing your sweet tender voice.
And like a good good father come, pull out those weeds, show us where we need to repent. We tell
you we love you Jesus.
Come as we dig into your word today by your spirit. Come. We ask for a spirit of revelation today. Maybe scripture we've heard or read a 100 times, Lord, make it come alive today because it is living and it is active and sharper than any two double edged sword this morning. Let's just stay in this place for just one more second.
Let him speak to you. Here at Tribe, we like this to be a conversation. This might be new to you, but we believe that the Lord speaks to all of us, not just the person on the stage. And maybe during worship, the Lord might put a picture or a word on your heart that's for this body today. And we have a livestream and we have a handheld mic in the room.
If the Lord's put something on your heart to share, I know some of our core tribe family in here, the Lord will speak to them in a picture or word for someone during worship and we we welcome that here, that tribe. Cat has the handheld. If the Lord's put something on your heart for this body today, just slip your hand up. We'll just be wait here just another minute. There'll be opportunities to also share during the message.
But Nancy, Nancy's got some. And just ask the Lord if he's speaking to you. Is that for me or is that for this body today? You know, as
we're singing this, I want
more of you. You're on.
It's not it's me. I'm the problem. You know, I I I was at home all day yesterday. I was at home all day yesterday, and I didn't do anything for him. I didn't seek him.
I didn't spend time with him. I watched a Lifetime movie. How sad is that? But yet I stand here and I sing I want more of you. Well, I've gotta change.
You know? And I do want more of him. And I'm just sitting here praying, God help me manage my time. Because we've got time, but we've gotta make it work. So shame on Nancy.
In that Lifetime movie, didn't
do anything. No shame on you, Nancy.
It was shame on me.
Conviction on you, Nancy.
Conviction, shame, whatever you wanna
call it.
But it's up to us whether we get more of
him or not. That's good. Nancy, pray that over anybody.
For the Jesus. Yes. First of all, forgive me, Lord, for not managing my time more wisely. Lord, I do want more of you in my life, and we all need more of you in our life. How can we expect to hear your voice or to know the direction you want us to go in, Lord, if we don't spend time with you?
Jesus, please convict every heart in here today because you've already slapped me. And father, I just I'm believing that we're all gonna leave here more convicted, Lord, and more determined to seek you than we have been. Thank you, father, in your blessed name. Amen. Amen.
Well, with that, fill up your coffee, grab a delicious treat that Nancy and Clay brought today, and then get your bible out and let's dig into God's word. Greet somebody. Say good morning.
No. It's good. Do what? Well, you thought you had a seat, buddy? Good morning.
Great to see all of y'all. Every week, there are a good number of faces that I see that either I haven't seen ever, and I'm so glad that you found us in a bar. Hopefully, you're in the bar for this purpose instead of thinking that the bar just opened early today. There are some faces that I see in here that I get to see occasionally, like during the summer, and so glad that you are back with us for a few weeks. And then, of course, the most beautiful faces belong to those that we get to see week in and week out because you are locals and you're part of our tribe fam.
Whether you're brand new or you come all the time, we like to say this frequently, tribe is a lot like Olive Garden. If you're here, you're family. So make yourself at home. We have several unique distinctives about our tribe fam. One of them, you've found out we meet in a bar.
Another unique distinctive about our tribe fam is I don't want today's message to be a monologue, but I really would like it to be a dialogue. I welcome your input to help me, to help us preach this message. I want this to be a conversation. I don't know that you've ever sat in a church before where the guy with the microphone on the stage has said, let's do this together. I wanna hear from you.
But it's the first time for everything. So here's how it works. Here at Tribe, as we get into the content of today's message, if you have a question oh, look at that. Thank you, my sweet, sweet baby. If you have a question about, like, what we're talking about, like, wait a minute.
Will you mow over that grass one more time in a different way? If you have a comment, like, oh, wow. What we're talking about reminds me of something else that you've just read or come across. I wanna hear it. Or if you have, like, like, a connection, like, there's a hyperlink that's going off in your brain about something that we're talking about that relates to something else, I want to hear it.
Questions, comments, and connections. And as Lisa just said, we have a lot of families, especially families this weekend that are traveling. So they're tuned in to the livestream. And if you were to just, like, raise your hand and say your comment, then people on the livestream would miss out on the benefit of being able to hear what you have to say. And so all you need to do is raise your hand, and Kat has a mic so that we can hear your voice in the room and so that all of our livestream families get to hear you as well.
With that in mind, we're going to continue a series of conversations that we've been having about this idea of hanging your hat. Could I get my prop, please? And will you just maybe put it right here for me?
Woo hoo. Anything else, my love?
I will let you know, my love. Inevitably, there will be at least several more things that I need besides your laser like focus and laughing at all of my jokes. Okay. Thank you. So we've been in a series of conversations that I'm titling hanging your hat on god's truth.
And we have been talking about this idea of when a person has a belief this is the the analogy that I that I saw in my mind's eyes. If you think of the sum total of beliefs that you have about anything, and the sum total of your beliefs about everything would be considered your worldview. But for for instance, the sum total of what you think about any one subject or specific topic, like, just say politics, for example. The sum total of your belief on the philosophy of politics could be represented by, like, a baseball hat. Now where you hang that hat is what we've been talking about.
And we've used some fun, like like, easy examples, like, what do you believe about Sasquatch? Oh, was that a hand? Did you you really wanted to share. What do you believe about Sasquatch? Fictional, like, I don't know, my uncle saw him one time like, whatever.
All your beliefs about Sasquatch would be would be represented by, like, a baseball hat. Now what you believe and where you hang it, mythical, real, transdimensional, spiritual beings spying on us humans Okay. I'm seeing some, like, like, nods. Alright. Alright.
We could be same frequency. Where you what you believe about that is where you hang your hat. And then we've been talking about the principle of the biggest hook. For those of you how many for how many of you that that phrase is familiar to you? The principle of the biggest hook.
Not because you haven't heard it out there because you haven't heard it out there, but we've been talking about it for several weeks. How many of you are like, alright. Yes. Gotcha. I've heard that before, the principle of the biggest hook.
Okay. Good. Now who would be brave enough to take a to take a shot at explaining to the rest of us in your own words, what is the principle of the biggest hook? In your own words, who would wanna take a crack at at what when I say that phrase, what do I mean? This is really more of a reflection on me.
Oh. Alright, Phil.
Okay. The biggest hook is the biggest, shiniest hook around in the room, and everybody wants to put their things on that hook because it's the most popular, it's the coolest, it's the thing that's going to hold whatever you want to hang on it the best rather than some flimsy toothpick but it's like a big sturdy metal hook or it's just a big hook. People like to hang their stuff on it. So like for example that you gave last time was like hanging your hook on like what you think of the moon landing. And so like everybody's like okay the moon landing is real or the moon landing is fake.
It's like that's the big hook that everybody wants to put it on. So that's kind of the way I interpret it.
Okay. You're you're you're doing really good. You're on the you're on the right track. So if a hat is a belief, then then a hook is is a narrative that lines up the most closely with our belief. And the principle of the biggest hook is usually the most compelling narrative will get your belief.
And that that's that's a great example. We've used really safe, easy, fun examples. Moon landing, Sasquatch. Just shout out and tell me, like, what would be another fun, really safe, silly. The Easter bunny.
Oh, Easter bunny. Where yeah. Where you hang your hat on the Easter bunny? How about aliens? Reverse reverse engineer tech that that, like, some American shadow government only has access to to zap passenger planes in and out of oh, I'm losing some folks.
I'm pull the curtain. Did you have your what were you gonna say? Oh. We went from Easter money to climate change. Oh my gosh.
Oh my gosh. You people. So so let let's use because I'm not taking a stand on any of those things. I'm just using them as examples. So calm down.
Don't let your religious undies get all bunched up. Oh, there's another one. Like, can can the pastor say religious undies in church? Were you gonna hang your hat there? Oh, I don't care.
That's a great one. Let's use climate change for for as an example. Where do you hang your hat on climate change? And that is a great example of of an illustration of this principle. Usually, the most compelling narrative is the biggest hook that most people are invited to hang their hat on.
Now I'm not making a value judgment on climate change at all, but I'll say this. The most compelling narrative isn't always true. And as we started this series, we talk we read a passage from the Old Testament that talked about god was through the prophet Isaiah was speaking words of judgment against an elected official in the, like, upper leadership of the king in the nation of Israel. And he said, he said, I'm gonna remove you from a from that position, and I'm going to install someone else. And then he used a a metaphor, and he said, lie.
I will I he will be like, similar metaphor, a strong peg that I will drive into the wall, and he will be able to shoulder a lot of responsibility. Your beliefs about anything especially very serious matters and matters of faith. God places so much value in you as an individual. He values your beliefs. And the desire of his heart is that none of the beliefs where you would hang your hat would be hung on a peg that cannot bear the weight of your belief.
Your belief is too valuable and important. He the desire of god's heart is that you would hang your hat on any number of beliefs only on a a hook or peg that would be strong enough to support that belief. Because how many of you know? And you don't need to raise your hand. Every single hook that you have hung your beliefs.
How about how about sex before marriage? How about homosexuality? How about Jesus as not just a great teacher, but an actual man who who lived in history and who was simultaneously fully human and fully god, who died on a Roman cross. Where do you hang your belief there? Myth, something that my parents taught, learned in Sunday school, or have you hung your hat on I've met him?
And there's nothing that you can say. No compelling narrative other than he is alive and he is real and he has saved me from my sin and washed me in the precious blood that he shed on Calvary. You can to use a climbing phrase, you can yard on that all day long, and it's a bomber hold. So we've been talking. We've been talking about various aspects, various hooks that that are relevant to us as as a society and as culture today.
Before we get into today's conversation, let me just check-in with you to see if would you have any clarifying statements to add to what we've been talking about for, like, a moment or two, or would you have any questions that you would like me to to help you understand? I want you to be able to really grab a hold of what we're talking about.
You just brought up the concept of an experience that you can't deny. Alright? And I think the scripture that comes to heart for me is they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony. You can hang your hat on your testimony no matter what anybody compels you to think otherwise.
So good. Other thoughts? Questions? If you have your bible with you this morning, would you turn to the book of Zechariah? While you're turning to the book of Zechariah, at the top of your notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation.
We're in week three of this conversation, and we're going to talk about Israel, a stone in the path. You can write the title of that conversation down. Israel, a stone in the path. Zechariah chapter 12, and Kat will hand you the mic. And would somebody please read out loud verses two through excuse me.
One yeah. I have one and two right there. Yep. Let's see. Hold on.
Yes. Let's read one through three.
This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord. This message is from the Lord who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicated Okay.
Hold on. Don't read it like a telephone book. You're doing great.
Sorry. Sorry.
Just just
Okay. Okay. Okay.
Like a delicious
This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord. This message is from the Lord who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nations stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. On that day, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock. All the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only hurt themselves.
Alright. On that day so when you hear that phrase in the Old Testament, you hear it you you hear it used in several different versions to just give you a little bit of context. Alright? On that day, on the day of judgment, on that great day, sometimes you hear on that the great and terrible day, but there's several different versions of this of the same theme so that whenever you read that in the Old Testament and you see it in the book of Revelation in the New Testament, that should that should make a little bell in your head go off. Ah, god is talking about an ultimate real an ultimate experiential reality or fulfillment of that phrase.
There can be types and shadows and partial fulfillments. For example, after the seventy years of captivity in Babylon when Israel comes back into the land on that day, when I deliver Israel, there is a partial fulfillment, and some of those partial fulfillments we've already seen in history, but I just want you to make a little mental note in your brain. Whenever you hear that phrase, you can always look forward to a future literal fulfillment of that passage. And in fact, that's what we have here in Zechariah. Verse three, on the or let's go to verse two.
I will make Jerusalem like, he's using a metaphor here, an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nation stagger. Oh, quick pause. Stagger. Does anybody have a New Testament hyperlink that goes off in their brain when they hear this idea of stagger has to do with Jesus. Stagger, your hand's about to go up.
Stumble, lose your footing. Help me. Just say it. Oh, he is the cornerstone. Yes.
Yes. But there's there's a moment that let me let me see who might have the same hyperlink in their brain. Just shout it out. Okay. Okay.
Alright. Well, we are kinda wanna we are kinda one of those churches, y'all. Be not drunk on the wine. Instead, be filled with the holy spirit. Okay?
So that's in the New Testament. I'm thinking about a a an actual Jesus moment. Okay. When when he when he stumbles, so that's in the film, the passion of the Christ. We don't have anything in the text that says that he lost his footing.
Although he is tired and Joseph of Arama a man named Joseph of Cyrene comes to carry his cross because he's he's worn out and tired. Okay. Okay. We're getting a little closer there. Stagger.
Stumble. Lose your footing to fall down, to fall back. There we go. There we go. In the Garden Of Gethsemane, when the Roman soldiers and the temple guards come to confront, we're here for Jesus of Nazareth, and he says, now now this is your chance.
You can't fall down because you're already sitting, but just, like, lean back dramatically for me. But not yet. You gotta wait for the moment. We're here for Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus steps forward and says, I am he.
Now some of y'all weren't playing along, so I'll give you another chance. The Roman soldiers step forward. Remember, he's been betrayed by a kiss from Judas, and they're like, we're here for Jesus of Nazareth. He stepped forward and says, I'm the one who you're looking for. I am he.
Oh. It's there there is an intended literary hyperlink there. I have placed Jerusalem. I have made Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nation stagger. When they encounter Jerusalem, when the Roman soldiers and the temple guards encountered the man Jesus with his words, I am he.
They lost their footing. Because Well, I won't tell you why. You tell me why. Why did they lose their footing? They had their beliefs about Jesus hung on the wrong foot, on the wrong peg.
I said that you tell me, and then I just told you. Sorry. I got too excited. Are you seeing that connection now? Is there a little hyperlink, like, forming?
I will I will make so you can so here's what you do. You look up that passage in the gospel of John, find its address, and then you flip back to Zechariah, and then you put that address there so that next time you're reading Zechariah and you come across that, you'll see that that verse in the New Testament, and that will help solidify that that connection in your brain. I will make Jerusalem like an intoxicating drink that makes the nearby nation stagger when they send their armies to besiege Jerusalem and Judah. Then he uses another another analogy. On that day uh-oh.
Should be another hyperlink thinking about the the great and terrible day of judgment, the return of Jesus. I will make Jerusalem like an immovable rock. All of the nations will gather against it to try to move it, but they will only jack their back. As we read just a moment ago, god has placed Israel like a large stone in the path of the nations. Every single nation and every single person, including everyone under the sound of my voice this morning, whether you're gathered in this room, watching the livestream, or or are listening to the podcast at a later date, Israel is a stone in your path.
And every individual must negotiate, navigate this stone. Some very popular narratives out there. What's the sum total of your beliefs, your thoughts on Israel? Where do you hang your hat when it comes to the land, the people, and the city of the great king? And let's be honest.
There's probably a really large number of you that's like, I I mean, I I don't know. I haven't even I don't think of Israel often. I I don't know. Even if you have
a
small amount of beliefs, the sum total of your beliefs, you're hanging your hat somewhere. Let's talk about just three really popular narratives that we, as as people, are invited to hang our hats when it comes to Israel. The first popular narrative is that Israel is a brutish, colonizing, apartheid state, oppressing native, innocent Palestinian people. Very popular right now. And there is a lot of substance put forward that is compelling, that would invite a person to hang their hat on that hook.
Compelling, very compelling. There's another popular narrative, another popular shiny hook with sparkles that says, forget Israel. There's always been conflict in The Middle East. There always will be conflict in The Middle East. I've got more important things to worry about, namely movies on Lifetime or just no.
It's not directed at anybody. It's just a for instance or for example. Or, like, why would I worry about Israel when I can just keep scrolling? Why would I worry about Israel when I've got I've while I'm on vacation, and I'm here in beautiful Jackson Hole looking at the scenery and white water rafting and hiking up Cascade Canyon and and feeling and enjoying the the cool mountain air. Like, Israel's so far away from me.
Like, it's just irrelevant. It's a very, very popular narrative that people are invited to hang their hat on. It just doesn't really bother. This is they're always fighting and squabbling about something. There's another popular narrative within the church that says and it's a small minority, although popular, small minority, who hold tightly to the position that Israel has had their chance and that god has removed his hand of blessing and covenant and protection from them and it is now come to rest on us as Gentiles in the church.
And so, whatever happens to Israel is whatever happens to Israel. God has turned his back on them. And we need not concern ourselves with Israel because they are under god's mighty hand of judgment. And instead, we should be concerning ourselves with ourselves. Israel's been broken off, cast aside, forgotten by god.
And now and he has replaced Israel with the Gentile Christian church. It's a very popular narrative. And the comp there are many compelling aspects to that narrative because a person can cherry pick a good number of verses that would seem to support that narrative. So where have you hung your hat on the nation? The where have you hung your hat, the totality of your beliefs about Israel?
And since the war that broke out in on October 7, have you moved your hat from one hook to another? That would be that would be a really interesting question if we had if we were just, like, you know, sitting on my back deck in enjoying the the evening. That would be a really I would I I genuinely I genuinely would be interested to hear if you've moved your hat from one hook to another, and what's caused you to move your hat from one hook to another? Let me do this, since we can't all sit on my back porch and enjoy a conversation together. Let me do this.
And this is the this is this is a really safe question that I'll ask you. For how many of you first question. For how many of you you really didn't have a hook that you hung your beliefs on Israel until until after October 7, and now there is you would say there is a hook that you hang your hat now on. Raise your hand. Okay.
For how many of you next question. How many of you you've moved your hat from one hook to another since October 7. Alright. A few more of you. How many of you did not raise your hand on the last two questions?
Alright. Alright. You all have you all had a belief on Israel. You you all did. Maybe you were just like, I don't know.
Maybe you said it on the table. How many of you from the South and your mom or your grandma got it got after you, saying it's bad luck if you put your hat on the table? Yeah. I can see several Southern moms in here be like, well, it is.
Oh,
should do I need to ask that question? For okay. For how many of you, your your your hat didn't change hooks after October okay. There we go. Alright.
Thank you for yeah. Thank you. Alright. Alright. Interesting.
You didn't change your you didn't move your hat from one hook to another after October 7. There were a lot of hands that went up. Most of your hands went up. Okay. Wow.
Interesting. Alright. I'm not going to tell you where you need to hang your hat, but I will let god's word tell you where to hang your hat? Then the question becomes, how much do you adhere to god's word when it's only convenient, when it only lines up with where you happen to already hang your hat? Have you laid down your life, and you say, Lord, you tell me where to hang my hat about anything.
Alright. You're the you're the boss. So what is what is what is god's word said? So let's first address the popular narrative that Israel is the bad guy and that Israel is at fault. That is a narrative even though we've just seen a recent explosion of it in the media since October 7, and ever more so, it only it only builds louder and louder and louder.
Just because it's louder doesn't mean it's true. Correct. Okay. Good. You're all rational humans.
Although it's very compelling. Hang your hat here. Hang your hat here. Hang your hat here. Hang hat here.
Hang your hat here. Why don't you hang your hat here? Everybody's hanging their hat here. Look how many hats are hung here. Hang your hat here.
This narrative that Israel is the bad guy. This narrative is as old as the nation of Israel itself. There's a story in Nehemiah chapter four where exiles come back into the land that god has given them and they're rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and enemies of Israel are mocking the efforts of Israel to reestablish their sovereignty and to protect their own borders In this instance, in Nehemiah chapter four, they're building a wall, but opponents and detractors of Israel mock and scorn Israel, and they say, look at that pathetic wall. If even a, what, little animal? Yes.
Who said that? Jonathan. Very good. If even a little fox were to run on that wall, the wall would tumble and fall over and collapse in a heap of ruins. Mock and scorn and ridicule and finger pointing and name calling.
The narrative that we're hearing about Israel is not new. It's old and boring. Oh my gosh. Try something different. If even a little fox were to walk on this wall, why is Israel who are the who are you to say that you get to establish and protect your own boundaries?
That is absurd and ridiculous. Then the popular narrative that you're hearing today is as old and worn out and played out as the bible itself. But why has this narrative been perpetuated for thousands of years? Why Israel? We have to dig deep to find the taproot of why the Jews are the most persecuted people group in the history of the world.
And why the land of Israel, which is something like 8,750 square miles, the most contested piece of dirt in a totality of 57,000,000 square miles of dry ground on this ball of dirt we call Earth. By the way, 8,750 square miles is approximately point zero zero zero zero one sixth percent of the total land mass on planet Earth. And if I were to put that in perspective for you, how many of you like regular M and M's or peanut M and M's? Regular M and M's? Peanut M and M's.
Oh, a lot of oh, how about recent peanut butter M and M's? Okay. Alright. Let's do peanut butter M and M's. Okay.
If you were Braden's like, okay. I'm I'm back engaged. Oh. Oh. She likes those peanut butter M and M's.
Alright. So take your your normal large size shipping container. Can you picture that in your mind? Just a normal large shipping container. Fill it packed with peanut butter M and M's.
That would represent the total square miles of dry ground on planet Earth. Now if you were to remove the number of peanut M and M's that represented Israel, how many peanut butter M and M's would you have? That's right. A handful of 16 M and M's. 16 M and M's that don't melt in your hand but melt in your mouth.
16 of them compared to a container ship container Shipping. Shipping container full of them. Such a small piece of ground. Such a small tribe of people under persecution for thousands of years. Why?
Why? Why Israel? Some somebody go ahead. Say it one more time. God's city.
It's City of God. It's God's city. The city of God. It is the place, the geographical, physical location that the god, the creator of heaven and earth, the master of all of creation, and the lord of the entire universe has said, I have picked this piece of dirt as my home. And I have picked these people as my people.
But that still doesn't quite explain the reason for the antagonism and hostility. For thousands of years, rancor, visceral persecution poured out on these people. Could it possibly be that there's a truth here that we don't understand? Woah. Woah.
I'm asking you the question. What's the truth in that little land and those people? What is the truth in that little land and those people? Up to Chris and then back to Kate.
Could it possibly be because Satan knows that there's still so much battle that he can try and gain ground in in the hearts of people around the world?
Yeah. You're you're you're ping ping ping. I touched my nose. You're onto it. Let me hear what Kate has to say, and then we're gonna elaborate on that.
Yeah. I'm just, I'm hyperlinking this Zechariah passage with and then are talking with, almost like equating Jerusalem and Jesus and how the enemy thought when Jesus went to the cross that he had victory Yeah. And that he brought death to this man. And I feel the same way about Jerusalem. Like, the enemy is just has so much messaging and so, you know, much yeah, just set against Jerusalem because he's he's he knows that if he can keep Jerusalem under other powers, that it'll he thinks it'll thwart God's plan.
Yes. And so there's so much energy going towards that.
You you guy you guys are so on the right track. If we zoom out, We have all of the pertinent information we will ever need contained within this book, the Canon of Scripture, the Old Testament, New Testament. Although there's some deuterocanonical works that we do not take as as scripture but can shed some color and light on the great cosmic unfolding of history. That the Bible tells us that there was an angel, a cherubim, the most beautiful of all of the spiritual beings who says that his place was so close to the throne that he stood on on on coals of flaming fire that close to the throne, and he was in charge of the music. He was a choir director, directing twenty four seven praise and and and adoration towards the throne room of god.
And because he occupied such a close place and position and because he was so beautiful and because he had so many gifts and talents and there was so much favor on this being's life that all of the spiritual beings in the heavenly realm, god's big cosmic family, they're all created with free will. And pride entered into this being's heart and he's like, why should god get all the credit and all the glory? This is the this is the story from the Bible. Pride enter into his heart and then he said, well, I will, he, the Bible records one thing, but he did two things. I will ascend to the throne myself, but then from some some deuterocanonical work like extra biblical literature that we can read to see to fill in some colors and some shading that we also get a glimpse of in Genesis chapter six, that not only did he go up, he came down.
The daughters of Adam caught the eye of these spiritual beings, and they desired to have them as their own. And as they took them as their own, they created offspring that were hybrids, human part human, part spiritual. The bible says that they were men of renowned demigods, and we see that all throughout our lore, Greek, Roman mythology. And and and god said, you've stepped across the boundary line of my cosmic order. You're done and you're out.
He was cast down out of heaven into this realm, out of the presence of the stones of fire. The man whose eyes burned like fire, whose hair is white as wool, who lives in unapproachable light. And he became twisted with envy and hate and jealousy because he saw that god so loved the world. The first thing he did was create man and woman in his image. And then he placed them in a beautiful garden where he would have that fellowship with him that Satan or Lucifer has been excluded from.
And Satan became the very first vandal committing acts of vandalism because he couldn't get at god and because he had created no thing of beauty or or anything worthwhile on his own as all vandals do, all they can do is tear down and destroy and spray graffiti on other people's hard work and sacrifice and artistic beauty. He is a vandal. And his goal has been to tear at humanity and knowing what you guys have just said, Knowing that in Genesis three, when the curse was pronounced, there was also a messianic promise. The very first promise that god said, from the seed of the woman, there will come what we know of as an anointed one, Christ, a messiah, a savior. And since that time, Satan has been studying human history and human and human the human race and the family of god.
And the moment that god said among all of the other nations, I'm gonna pick this motley crew, this rabble, this this nothing special about them group of people, and I'm going to reveal myself to them. I'm going to give them my laws and my covenants. They are intended to be a kingdom of of priests that serve me and are a light unto the nations. Satan's like, oh, that's who the Messiah is gonna come through, and that's who I'm going after. And for thousands of years, Whether it has been the the Canaanites that were living in that region before god said, this is the land I'm giving you and has dogged the heel of the Israelites through pharaoh who commanded that their offspring be thrown into the Nile River through a program of systematic genocide, through Babylonian invasion, Assyrian invasion, Roman occupation, pogroms, and death camps throughout Europe.
There has been a systematic attempt to wipe out the people and the covenant of Israel because Satan is a vandal. So when so when you ask that that that beautiful question, oh, why? It is because Satan is a vandal, and all he can do is try to tear down and pollute and destroy the most beautiful of god's plans. A special people group, a messiah to come. And when Jesus came on Earth, the world didn't recognize him.
The enemy thought, oh, maybe this is he they the enemy knew even though us people didn't that that was the son of god. Remember what Jesus said? Maybe it was Mark chapter three, but I think he does it in Mark a couple of times. Like, he casts out a demon like, have you come to torment us, Jesus, son of the most high god? And he's like, shut up.
They knew. Remember the the the the the pigs on the hillside is now the time that you've come to like it's not yet. It's not yet. Because there is coming a time. Why such popular narrative inviting us to hang our hat on the nation of Israel?
It is a false narrative that Israel is the bad guy. If you're hanging your hat there, you're welcome to hang your hat anywhere you want. But I'm telling you, if you hang your hat on the narrative that Israel is the bad guy, number one, it is a false narrative. It is out of and number two, it is out of line with the entire context of scripture. And I do feel like it's that I do need to say, even though Israel, as the Bible describes it, as God's firstborn, And the children whom god first shared his covenant with, that does not mean that Israel is perfect and can do no wrong.
It's important to to say that because I don't want you to think that I'm looking at the nation of Israel with some sort of rose colored glasses. All you need to do is look at the history of Israel and their relationship with the lord to have those rose colored glasses yanked right off of your face. Turn in your bibles to Deuteronomy chapter seven, and we're gonna start to land the plane. Verses six and nine. Six through nine.
That's really small. I crammed it all up there on the screen. Deuteronomy chapter seven verse six and nine. Here is the truth. For you are a holy people who belong to the lord your god.
Of all of the people on earth, the lord your god has chosen you, the nation of Israel, to be his own special treasure. The lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you are more numerous than the other nations, because you're perfect, because you're the most moral, because because you can do no wrong. That's not what he's saying. For you are the smallest of all of the nations. Rather, it was simply that the lord loves you.
And he was keeping the oath that he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of pharaoh, king of Egypt. Understand therefore that the lord your god is indeed god. He is the faithful god who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his command. We are not excluded from this.
As people of the new covenant, we're not excluded from it at all. We get in on it. Cozy right in there. Just scooch on in. We're invited to.
But know that this was first said, and it is for Israel. Two more verses, two more places. Isaiah chapter nine. Let's turn there. I'll start reading in verse one, and we're not gonna go past verse seven.
Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulon and Naphtali will be humbled, But there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. What's that? A hyperlink to? Jesus.
That's right. Good good job. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice.
You will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder. For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. It's yes and. Is there an oppressive yoke on your shoulders today of gloom, of of spiritual oppression, of chemical depression?
This verse is for you today. It's yes and. It's for you today, and it was for Israel as they came out of bondage and bondage and captivity in Egypt. Yes. And when Israel came out from under being exiled in Babylon.
And, yes. And there is a futural a future literal fulfillment that we look forward to. My theological position is I would be a futurist. Jesus is coming back riding on the clouds with heaven. We who are alive on the Earth, we will receive resurrected bodies.
We will join him in the clouds as he returns to Earth, and then after he puts his enemies under his foot and makes them his footstool, we get to partner with him for a thousand years to renew and to rejuvenate planet Earth. All of those all of those desires that are in your heart to see justice, to see social justice, to see environmental justice, the pollution and the raping and pillaging of this planet to destroy our planet for just the greedy gobbling of our natural resources, we get to partner with the lord in renewing the earth. That's why you have those in you. Because I also believe that we very well could be living in the generation of the lord's return. It's for a future fulfillment.
You will break the oppressor's rod just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian. The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire. For a child is born to us, a son is given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. A hook that the government of the nations will rest on him, and he will be called wonderful counselor, mighty god, everlasting father, prince of peace.
His government and its peace will never end. This is a narrative that you can hang your hat on. Also, there were there there was just one more. Matthew chapter 21 verse 44. It's up on the screen.
Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls. Israel is a stone in your path. You can't try to leverage it out of the way. You can't try to lift it and put it in a nice convenient box. You will throw your back out.
The best thing that you can do when it comes to the nation of Israel is throw yourself on the rock, which is Jesus. Allow him to shatter any preconceived notions you may have about the nation of Israel, the people of the covenant, or the city of the great king, and allow him to reform a biblical theology of the nation of Israel and his covenant with those people. You will be shattered. But it is better to fall on that rock and be shattered than for you to be foolish or arrogant enough to try to lift that stone with your own strength and put it in a box category or to try to roll it out of your way. The words that I've been saying for the last fifteen, twenty seconds or so are more spiritual than practical.
Your brain might not be getting it, but my prayers that my words are piercing your spirit. What will you do with Israel? You must fall on the rock of Jesus and be shattered. You can pretend that it's not there. You can try to roll it out of the way and throw your back out, or you can fall on that rock and be shattered.
Jesus, you tell me. It's the stone that will only grow in size and in irritation to the nations of the world. It's better now to allow the Holy Spirit to help you form a biblical theology of Israel, Not a church historical perspective, not dogma. Holy Spirit, what do you want me to know about the nation of Israel and where I stand? That's what it means to fall on the rock and be shattered.
Caleb, is that making any sense? I love your honest answer. Holy Spirit, help us. This is a brave prayer to pray right now. Lord Jesus, look at the hat rack of my life and closely examine where have I been hanging my Israel hat on what hook.
Does my hat belong there, or do you need me to move it? And the surrendered heart will say, I'll hang my hat wherever you want me to, Jesus. You just take care of some business with the Lord about that. Perhaps somebody in here is thinking. It's I'm kind of with you, Brian.
Israel, okay. Okay. Maybe I should care a little bit more about Israel. But you are facing an immediate circumstance that is screaming at you, and it's important to you. Okay.
Awesome. Cool. I don't wanna devalue that or dismiss that, but I'm telling you, the subject of Israel is penultimate to, which means second tippy topest.
Second or tippy
topest? Second to tippy topest. Second to. Second to tippy topest. And everybody knows what tippy topest means.
Right? The mostest. Very good. Important thing on God's heart. The most important thing is the sacrifice of his son on the cross.
All things were created through him and by him. He's the alpha, the omega, the beginning, and the end. He created all things and sustains all things. He is the all in all. Penultimate, second tippy topist is Israel.
And if you study God's heart for Israel, you will develop a heart for Israel, and then you will see your circumstance. You will see your specific circumstance in the nation of Israel because they've been there and done all that. And you will see how God treated and loved and was patient with and delivered and poured out his affection and had to chastise many times and Israel, and you will see yourself in the story of Israel. Your love for Israel will grow. Your love for your father will grow.
Your love for Jesus as he stood on the Mount Of Olives overlooking Jerusalem and said, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I've longed to gather you. He says, the city that stones the prophets and kills the messengers, how I've longed to gather you, Israel, you Gentiles, under my wings like a hen does her chicks. But I'm struggling with sobriety. I'm struggling with with this this stigma of a divorce that hangs over my head thinking that I'm damaged goods, I'm struggling with, like, not being able to pay these medical bills that are stacking up. I'm telling you.
I'm telling you. Gaze intently upon Israel and God's love for Israel, not to idolize Israel. But you will see yourself in Israel, and you will see how God has dealt with Israel, and you will suddenly see yourself in Israel's shoes and how he loved and has provided for Israel. That's what I'm saying. Let's worship the Lord one other way.
We worship him by bringing a gift to the Lord of our vocal cords in praise and worship. Naughty naughty on you, if you were just a spectator this morning and never opened your mouth. You brought a present to the Lord of you being here and then never handed it to him. He loves to hear the sound vibrations going across your vocal cords to tell him that you love him. And he really loves it if you've had a horrible week.
So we've worshiped the Lord through song. We worshiped the Lord by honoring the word that was discussed today. You write these verses down. You take notes. You consider.
You chew on it. You memorize god's word. You listen to the wise counsel of your pastor and others. And now we're gonna worship the lord in one other way with our tithes and offerings. And when we bring a portion of our finances to the Lord, it is a very practical way of telling the Lord, I love you and I trust you.
It is a delight to the Lord's heart, and it's a delight to our leadership team. I don't see I don't see I don't look at amounts or, like, names, but I do get to see when person gives for the very first time electronically, like like and maybe you just give because you give regularly at your church and you're just passing through. Okay. Awesome. It still delights our heart.
We don't know. When we see people that give for the very first time, like, what? Are you kidding? That's just so awesome. I don't care about the dollar amount neither does the Lord.
But when we say, Lord, as a practical demonstration of my love and my trust for you, I'm gonna sacrifice a portion of my finances to give to the local church as prescribed in the New Testament. Oh, he just loves it. And so let's bring or prepare our tithes and offerings to bring to the Lord this morning. And the way that we bring them to the Lord is is a couple of ways on our website, tribejh.com, you can click the giving link. There is a a little box in the back that Ryan's pointing at.
There it is. And you can put, Bitcoins or cash or checks there. Bitcoins, are we still accepting those? Okay. You can put your bitcoins back there, but a lot of people are generous through their smartphones, and you can see instructions right here on on how to give.
In that box back there, you can also place a connect card that you've been warming with your biscuits all service. We would love to have a record of your visit. You could fill that out. If you're a young adult, you're looking to get connected into a vibrant community of Jesus loving young adults, if you fill that out and check the young adult box, we'll we'll add you to that young adult, like, group chat. If you'd like to be stay connected with our tribe fam, what we have going on throughout the summer and throughout the year, you can you can, like, check that, and we'll just add you to the text blast.
It's a way that you can stay in touch with us. If you have a prayer request, you can write that on the back, leave it in your seat, or put it in the box. On Monday at staff meetings, we go over all of these prayer requests, and we take them very seriously. Let's pray over our tithes and offerings. I'll have just a couple quick announcements, and we'll get out of here.
Lord Jesus, in the same way that you have lavished your patience and your blessings and your deliverance out on the nation and the people of Israel, today, we sit in these chairs to receive your blessing that we don't deserve. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for being gentle with us. Thank you for the jobs that we have Even if Monday comes around and we're tempted to grumble, gripe, and complain, we thank you for the jobs that we have.
We thank you for providing for us. And by way of saying we love you and we trust you, we sacrifice a portion of our finances to give back to you. God, I ask that as our tribe fam gives today, that you would that you would make note of that, and you would return to them and supply all of their needs according to your riches and glory. We pray these things in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. The Lord bless your giving today.
A couple of quick announcements. Did you send them to me? Oh, no. Oh, recap. Yeah.
That's right. Recap really quick. Man, I love being a part of this church because we do fun stuff. What we've recently done, an outdoor service last week. There was an event here in the saloon, so we did an outdoor service.
Almost a 100 people came. How many of you were at that outdoor service? Wasn't it great? Whoo. And, like, nary a distraction.
We had we set up our chairs, we had service, and then people brought food and things, and we had pizza, and we played outdoor games, and people hung out for hours and hours, and it was so fun to see all those great faces. And then after our outdoor service, we all rolled down to Flat Creek where we did a family fun float trip, set up that tent. That was a great idea that you had Put that tent right there in the water. Why am I gonna sit on the land when I can sit in the shade in the water? And we had we were running a shuttle bus, and people would float a section of Flat Creek and load up and take laps there.
So that was a a really fun time. And what else did we do? The July 4. Oh, and then this week we were in the July 4. And here's something that's really cool.
Every time we do one of these silly little things, like put up a banner for Christmas, put up a banner for Easter, or walk in the parade, somebody comes up to us and says, hey, that just stuck in my mind. In fact, there's a family here. I'll point at them. No, just kidding. There's a family that's here that said, hey, I saw you guys in the parade.
And we're like, well, let's check it out. And so here you are. Hopefully, we lived up to your expectations, but there were a big a big number of us that walked in the parade. I think we have some leftover t shirts if you really wanna get some, like, tribe truck stop gear. That was the inspiration for our t shirts.
We'll have them for sale next week, but thank you so much for coming out to the parade, throwing candy, and and just making that step out in the community. And there's one other thing that I wanna tell you about that's happening when it comes to stepping out in the community. So since October 7, there the community of Jews, ethically and religiously here in this community have come together for a monthly gathering that I use that term specifically. It's not a rally. It's not a I don't it's not anything other than a gathering.
A monthly gathering since October 7 for in support of Israel on the town square. And tribe and a few other Christian churches have said, we wanna come and show our support for you, Israel, and what you Jews and what you Jews are doing to show your support for Israel. And many Jews gather once a month on the town square. Every month, I've invited our tribe fan to go. If you've been to one or more of those gatherings since October 7, will you raise your hand?
It's so great to see all of your support. And especially if you're traveling through town or if you got a big agenda, I know that it would be a sacrifice. But today, there is another gathering of of Jews on the town square today at 5PM underneath the Elk Antler Arches. And this month, tribe is hosting that gathering. And what that means is we get to to put together like a a a small order.
So we kinda get to coordinate things. And we have printed signs that you can hold that say United for Israel. There are people that have their American flags. There are people that have Israeli flags. And when we, as the Christian church, show up to support the Jews and their support for the nation of Israel, it speaks tremendous volume.
Imagine if you were all alone and somebody came alongside you to be like, hey. You got this. What strength it would lend to you? And as coming from Christians, it I don't think you realize the impact that just your presence has there on the town square as they gather. And so I would like to personally invite you to join with Lisa and I, Lisa and I, as we will be on the town square today showing our support for the Jews.
And I'll give you, like like, usually there are some speakers like rabbi Zelman. He steps up. He says a few words of encouragement, draws our attention, refocuses us while they're there. Today, tribe is coordinating things, and I ask for permission from the Jews. If you're like, can you call them that?
Yeah. It's okay to call them that. That's what they call themselves. I ask, can I call you the Jews? And they're like, yes.
That's what we are. So I asked the Jews. We're on this group. We're on a we're on a group thread, the the leadership, and I said, here's what I'd like to do. I would like to pull passages.
I didn't use the word bible. That word is like, okay. I get it, but but that's not the word we use. The word that they used, the Old Testament, is called the Tanakh. I said, would it be alright if I pulled passages from the Tanakh, think Old Testament, that speak of God's love and commitment and protection over Israel that that we could read out loud at this gathering.
And they said, yes. Great. And I said, I'll pick some passages. I will submit them to you for your approval. I'm trying to be honoring to them.
I'm not beholden to them in any way, but I'm trying to support them in what they're doing. We are supporting them in what they're doing. This is their movement. They said, that would be absolutely amazing. I submitted 10 or 15 different passages.
They were like, wow, those are amazing. Great. So today, when we gather at five and you bring your flags, or if you have a sign, we have other signs that you can hold up in support of Israel. I'll have these verses printed out and cut up, these little passages. They'll they'll be cut out, and then you can come to me and just, you know, like, draw it out of a hat, and that'll be your passage.
And then I'll I'll say, here's what we're gonna do, and there are a number of passages, and I'll probably, like, have an order one through 10 or 15, and then you just look at whatever passage you pull out a hat. And if you're number three, then you get to be the third one to go. You step forward, and then you read in a loud clear voice that passage of God speaking God's word over the nation of Israel and Jackson of the Town Square. And I'll tell you this, it's gonna cost you something today to show up. It will cost you something today to show up.
Town Square is going to be packed with thousands of summer tourists in our little town. This fall, it was easy when, like, it was blustery and cold and snowy and nobody was out there anyways. It's gonna cost you something today to take a stand with Israel. You'll feel it today. Were you gonna say something?
Stand up. Let me pray for you, and we'll get out of here. Jesus, help us. Help us where we hang our hat when it comes to the nation of Israel. Help us.
Father, I pray for that you would touch hearts of individuals to just to just be like, you know what? I I was gonna do this one thing. I was gonna maybe, like, watch a Lifetime movie on the TV this afternoon and just relax. But but, Lord, maybe I feel you touching my heart to, like, go to the town square at 5PM today. Lord, give us the courage to take a stand for what's precious to your heart today.
And father, I pray for the hearts of every individual gathered here. Meet their needs according to your riches and glory. Speak peace and healing and freedom and deliverance and joy over the people here. And I command a special blessing on anybody that's joining us here today that took time out of their precious valuable vacation to come to Jackson Hole and come to church this morning. Bless them, Lord.
Show them how much you love them by, like, letting them see a bear or something. Better yet, just touch their heart. Give us a great week. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen.
I love you so very much. I want you to have a great week. And remember, Braden, you got this. Have a great week.
