New Wineskins Will Cost You

In one paragraph

This message was the third week in Tribe's New Wine series, picking up the question of what it actually costs to get a new wineskin. Brian walked through two contrasting figures from Mark 10 and showed that the price is always the same: death to whatever you are currently holding onto. The first two weeks had established the groundwork: new wine represents Jesus' new covenant and any new movement...

Read together

1. Matthew 9:14-17 Read aloud by a congregation member as the first main text on new wine and wineskins
2. Luke 5:33-39 Read aloud by a congregation member as the second main text on new wine and wineskins, including the line that the old wine is good enough
3. John 19 Cited to show that Nicodemus came to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, demonstrating he had obtained a new wineskin
4. Mark 10:17-28 Read aloud by a congregation member, the story of the rich young ruler who could not accept Jesus's invitation to sell all he had
5. Mark 10:46 Read by Brian as the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who threw aside his cloak and received his sight
6. Exodus Referenced to explain that a cloak given as loan collateral was a person's most important possession, illustrating what Bartimaeus threw aside
7. 1 John 1:9 Cited during the communion invitation to assure people that if they confess their sins God is faithful and just to forgive them

What was said

• Identify one area of your life where you have been trying to add Jesus rather than surrender to him, and bring it to him in prayer this week.
• Ask the Holy Spirit to show you one old mindset or tightly held tradition that might be keeping you from receiving something new he wants to do in your life.
• If you are in Jackson for the winter season, show up to the free wax night at the TMC on December 6 at 6pm, even if you do not have gear to wax.
• Before you take communion next time, take a moment to confess anything unresolved between you and the Lord, using 1 John 1:9 as your starting point.
• Bring someone outside your usual circle, maybe a seasonal employee or a young adult new to the valley, and let them know they are welcome at Tribe.

Talk about it

1. Brian described a wineskin as something that has to stretch to hold new wine, and said that getting a new wineskin costs death, specifically death to old mindsets, habits, and tightly held positions. What is something in your own life where you have felt that kind of resistance when God seemed to be doing something new?
2. The rich young ruler walked away from Jesus sorrowful, not indifferent. Brian pointed out that the man felt the loss in his spirit but still could not go all in. Have you ever been in a place where you knew what Jesus was asking but found yourself walking away anyway? What was happening in you in that moment?
3. Brian said you cannot simply add Jesus to your life the way you would patch an old garment, that trying to do so makes you, in his words, a lousy sinner and a lousy Christian. Where do you think the line is between someone who is genuinely wrestling toward faith and someone who is just adding Jesus as an extra layer on top of an unchanged life?
4. Bartimaeus threw aside his cloak, which Brian described as likely his most important material possession, before he even received his healing. He acted before the outcome was guaranteed. What would it look like for you to throw aside something you are holding onto before you see how things turn out?
5. Brian closed by saying that Jesus will not keep pouring new wine into an old wineskin because he knows you cannot handle it, and that he loves you enough to tell you the old wineskin is not going to cut it for the days ahead. What do you think Jesus might be signaling to you personally that your current wineskin is not big enough to contain?