New Wine, New Wineskins

In one paragraph

This message was built around Psalm 78 and the story of God bringing water from the rock in the wilderness. Brian used Tribe's annual Pecky Day tradition as the frame: remembering what God has done in the past is not just a sentimental exercise, it is a weapon for the battles you are facing right now. The sermon moved from an ancient desert to a small apartment in Tulsa and back again. Brian...

Read together

1. Psalm 78:1-16 read aloud by congregation members as the main text for the sermon
2. 1 Corinthians 10:4 congregation member read it to identify the rock in the wilderness as Christ
3. John 11:25 displayed on screen to connect the resurrection theme to God bringing life from dead things

What was said

• Start a pecky board this week, even if it is just the visor of your car, and put one thing on it that reminds you of a time God came through for you.
• Write down a current situation where you feel like you are in a dry place, then write next to it at least one past moment when God provided in an unexpected way.
• Fill out a connect card and drop a prayer request in the wooden box by the door, or bring one next Sunday so the staff can pray over it at their Monday meeting.
• If you have been carrying worry about a need this week, take a few minutes to recall a specific past moment God met that same kind of need, and let that memory be the weapon Brian talked about.
• Download the Church Center app and check out the Tribe pecky board or connect with the young adults group on Tuesdays if that is your season of life.

Talk about it

1. Brian spent time asking the congregation to think of other ways God could have solved Israel's water problem before landing on water from the rock. What does the sheer improbability of that solution tell you about why God chose it, and how does that change the way you read familiar Bible stories you think you already know well?
2. Brian said that when the Ephramites forgot what God had done, they turned back from battle even though they were armed with bows, and then he said 'when you remember, it is a weapon.' Where in your own life right now are you most tempted to forget what God has already done, and what does forgetting actually cost you in that situation?
3. The congregation discussed whose faith the miracle was for when Moses struck the rock. It was Moses' faith, but Israel received the water. Have you ever been on either end of that, either someone else's faith carried you through, or your own faith opened a door for someone else? What was that like?
4. Brian told the pecky day story about the $750 reward for a bird named Pecky showing up at exactly the right moment for exactly the right amount. He also said that most often God provides through creativity and hard work rather than a check in the mailbox. How do you personally hold both of those things together when you are in a dry place and waiting?
5. The pecky board is a physical record of specific moments where God came through. Brian said remembering those moments arms you with strength for today's battles. What would you put on your own pecky board right now, and is there anything stopping you from actually starting one?