Mosaic Tiles of His Return Tribe 2022-09-05 Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record. ---- Good morning, everyone. We're gonna get started. We got plenty of room for standing for worship if you'd like today. Let me just pray for us as we get started. Lord Jesus, we just thank you for today. We just come before you and we give you praise. We give you honor. We give you all the glory. You are faithful. You are faithful today, yesterday, tomorrow, and forever. And we praise you for it. See every heart, see every intention in this place today. Tell we would love you in Jesus name. Amen. We worship Just talk to him this morning, just tell him why you're here. Worthy of my time. You're worthy of my attention. You're worthy of the affections of my heart. Remember how far you carried me from beginning till the end. You are faithful, Just think about that part of his nature and character. You faithful God, are faithful to me. Yes. Oh, Lord, we just thank you and we praise you. We just fix our eyes. We fix the attention of our hearts and our minds on you and you alone this morning. No matter what busyness, craziness is going on in the world, around us, in our own lives, maybe in a struggle in our own hearts and spirit this morning, God. We just stand true, we stand steadfast on who you are and you are faithful. Oh, Lord, we just thank you. Thank you for who you are. Thank you that you are never changing. We just stand on that today. Yes. Yes, it does, God. You turn on into dancing. You give beauty You're the only one who cares. You turn. Graves into God, you turn bones into armies, you turn seasons to highways, Better than you. Oh, there's nothing. Nothing is better than you. We just declare that. We just fill this space. Oh, there's nothing. Just sing that out. Better than you. Oh, there's nothing. Better than you. Oh, there's nothing. Better than you, Jesus. There's nothing. Nothing is better than you. It's slow. Can just declare that one more time? You. Lord, we just declare that in this space. We could search the whole wide world. Maybe the Lord's putting something on your heart to just lift his name, to encourage, to declare who he is in this place. We just take a minute and we just make room for that if there's anyone in here that just would want to the Lord's just putting something on their heart to just lift his name out, make his name famous. Something's brewing up. The Lord is reminding us of a word that he spoke to us in June, this last June. And as a way of reminder, he said that he is expanding our territory and moving us to the front line as spiritual warfare. He anointed us for the purpose. And the last things that he said is don't fear. Don't be afraid. I'll tell you what to do, when to do it. I'll guide you. I'll lead you. And today, he's doing that. The Holy Spirit is saying that for us, the frontline of spiritual warfare is a sphere of our influence in the marketplace. At work, wherever we are, that is our frontline. And he's given us an abundance of hope, and he wants us to tap into that hope and release it to be imparters of hope to people that have no hope, people that are in bondage. He says, my people, I want you to declare to release hope. In the name of Jesus, I release hope to this man. I release hope to this person. I release hope to this young person in Jesus' name. And he says it needs to be spoken out loud. It can be whispered, but it's gotta be it's got to be heard by the powers of darkness that are holding people in bondage. You have that authority. I've given you that authority. And he says the three pillars of the kingdom of God, faith, hope, and love. And one of the most powerful weapons of warfare is hope. If you if you release hope in faith with love, there's power to set people free. In Jesus' name. We receive that. Amen. Lord, thank you. Yes. Thank you for being faithful to your words spoken in back in June that that you will guide us, that you will direct you are guiding, you are directing. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And the other thing that is coming to mind is as we do that, as we're faithful to do that, there's not gonna be any kind of a weird reaction. You probably won't see anything, but the people that have been set free, they will feel, they will know something is either left, there's some kind of a change. So he's saying, don't don't be afraid of spiritual warfare. Chances are you're not gonna see anything, but the people that you release hope to, the chains will be broken in Jesus' name. We receive that. Yes, sir. Lord, give us eyes to see and courage to speak that out. Let us pull up at Smiths and be excited of not just what you're gonna do, but who, Lord, who? Have eyes to see that. Have us be always ready, always ready to be used by you. Lord, we just in a broader sense as well, we ask that you would release your hope over this valley. We ask that you would release your hope over this this church family. If there's anyone today that's watching on the livestream or is just without hope today, that the enemy has just clouded the hope. We just right now in Jesus name, we release hope. We just release hope right where you are, right where you are. Maybe you've gotten some discouraging news recently and your hope has just been spilled out. Lord, we ask that you would just fill them back up. Fill them back up today. Yes, Lord. You are so close. You are so near always. Hi, Isaiah. That's for our livestream family so they can hear you. Yes. Understood. As we were singing that last song that nothing is better than him, just the the scripture was rising in my heart. Philippians chapter three verse seven and eight, but whatever things were gained to me, these things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ. And father, we thank you that you know we have needs. We you know we have basic needs and you provide and we're so grateful, God, for how you work provision into our lives to your glory and for our good. Right along with that, I pray for myself as I pray a lot and for my family in this room. Would you help us to have the revvy that you gave to Paul to where he could say what he just said in those two verses where he's like, yeah, I'm grateful for all the things you give God but you're better knowing you, having your presence, your voice, your face, intimacy with you and all that comes out of that. Father, help us to keep it a priority if we're walking in it and if it's become a non priority, help us to get back to it. To knowing you, spending time with you, however that looks, getting in your word, praying in the in the private space. God, knowing you, knowing you, knowing you. We wanna know you more, so help us. God, help us. Yes, Lord. You are in the air. I'll breathe in. Just to know you more. Here's where the dead just to know you more, to have just real communion with you, Jesus, To walk with you, to talk with you, to be close to you. It was easy to love and no space between us. It Let's change the posture of our bodies, but not our hearts by taking a seat, and let's just go right into communion this morning so you can have a seat. There's so much to communion. Perhaps you grew up in a denomination or a church where it was done every Sunday, and even the most special or sacred of ceremonies, just because of the way that we're wired as humans, it's easy for them to become ritualistic and rote and devoid of of meaning and sacredness and specialness. And as we go into communion, I want us to to approach communion this morning with a sacredness and a and a specialness. If you're watching the livestream, if you're part of a discipleship campus or you're at home, if you have elements for communion, why don't you take a moment, grab those elements for communion. We'll all celebrate communion here together. But I want to frame this morning's communion with a couple of verses. We celebrate communion today as a remembrance of Jesus's body being given for us and his blood being shed for us, we see thousands of years previous, maybe twenty five hundred years before Jesus instituted the ordinance of communion, we saw a foreshadow of that in the Passover when Egypt was holding Israel and God said, hey, this this is not how it's gonna work. Isn't it interesting how have you ever wondered about the last plague? How it was the death of the firstborn of all of Egypt, even their livestock? Why did God pick that as the last plague? He could have done all number of things, but why the firstborn? Why did God kill the firstborn in all of Egypt? Well, you think backwards to the beginning of that that story. It was Pharaoh himself who said, I want you to kill all of the firstborn males in all of Israel, all of the Israelites. The Bible says in the book of Proverbs, so it's like, it's a what is it? A wicked man falls in the own pit that he digs for somebody else? God's like, oh, oh, no, you don't. Israel is mine. They're beloved, and they're special to me. What that the Bible says with an outstretched hand and a mighty arm, God delivered Israel out of the hand of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. That's where the first Passover came from. It was during a celebrated Passover meal that Jesus was in the upper room with his disciples where he you know, when you go to the optometrist and they say, is it better here or here? Click, click, you know, and they're doing the little thing and then suddenly they get the doctor gets the right combination of things and the letters come into focus. Ah, well, Passover was the first turn of the clicker. Jesus, when he instituted this this ordinance, it was the next turn of the clicker becoming more into focus that Jesus is the ultimate Passover lamb. But there's gonna be a future click where it will come into even more focus. We see that in Revelation 19. Oh, I don't Do I have it? I mean, I have it. It's in my Bible. So, John, who wrote the book of Revelation, he says in 19 verse six, then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder. He says, praise the Lord for the Lord our God, the almighty reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice. Let us give honor to him for the time has come for the wedding feast of the lamb. And the bride and his bride has prepared herself. She's been given the finest of pure white linen to wear, for the fine linen represents the good deeds of God's holy people. So there's coming a day where we will celebrate the wedding feast of the lamb. All those who have invited Jesus into their heart, made him the leader of their life. Whether they have looked whether they are in history way in the past and they looked forward to the cross, or like us, who look backwards to the cross, we're still all in this together. And there's coming a wedding feast. Jesus says, on the night that he was betrayed, he was gathered with his disciples in the upper room. And it's recorded that he took bread, He blessed it, and then he broke it and he gave it to his disciples. And he said, take and eat. This is my body which has been given for you. Then during the meal, the Bible records that Jesus took another cup. He gave it to his disciples and said, take and drink. For this cup represents a new covenant that I'm making today between me and my father. And the covenant is ratified or confirmed with my life's blood. As often as you partake of the bread and as often as you partake of the cup, in the King James version, which is what is stuck in my brain for some reason, you do show forth my death until what's that until? Until when? He comes back. Until he comes back. And then he says, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my father's kingdom. When will that be? The wedding supper of the lamb. Isaiah prophetically got a glimpse of that day as well. And, oh, I'm there. Isaiah 35. Even the wilderness and the desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring flowers. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy. To frame this, we might talk about this afterwards, after communion. We'll see. But there is prophetic biblical imagery that in the last days, according to what Jesus said in Luke chapter 21, Remember he said, when you see the abomination that causes desecration, if you're in Jerusalem, get out. Are are you familiar? Run to the hills, flee to the wilderness. The idea of the wilderness of Judea is to the South. And in the in the days ahead in the great tribulation where there will be unprecedented persecution of Jews in Israel. They will be held as as POWs in Jerusalem. Many will be killed, imprisoned. There will be those that escape into refugee camps, into, like, South Of Israel, kind of out in the Sinai Peninsula. When Jesus returns, he's coming to get those captives. You can read about it in John chapter 10. I'm the good shepherd, and I lead my sheep. But in Isaiah 35, we see a prophetic picture of the returned Jesus who comes to rescue political prisoners out of this refugee camp in the wilderness. And he comes in a similar fashion that God revealed himself when God showed up to the nation of Israel on Mount Sinai. In the story of Exodus, we don't see this, but there's a beautiful detail in Isaiah and a few other places where the Lord's return coming to rescue those refugees will be accompanied by great thunderstorms with blankets and blankets of rain. What always pops up after the rain? Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy. The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the Plain Of Sharon. There, the Lord will display his glory and the splendor of our God. With this news, strengthen those who have tired hands and encourage those who have weak knees. Say to those with fill fearful hearts, be strong and do not fear for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you. And then as he comes to rescue part of his bride, Israel, When he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf. The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy. Springs will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams will water the wasteland. What an incredible mosaic picture of the return of Jesus and part of all that he will accomplish when he sets foot back on planet Earth. Those are the things that we need to keep spun up in our mind as we celebrate communion. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, we come to the table of communion this morning, and I ask that right here, you would perform a miracle and you would transform these simple common elements into a sacrifice, into your body and your blood. A sacrament, which is really a means of grace where we can touch you by faith. God, I ask that you would meet us in the mystery of this meal and give us a picture of the days ahead. Fill our hearts with hope as Lee prayed so that that over that hope can overflow and splash on all those around us causing flowers to blossom and to bloom where there are people living in dry places and in wilderness where there is no water. Meet us here in this meal. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Our communion is open to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. And if you have not yet invited Jesus into your heart to be the leader of your life, it's okay if you don't partake of communion. The way that we'll do communion this morning is, as you're ready, you can come forward. Gonna ask Gretchen to help me serve communion. Gretchen, you're gonna and come on up. And I know that it's not in the frame of the livestream, but that's alright. I'm gonna hand you the bread. And as people, as you're ready, you just come forward and Gretchen will hand you some of the bread. And then you'd step around here and you can dip the bread in the cup, and then you can go back to your seat. And as the Lord leads you, you can come forward to receive communion. Lord, we just thank you that you always draw near. That your word says and promises in James that if we draw close to you, you will draw close to us. That's a promise that you are near, you are close. Lord, we just ask that there's no greater prayer than that we would just be close to you, intimate with you. Remove anything that would keep us from being close to you. That we would desire nothing, nothing else just like that scripture that I would count it all as loss in light of knowing you, Jesus. And it's in that intimacy, it's in that presence that we have hope, that we have clarity, that we have real peace regardless of what's going on around us. Just praise you and we thank you for who you are and that we get to know you and call you our best friend. We do not take that for granted. Amen. Amen. We could just stay here forever. Pete, what do you wanna do? Get your coffee. Okay. Get your coffee. Fill up your coffee. Everybody flood into that one bathroom, make a line, get your Bibles out. We'll get into God's word in just a minute. Alright. Good morning. Oh, got it now. Liz, could you hand me my coffee, please? Oh, thank you. Alright. If you have your bibles with you this morning, would you turn to the book of Habakkuk? Habakkuk. Habakkuk. Habakkuk. Oh, somebody just gave the book of Habakkuk a shout out. If you're using your paper bible, how in the world do you find the book of Habakkuk? I usually go to Matthew and then hang a left, or you can go to the table of contents. That is also really good. I usually go to the book of Matthew and then hang a left. Now we're gonna be in the book of Habakkuk without getting too deep into the it's really important to understand the author, the time frame of when they wrote, and who they're writing to. But without getting too far off in the weeds about this prophet, he would be what's known as one of the minor prophets, Habakkuk. I want to I wanna revisit something that we touched on during communion and continue to paint a picture of what it could be like of the Lord's return. And, again, I want this to be a conversation. I want this to be a a dialogue where I get to hear from you as you're getting to hear from me. And if you have questions, connections, comments, donut holes to eat, I wanna I wanna hear and I I want this to be a team effort. Alright? With that in mind, we're going to go to Habakkuk chapter three. And I wanna ask you, Lanisha, why is Habakkuk one of your favorite Old Testament books? Where's that mic? I would I'm just curious as to why you like it. It's going around, and it's unmuted. It's one of my favorites because while I may be 24, I've been through some things. And the first chapter is Habakkuk just basically going through it, like yelling out like, Lord, like, will you answer me? What's happening? And then the second one is a beautiful just word and like vision that he gives to Habakkuk. And then the third chapter is all that just coming true. And like it's three short chapters but it's so amazing how we can frame our lives and how I've just framed mine. I'm like, I'm going through this God. I'm gonna lay it in front of your feet. I'm gonna wait for you to answer me like patiently, but I am gonna wait. And then I'm gonna watch it come to pass. That's why. So to to to frame a little bit of haboc yeah. Yeah. Come on up here and share with us. To frame a little bit of what Lanisha said, Habakkuk is going through and he's pouring his heart out. And it it sounds it sounds a little bit like Job of what Habakkuk is going through and he is demanding, expecting an answer from the Lord. And if you listen to Habakkuk's words, he's expecting God to do something for him. I want you to do something. I want you to fix these circumstances that I find myself in and Israel in. Do something. And how does God answer? Oh, it's beautiful and it's frustrating because he doesn't do anything in that moment, but he gives Habakkuk and the rest of us a picture of the future, a hope and a promise. We I touched on this week one, Amanda touched on this week two, several weeks ago as we were talking about King Jehoshaphat, potato potato, and he said that king Jehoshaphat who was having who was being faced by this three armies cried out to the Lord for deliverance and what was the answer? The answer came in the form of a prophetic word. In a similar way, Habakkuk cries out and how does God answer? Not with the alleviation of circumstances, but with a prophetic picture of the future. Now as with all prophetic statements, passages, sections, or even books of the bible. We need to I wanna go back to my optometrist analogy. There are different levels at which we can focus in for different levels of meaning of truth. Now, me explain what I just said. There is some intended fulfillment of Habakkuk's word in the destiny of Israel, things that we could say, oh, this looks like it played out. Yeah. Sure. But there is also, if you click the lens a little more, you can also see that there is a future yet to be fulfilled prophetic picture that Habakkuk saw that we will see someday whether it's we in this room or our children or maybe our grandchildren. I have a feeling it very well could be us But what I want thank God Carolyn's eyebrows raised. Brink. I like that. It's a great response to that. That's what should happen with our hearts as well. But I wanna paint a picture for you that is just a few pieces of this mosaic image that's coming together that in the last days we'll see clearer and clearer, but I want to lay a few just just one of these tiles, maybe one or two of these tiles out here for you to see. And and in Habakkuk chapter three, let's see. Would somebody please read verses one through six? And one person could read all of that. It's not a lengthy passage. Whoever has the mic. Or pass the mic. Hey. A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet according to, nope, shing nope. Shinging you off. There you go. Okay. Great. Okay. I have heard the report about you and I fear. Oh, Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make it known. In wrath, remember mercy. God comes from Teman and the whole and the holy one from Mount Paran, Selah. His splendor covers you know quick question. Do you know what that word Selah means? Isn't it like the end like the praise, like the end of a song part? So it's a it's an It's your daughter's name. It's my daughter's name. That's what it means. It's and don't say daughter because she's up at school. Alright. Go. So the idea is it's a it's an ancient out of date musical term that means to like pause and consider what was just said. So when you see in the text, go ahead and take that. Don't rush right through it. So take another run at it and when you get to the Selah, like, let that sink in. God comes from Teman and the holy one from Mount Paran, Selah. His splendor covers the heavens and the earth is full of his praise. His radiance is like the sunlight. He has rays flashing from his hand and there is the hiding of his power. Before him go his pestilence and plague comes after him. He stood and surveyed the earth. He looked and startled the nations. Yes, the perpetual mountains were shattered. The ancient hills collapsed. His ways are everlasting. So this is one small tile of a mosaic picture about the unfolding of events that will happen in the last days as Jesus returns to planet Earth. Habakkuk is in great distress. He cries out for the Lord to alleviate or to fix. How does God answer? God answers with a prophetic picture far far far in the future. And what is the prophetic picture or vision that Habakkuk sees? I see God moving across the deserts from Edom. Edom is in the Southern Israel close to There's if you're familiar with the modern day historical site of Petra and then into the Sinai Peninsula, that's that's the region of Edom. I see him moving across the deserts from Eden. Edom, the holy one coming from Mount Paran. What's he what what is he coming to do? He's coming to rescue Jews who are in captivity in the wilderness in that area. Oh, goodness. We, as a wild olive branch, have not replaced the native olive branch. It's been broken off only to have a wild olive branch, us goofy gentiles grafted into to receive the life giving nourishing sap of relationship with Jesus, but we have in no way replaced Israel. Jesus has not forgotten or abandoned Israel. And in the days ahead and in the calamity to come, God once again will not forget Israel. But with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, he will return to rescue those who have been oppressed. How will he come? He'll come through the deserts of Puran, through the wilderness of Eden, and his coming will be unmistakable. He's not going to is he gonna be riding on the top of an Abrams tank or a Bradley fighting vehicle like physically? I don't know. Will he be on the bible says it will be on a white horse. What is that like? But when he comes there are elements that are described of his return to rescue Israel right here in this little mosaic tile. I see him coming moving up from the desert. Please stop me and and like talk to me as you get something. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens. That Hebrew word for heavens is is the the earthly sky, the atmosphere like where planes live. Okay? And the earth is filled with his praise. You know the picture that comes to my mind? Well, not before I pollute your little image that you're painting with with mine, I'd love to hear what your holy sanctified imagination is thinking of of that moment. Imagine thousands of political refugees encamped out in the wilderness. So as the battle for Jerusalem rages and here comes Jesus, what do you picture that moment being like based upon this little mosaic tile that we're looking at here today? What do you see in your mind's eye? So I picture like a bunch of FEMA tints just like refugee one hundred one, you know, where there's some organization but loss of hope, you know, and people are just kind of barely making it. The relief that Okay, so on like an infinitely smaller scale like if you're camping and it's cold and somebody makes a fire, there's just like a boost of morale that you get where you're just like, okay, I can I can do this? Even if you weren't in any kind of trouble, like it just boosts your morale and you're like, okay, like we we can do this, we got this. And so just like on an infinitely higher level, the relief of not just FEMA or Red Cross or a person coming in but the Messiah, I mean I I don't imagine how you could I I picture them not even being able to physically stand. I mean you just like you melt into a puddle because as Lee was saying, like, single ounce of hope is now restored. Like, not only I mean, like, the thought of, like, will we have food and will we have this and will we make a fire? Like, those little morale boosters just like when you see the all encompassing savior of the world coming, they just melt into a puddle and it takes them hours to be able to even get to their feet is what I picture. And just hope restored and like I hear in my imagination like audible music of joy. It's coming from voices, the heavens, whatever, but just like hope hope hope rising and sustained. Yeah. That's really cool. Other thoughts? And I understand if you're like, I don't have a picture because perhaps either you have never you've never gone to that area of the canvas of your picture of theology, understanding of the Lord in the end times. That might be a completely what we're talking about this morning could be a completely blank corner of the canvas, and so you're like, I got nothing. I understand. I I get it. I get it. Mine's not as in-depth as that, but on just on that section of the verse that says, his brilliant splendor fills the heavens. I just pictured the northern lights stretching out across all the skies all the way around the world. And remember when we had that eclipse, when was it, in 2000 Mhmm. 2017 and everybody, I mean I was in San Francisco at that time. And everybody, like, the city seemed to stop, come out, and try to see what was happening. Wow. It's like the city was quiet. I just figured if people saw that happen, the earth is filled with his praise, we wouldn't know what to do other than praise at that point. Kind of like when everybody stopped during that eclipse, so. Right. That's what I pictured. Here in Jackson, you know, in the zone of totality, we man, what a really cool band name that would be. Are you gonna go hear zone of totality this weekend? Yeah. They're playing over in drinks. They're head cut they're headlining for Coachella this year. But I was with a group of, like, 200 people, and they were shrieking and, like, hoots and hollers, but there was like I mean, it was a dramatic display of emotion. I like what you just said because I was also thinking similar, actually, with the verse three and the earth was full of his praise. And, like, to just to mix your guys' together, they're gonna see a whole different picture than what the other half of the earth is gonna see. Because I was in Ohio during that time, and we saw, like, this much of it, of the sun even covered. So we can look at it without the glasses. But, like, in other parts of the world, they have to wear the glasses. So how when the savior's coming to rescue them, they have the full just force of it. And while we get to, like, hear and, like, see and understand in this side of the earth, like, oh, that he's coming to save them, we get the aftermath of, like, glory from that, Interesting that the brightness of his coming was particularly noted by Habakkuk. Now we don't know if this is in the morning, in the daytime or at nighttime, we we don't know. We're not given that detail. But it's interesting to note that it says here the the brightness and the splendor filling the heavens where airplanes live, not the spiritual realm. But, it's so bright that it is noticeable similar to the sun. The sun travels from east to west but if you can get a geography picture in mind, maybe I'll ask Christian if he can pull up like, even like a Google Earth image of like Sinai Peninsula, Israel just so we can have a frame of reference. The brightness similar to the sun is not coming from the east or tracking across the sky and setting in the West. And he's clicking around right now to pull that up. He already had it just in case. But it's coming from the south. Imagine shadows being cast on the north side of things. Speaking along that line, my brother who lives up on Camano Island in Puget Sound said that he sits at one place for breakfast every morning and he looks out onto the sound and he saw shadows on the wrong side of the mountain. Oh wow. During the eclipse? No. It's it's probably two months ago. He said that was so totally wrong. He looked at it and he looked again to make sure he wasn't being fooled. And the boats that were on the Puget Sound had the shadow on the wrong side. This this picture, one tile one tile of a mosaic, let's continue on, and and we don't need to go too far today. This this is this is what's happening today. This is this is what this is where we're camped out today. Verse four, his coming is as brilliant as the sunrise And then it says that rays of light flash from his hands. What all did we see Jesus do with his hands on his earthly ministry. Which would make sense why the enemy would try to pierce those hands, to scar and disfigure and disrupt because what's in his hands, look, what's in his hands, what's it say? That's where his awesome power is hidden. The picture, the prophetic picture that I get in my mind is, how many of you have seen it was a lot of years ago now, but how many of you have seen that HBO miniseries Band of Brothers? Right? When when the POWs in Europe, Dachau, Auschwitz, all of these other extermination camps and POW camps were beginning to get liberated by allied troops. So all of the Jews in those camps knew that something was about like the the normal pattern and routine was being disrupted. First of all, they could hear the bombs landing closer and closer and closer, meaning the fight was getting closer and closer to to the German troops. The German troops cut bait and ran. Many of the camps with the gates still locked were just just abandoned. And then the next thing to roll down the streets were not German panzer tanks, but but Abrams tanks or even Soviet tanks liberated some of these camps. And if you remember the the the the scenes or that episode of the awe, the elation, the jubilation, and then just like the relief, is that what you said? The relief knowing that they were being liberated. That's the picture that comes to my mind as I look at this tile. I see God moving across the desert from Eden, the holy one coming up from Mount Peron. His brilliant splendor fills fills the heavens and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunrise. Rays of light flash from his hands where his awesome power is hidden. How many verses do we have in the in the from the from the prophets about God coming to comfort his people? Let's turn to Zephaniah three seventeen just really oh, it's right there. I knew that it was right next door. Zephaniah three seventeen. Would somebody read that out loud? The Lord God the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. He'll take delight in you with gladness. With his love he will calm all of your fears. There is a now and a not yet fulfillment of these prophetic verses. There the now fulfillment is we can grab a hold of that verse for us today, right now, in the circumstances that we're in, but there will be a someday literal future fulfillment of these of these prophetic words as we see all the mosaic tiles come together. That when he returns and he kicks open the gate of that FEMA camp, that his healing power to be hidden in his hands. And according to John 10, he says, I'm the good shepherd. They all go in and out of the sheepfold under my rod, under my hand of touch and I know them by name. Imagine him coming back and touching each one of his sheep bringing healing and restoration. In the midst, just before his appearing, we see pestilence marching before him, plagues following close behind, and the idea is that Jesus is disruptive. Jesus is disruptive. He is disruptive to things that are contrary and counter to his ways and his order and he'll not allow something to stand that disrupts that that that is contrary to his ways and to his order. When Uh-oh. We got a thought. Alright. Come on, newbie. I gotta do it. Okay. That's a great thought. I love that you said that God is disruptive because that's not a common thought I think about when I go, what is God like fill in the blank. Yeah. You know. God is disruptive. So, yeah, just last week we were looking at a men's group back in Reno. We're looking at a photo of a massive storm cloud and we were asking the question what does that aspect of creation reveal about what God is like if we're to see aspects of what he's like in creation according to Romans one twenty. Anyways, one of my friends said, God is disruptive And we were thinking about that and then we were thinking he has to be disruptive in agreement with his character. Yeah. And his ways. So the phrase he is redemptively disruptive came up. Redemptively disruptive. Like it's all coming from love and even when he's disrupting our lives it's to heal. It's to redeem. It's to bring more of the kingdom. It's to bring all of his heart into that. But I found myself going, Isaiah, don't Man, when things begin to dis disruptive and it could be from God dare I open to it and say, Lord, get out of me, shake what can be shaken, bring more of your kingdom, more healing. It was Eris. That's I love I I everything you said was really smart and I per I particularly appreciate the fact that you said could be because not all disruption is is is God. We live in a fallen broken world. Sometimes disruption comes as a result of our own foolishness and falling Like stepping on a rake. God, how could you let me? And he's like, bro, just don't step on the rake. But there's some kind of disruption that is the design of the Lord. Consider it, oh, what does he say? Pure joy? My brothers, when you face disruptions of many kinds? Yeah. Just to add a caveat, at the age of 12, my mother took me through the Dachau Prison. You can never forget it. I can describe it as if I was there yesterday. If anybody had an opportunity to see anything like that as I did, you would quake in your boots about what man can do to man. Share your story. I saw when I was I was probably 16, and I got physically sick. And it was before I knew the Lord, and I didn't know what to do or how to what to do with that What I love about this, he says, I will wait patiently for the day of calamity. There the worst things that could have happened happened to Judah. They lost all their figs, all their olives, all their drapes, all their food. They lost everything that that they depended on. It was the worst thing that could have happened. And then he says, but yet, I will rejoice in the Lord. You're in verse seventeen and eighteen. I know, but that's the best. So good. Yes. Yeah. That that's where she's coming from. She jumped ahead to seventeen and eighteen. So good. But I think that's the take for me, that's the takeaway of however bad things are going to be. And we know things are going to be disruptive, and there is going to be calamity. But we can rejoice and trust. Rejoice and trust. Sorry, Brian. I No. That's perfect. He was just referencing where you were reading from. Back to Isaiah 35, you don't necessarily need to turn there. I'm gonna start to land the plain famous preacher last words. Even the wilderness and the desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring flowers. There will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy. Well, how how can that happen? Well, that's because of the storms that precede his coming. Torrential rains, disruption, a brightness and a splendor of his glory coming to rescue. Oppressed, battered, troubled Israel. And the tenderness that he displays toward Israel even after Israel's chastisement, their their discipline, their time out. It says that he'll wipe away every tear. He will exalt over them, calm their fears by singing over them. Jesus, the redeemer, the good shepherd coming for Israel. That should fill our hope tank up and overflowing to a city that needs real genuine hope. And those are all my words. Let's just worship him. So in in Hosea chapter two, another tile, God says, once more, I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there. Once more, well, what was the first time? When they left Egypt and they were in the desert. But he says, I'll lead her into the desert again just as we continue to worship just for your geography sake. Can you imagine flowers springing up from the ground, like, wherever he walks and wherever he goes? Who does that? Flashes of lightning, rules of thunder. Blessing and honor, blessing and honor, strength and I don't know about you guys, but it seems that the more tumultuous things get, it could be in your own life, it could be in the globe because it's certainly happening. That's undeniable. I don't know about you, but it just seems like time in the word. And when we're singing through song and worship and praise, it just feels sweeter and sweeter as the world gets yuckier and yuckier. I don't know if it's just all relative, if it's the comparison, but man, just spending time in the word or just praising him or singing him or I just cannot emphasize like with my mom heart, regardless of your age or gender or whatever, like as a mom to you, I ask you please spend time in the word. Get close to your dad. He wants so badly for you to spend time with him because stuff is only gonna get worse. And I know and that my kids always roll their eyes. They're like, here we go because we always talk about that. But we don't say that as a discouragement, we say it as a warning, as a parent warning. If your kids are playing in the street and there's a car coming, you will help. You don't just hope they listened to you. Right? And your kids have to cultivate that relationship with you to hear your voice and say move or whatever the the danger is. So let us be a people who cultivate that relationship with the Lord so we hear his voice so clearly. And remember, we don't have to look for ways. Where is he speaking? He's speaking right here. But spend time in his words. Spend time worshiping, especially when you don't feel like it. Especially. Those are probably gonna be the sweetest times. So I just encourage you with that, and as we kind of, we're still worshiping him today, one with one more way, with bringing our tithe and our offering to him. We've worshiped him through the honoring of his word and talking about that, and we've worshiped him through song, and we'll worship him one more time together corporately by bringing our tithe and offering. But, this verse came to mind as we were talking, and it's first Peter one six, and it says, so be truly glad. There is a wonderful joy ahead even though you must endure many trials for a while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire test and purifies gold. Through your though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. What's gold compared to our faith? So when your faith remains strong through the many trials, it brings you it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. So let us be a people who are okay with hard times. We don't love them. We might hate them and that's okay. But man, we're ready for him because we've cultivated a relationship with the Lord, with his holy spirit, through the reading of his word, through praising when we don't feel like it. All of these things cultivate joy, and like Lee said, hope, a way to cultivate hope is to be thankful for things. Again, especially when you don't feel like it. Be thankful for things. So as we bring our tithe before I preach another message, let's bring our tithe and our offering to the Lord. This is also a way that we say, God, I love you and I trust you, and it is a way to cultivate hope. God, you might feel like you have the money to tithe, and you probably don't feel like you have the money to tithe, but that is completely irrelevant to what the Bible's asking. It's a heart posture with him. Lord, what are you asking me to give? There's examples of tithing in the Bible, like Abraham who tithed his, animals and first fruits, like of his, farm, farm, whatever his livestock. And he just gave it because he knew that's what the Lord was asking, the first 10%. There's also examples of the Bible of people tithing when it it was a sacrificial offering or a gift. Remember the lady who, was going into the temple and Jesus and his disciples were watching? And she just put in a couple tiny coins and Jesus said, woah, take note of her. She just gave everything she had. And the Pharisees before her were like clinking tons of gold in and like rattling it, making sure everyone heard, and Jesus said she gave more. That was counter to what the world would say. So I encourage you as you bring your tithe, whatever your rhythm is, every week, every month, every other week, whatever your rhythm is, let it be a time where you say, Lord, this is an opportunity for me to cultivate joy. It just bringing your tithe to him might feel like a hardship or like your gold is being refined, and that's okay. So whether you're giving now or another time, we're gonna pray as a family over it. Practically speaking here at Tribe, we just give a few different ways. You can put cash or check-in that black, safety deposit box downstairs, right outside the front door. You can give on our website, tribejh.com, or you can simply type in a new phone number in your phone, your smart phone, to 84321, and you see those instructions. And you just type in the amount that you wanna give. So let's pray. Let's close our eyes. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for who you are and how you love. Thank you that you are giving us these opportunities, not just on Sunday mornings, that's when we come together as a family, but every minute of every day, we have an opportunity to get closer to you. For our hope tank to be filled, for our joy tank to be filled in the midst of trouble. That's what we're practicing. So as we bring our tithe and our offering to you today or whenever we do, Lord, we say, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to partner with you and what you're doing in the earth. What an honor and a responsibility it is to be your hands and your feet while we're here. I pray that every single dime that's brought in will just go and do exactly what you want it to do, to bring people into your kingdom, to love on people, to let them know that there is a hope, and his name is Jesus. We thank you for that. In Jesus' name, amen. As we close today, if you want to sign up for a Tuesday meal, if you don't know, we have services Sunday morning and then the same service on Tuesday night. It is full of wonderful, hungry young adults who have been adventuring all day. And I know that not all of us budget or plan to feed about thirty, thirty five people. So if you're like, oh gosh, I would love to, but a, I don't come on Tuesday. That's okay. You can just drop off food and go. Hey, we don't care. But b, gosh, I don't I didn't really, like, plan to feed that many people. We also have some money that we can give you for that to help if that's something that would be a way that you can serve. So talk to me after service if that's you. So sign up on the fridge on the refrigerator. Yeah. And we don't have any updates yet of the property. It's still pending, and things are kind of the same as they were. The TMC is being shown a little bit more, which is hopeful, but we are just so wanting whatever the Lord would have to be the case. So we're not we're just praying, Lord, we're taking obedient steps in the way that we think you've asked us to the best of our little human ability, but we love and we trust you. And come what may, we trust you. We're doing our part, and he's gonna do his like he always does. So no updates there. Alright. Have a wonderful holiday weekend. Brian, would you like to come pray us out? Okay. Try fam. Stand up. Let me pray for you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, father, for your redemptive disruptions that happened. Thank you for Israel not getting out too far and beyond your redemptive hand. Thank you, father, that as we see these mosaic tiles, it fills our hope tank filling to overflow. I command a blessing on each and every member of our tribe family here today. That you would fill their hope tank so that it can splash off on a world around them that needs your hope, love, your truth. We pray these things in Jesus name and give our students a great school year this year. Amen. Starts on Tuesday. We love you too, Jesus. We pray these things. Oh, Oh, yeah. The teachers especially give them patience and endurance to fill those little sponge minds of theirs that are coming into the classroom. We love you, Jesus, so much. We pray these things in your strong name. And everybody said, amen. I love you. Have a great school year. Teachers, students have a great week this week. I love you and remember, you got this.