The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Matthew 9:14-17Read aloud by a congregation member as the first main text on new wine and wineskins
14 Then John’s disciples came to him, saying, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but your disciples don’t fast?”
15 Jesus said to them, “Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.
16 No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; for the patch would tear away from the garment, and a worse hole is made.
17 Neither do people put new wine into old wine skins, or else the skins would burst, and the wine be spilled, and the skins ruined. No, they put new wine into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.”
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
33 They said to him, “Why do John’s disciples often fast and pray, likewise also the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink?”
34 He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast, while the bridegroom is with them?
35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast in those days.”
36 He also told a parable to them. “No one puts a piece from a new garment on an old garment, or else he will tear the new, and also the piece from the new will not match the old.
37 No one puts new wine into old wine skins, or else the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed.
38 But new wine must be put into fresh wine skins, and both are preserved.
39 No man having drunk old wine immediately desires new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”
Cited to show that Nicodemus came to Pilate to ask for the body of Jesus, demonstrating he had obtained a new wineskin
1 So Pilate then took Jesus, and flogged him.
2 The soldiers twisted thorns into a crown, and put it on his head, and dressed him in a purple garment.
3 They kept saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and they kept slapping him.
4 Then Pilate went out again, and said to them, “Behold, I bring him out to you, that you may know that I find no basis for a charge against him.”
5 Jesus therefore came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the man!”
6 When therefore the chief priests and the officers saw him, they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves, and crucify him, for I find no basis for a charge against him.”
7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God.”
8 When therefore Pilate heard this saying, he was more afraid.
9 He entered into the Praetorium again, and said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.
10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Aren’t you speaking to me? Don’t you know that I have power to release you, and have power to crucify you?”
11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power at all against me, unless it were given to you from above. Therefore he who delivered me to you has greater sin.”
12 At this, Pilate was seeking to release him, but the Jews cried out, saying, “If you release this man, you aren’t Caesar’s friend! Everyone who makes himself a king speaks against Caesar!”
13 When Pilate therefore heard these words, he brought Jesus out, and sat down on the judgment seat at a place called “The Pavement”, but in Hebrew, “Gabbatha.”
14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, at about the sixth hour. He said to the Jews, “Behold, your King!”
15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar!”
16 So then he delivered him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led him away.
17 He went out, bearing his cross, to the place called “The Place of a Skull”, which is called in Hebrew, “Golgotha”,
18 where they crucified him, and with him two others, on either side one, and Jesus in the middle.
19 Pilate wrote a title also, and put it on the cross. There was written, “JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
20 Therefore many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.
21 The chief priests of the Jews therefore said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘he said, “I am King of the Jews.”’”
22 Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”
23 Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also the coat. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout.
24 Then they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it to decide whose it will be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which says, “They parted my garments among them. For my cloak they cast lots.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
25 But there were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 Therefore when Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing there, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!”
27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour, the disciple took her to his own home.
28 After this, Jesus, seeing that all things were now finished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said, “I am thirsty.”
29 Now a vessel full of vinegar was set there; so they put a sponge full of the vinegar on hyssop, and held it at his mouth.
30 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” He bowed his head, and gave up his spirit.
31 Therefore the Jews, because it was the Preparation Day, so that the bodies wouldn’t remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special one), asked of Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
32 Therefore the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first, and of the other who was crucified with him;
33 but when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was already dead, they didn’t break his legs.
34 However one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35 He who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true. He knows that he tells the truth, that you may believe.
36 For these things happened, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, “A bone of him will not be broken.”
37 Again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they pierced.”
38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked of Pilate that he might take away Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission. He came therefore and took away his body.
39 Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred Roman pounds.
40 So they took Jesus’ body, and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
41 Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden. In the garden was a new tomb in which no man had ever yet been laid.
42 Then because of the Jews’ Preparation Day (for the tomb was near at hand) they laid Jesus there.
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
17 As he was going out into the way, one ran to him, knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except one—God.
19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not give false testimony,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and mother.’”
20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have observed all these things from my youth.”
21 Jesus looking at him loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack. Go, sell whatever you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me, taking up the cross.”
22 But his face fell at that saying, and he went away sorrowful, for he was one who had great possessions.
23 Jesus looked around, and said to his disciples, “How difficult it is for those who have riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!”
24 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard is it for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.”
26 They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus, looking at them, said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God.”
28 Peter began to tell him, “Behold, we have left all, and have followed you.”
Read by Brian as the story of Bartimaeus, the blind beggar who threw aside his cloak and received his sight
46 They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
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.
What was said
The first two weeks had established the groundwork: new wine represents Jesus' new covenant and any new movement of the Holy Spirit, and the wineskin represents a person's capacity to receive and adapt to that new thing. Brian opened by replaying the Nicodemus story through a clip from The Chosen, letting the room identify what new wine Jesus was offering (a spiritual kingdom, not a political one) and what made Nicodemus' wineskin too stiff to hold it (the law, and a lifetime of assumptions about what the Messiah would do).
From there Brian made the point that you cannot simply add Jesus to your life. The illustration from the sermon's own text was direct: a new patch sewn onto an old garment destroys both the patch and the garment, and new wine poured into an old wineskin bursts the skin and wastes the wine. Trying to keep your old life intact while folding Jesus in around the edges produces the same result. You end up, Brian said, a lousy sinner and a lousy Christian at the same time.
The cost, then, is death. Wineskins are made from animal hide, and no animal has ever volunteered its stomach. Something has to die for a wineskin to exist. Brian applied that directly: a new wineskin is purchased through death to old mindsets, tightly held traditions, and previously held theological assumptions. He made this concrete with a series of "you might need a new wineskin if" examples, covering everything from an unchallenged pre-tribulation assumption to a husband who has left spiritual leadership to his wife.
The rich young ruler in Mark 10 illustrated what happens when the cost is too high. Jesus looks at him, loves him, and then offers one drop of new wine: sell everything and follow me. The man's wineskin, which had successfully held the law of Moses since childhood, could not stretch to contain that one thing. He walked away sorrowful, and Brian noted that the sorrow itself was significant. The man felt in his spirit what he was losing, even as he walked away from it.
Bartimaeus, who appears just a few verses later, showed the opposite. Brian pointed the room to specific details in the text: Bartimaeus throwing off his cloak (his only material possession, the kind of thing Exodus says you should never take as collateral because it is all a man has), leaving his spot by the road, and asking not for a transaction but for mercy. He did not want Jesus added to his blind-beggar life. He wanted the whole thing changed. Brian also noted, from something offered in the room, that Bartimaeus was not identifying with his father's infamous reputation, which was another kind of death, a willingness to leave behind who people had decided he was.
Brian closed by turning the question personal. Jesus is patient, he said, in the same way he was patient with Nicodemus. He will not force new wine into an old wineskin because he knows it will burst and the wine will be lost. But there is a point at which what has worked up to now becomes inadequate for where he is trying to take you. The invitation into communion was framed as a practical, physical moment to say yes to the new wine, knowing full well what saying yes will cost.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
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.
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 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?
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?
El pastor Brian predicó dentro de una serie llamada "New Wine" (Vino Nuevo). Explicó que el vino nuevo representa la manera nueva en que Dios quiere moverse en nuestros corazones y en la iglesia, mientras que el odre representa la capacidad de una persona para recibir y adaptarse a esa obra del Espíritu Santo. El mensaje central fue este: obtener un odre nuevo tiene un costo, y ese costo es la muerte, la muerte a las viejas mentalidades, tradiciones y formas de pensar.
Para ilustrarlo, comparó dos historias del Evangelio de Marcos. El joven rico se acercó a Jesús con buenas intenciones, había cumplido los mandamientos desde joven, pero cuando Jesús le ofreció el vino nuevo, el hombre se fue triste porque no estaba dispuesto a soltar lo que tenía. En cambio, Bartimeo, un mendigo ciego con una reputación de familia deshonrosa, tiró su manto, pidió misericordia y siguió a Jesús. Bartimeo mostró lo que cuesta un odre nuevo: soltar lo que uno sostiene con fuerza, salir de la zona de comodidad y someterse a Jesús.
Brian terminó el mensaje con la Cena del Señor, invitando a la congregación a recibir ese vino nuevo como un acto concreto de decir sí al nuevo trabajo que Dios quiere hacer en sus vidas.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados:
Mateo 9:14-17
Lucas 5:33-39
Marcos 10:17-28
Marcos 10:46-52
Juan 19 (mencionado en referencia a Nicodemo)
Isaías (mencionado brevemente en referencia al manto que llena el templo)
1 Juan 1:9
Éxodo (mencionado en referencia al manto como posesión principal del pobre)
Read the full transcript10,655 words
Woah. I
always forget.
Good morning. How is everyone this morning? Jeanine are back. The world is right again.
We can worship freely now. Let's stand together. Lord, we tell you that we're here for you. We're here to worship you. We're here because of you.
Come and encounter. Meet with us today because we sing of your holy name, your great name today. Amen.
All the earth rejoice. He wraps himself in life and darkness tries to hide trembles at his voice trembles at his voice how great is I got sing with me how great beginning and the end the godhead free in one father spirit inside how oh we'll see how great how great is our god let's just declare that this morning fill this place with praise how great is our god sing with me how great is our god we'll see how great how great is our god. So, you're the name above. You're the name above you are worthy of praise and my heart will see how great is our God. Just think about those words this morning.
You're the name great is our god. Oh, we'll see how great how great is our god. Sing you the name above. Above all day. You are worthy of all praise.
And my heart will sing. How great is our God. Yes, Lord. Lord, we
sing of your greatness today. We sing of your greatness. I feel like we just need to take a second and just exhale. Just remind ourselves why we're here this morning, why we got up this morning on this snowy Sunday and got dressed all nice and came out and scraped our windshield, not to just check a box, but to meet with the risen savior, to meet with the God, the king of kings, and the lord of lords, the one who is so worthy of our time. Who's so worthy of our attention, of our affection, of our worship today.
And I just feel like let's just take a minute and let's just exhale and let's just fix our eyes on the Lord today, this morning. Whatever you're going through, whatever you come in here with today, I just encourage you whether you feel like it or not, open your mouth today and praise him. I'm telling you something will change. The atmosphere of your heart, of the space around you, of this space will change. Because Lord we don't worship you just because we feel like it, we worship you because you're worthy and it's all we have to give back to you.
Lord forgive us where we've made you small or brought you, put you in some kind of box or allowed you to work in just certain ways. Lord, you you are the king of kings and the lord of lords and we remind ourselves of that this morning that God that we are worshiping, Let us have a healthy fear of you that we would come humbly before you, freely before you.
Say here I am. Here I am. Humbled by your majesty, covered by your grace so free. Here I am. Here I am.
I'm knowing knowing I'm a sinful man. Covered covered by the blood of the lamb. And now I found, majesty your grace your grace has found me just as I am. Hallelujah. In the presence of your majesty.
He's here, your majesty. Yeah. Lord, I worship you in your majesty. Sing it. We're singing just sing Just think about Majesty, I'm changed.
Forever I am changed by your love. In the presence of your majesty your majesty oh yes tell him you worship him this Tell him thank you this morning. One more time, majesty. Singing majesty. Sing of his holiness.
You. Sing forever. Forever I am changed by your love in the presence of your majesty. Yes, Lord.
Yes, sir. You're looking for this computer?
Thanks. Oh, there it is. Step back, honey. Found it. Majesty.
Majesty. It's a word we're singing over and over. Majesty. Majesty. What's up with that word majesty?
How how many times did you use that word this week? Majesty. Seven times, 12 times, 13 times, zero times, majesty. Majesty. Majesty.
Why are we singing that word over and over again? Majesty. The word majesty has with it a governmental connotation. And here's what that means. When we sing, when we extol the majesty of God, we are proclaiming his rightful legal authority over everything.
Yes, my man. What have you bumped up against in your life this week? There is nothing that has greater legal authority than the very presence in the spirit of the living God. Nothing can stand against him. He literally the legal authority over every single situation in your life.
So what did you bump up against this week? You don't have to answer. He's the boss of it. He's in charge of it. So when we sing majesty, we are proclaiming the rightful place of the king of kings That's right.
Back on the throne Hallelujah. Of the universe, of planet Earth, over our hearts, and over any situation that we're going through. I know that you knew that already, but I just thought I would remind it of you so that as we sing this one last time, you know, if there was any last ounce of reservation in your heart today, You can banish it and just praise God for his legal reigning and ruling authority over every... And here's what that means. He rules over it, so he will not let it go beyond his set boundary.
Thank you, Jesus, for your majesty. Yes. We praise you for your majesty. Let's just let's just tell him. Tell them.
Sing it together. You know what I picture every time I sing this song? This is my favorite worship song by the way. The one that if I get a choice of a song to sing for all eternity, that's gonna be... Or I could sing of your love forever.
Seems fitting as well. But what I picture when I sing this, I get this picture in my mind of... I know a lot of you are too young to remember this, but when the wedding of prince Charles and princess Diana was like such a huge deal. Who remembers that? I mean, it was like the biggest deal.
I remember the picture of her... The train of her row... Of her dress was like as long as the cathedral. I mean, I don't even know. We we should look it up.
Somebody Google it. It was like a 100 feet long or something and it was to represent like the regality, the royalty, the like... I mean, it was so inspiring. It was everywhere. Everyone was talking about like the her train on her veil, on her dress filled the entire aisle And we as humans were just...
I mean, I remember as a little girl looking at pictures of it and just like, how did she carry it? And like, she had hundreds of people like holding it. And I just remember when I first heard this song after I first got saved and I read that scripture in Isaiah, the train of his robe fills the temple. And I mean, that's just a earthly wedding. I mean, that's just like what man can fashion with fabric and thread.
And I just... Oh, just to think about his majesty, that's what I think about. Because I mean, there's so many facets to the Lord. There's so many facets. He's Jesus my best friend like the one who holds my hand in the mud.
And he's also the king of kings whose train of his robe fills the temple and that there's angels singing around him right now y'all. Holy holy holy. Every time they take a glance, all they can say is, holy are you, holy and set apart, holy. So let's let's just take a minute. Let's just think about that.
To get a picture in your mind when you sing these worship songs, ask the holy spirit. Like, don't want these to just be words. I want these to be revelation of your word. And we're always really careful to pick songs that are scripturally based and that, you know, there's some that I even change the word to because I'm like, that just doesn't... That seems like it's somehow about me and not about him and we just always wanna ask the Lord, Lord, show me who you are in everything that I do, every song that I sing, every word that I speak Lord.
Give me a picture of how great you are. They're so holy. We sing this last week and I just felt like I felt like we were just joining our voices with the angels in heaven. Just ask the holy spirit for a picture of his greatness today that would shift whatever it is that you're going through in light of his greatness today.
Your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all. All thrones and dominions or powers and position. Name stands above them all. Sing that your name, your name is the highest, your name is the greatest, your name stands above them all. All throes, all throes, and dominions, all powers, and position.
Your name stands above them all and the angels cry all creation cries are holy forever. Yes, you are your name because your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones, all thrones and dominions, power and positions.
Name stands above them all. Sing your name. Your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all.
All throws all throws holy holy yes you are god and the angels cry all creation cries holy you are lifted holy, holy forever. Sing one more time. Your name is the highest. Sing it to him this morning. Your name is the highest.
Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. Anything you could be going through today. All thrones and dominions or powers and positions. Your name stands above them all.
Your name your name is the highest. Your name is the greatest. Your name stands above them all. All thrones, all thrones and dominions of power and positions your name stands above them all and the angels cry. Come on sing.
All creation cry.
Let your worship rise.
You are lifted high yes lifted high holy forever. How great because how great sing are you God? Are you God? Come on, sing with me. How great are you God?
Are you God? Oh, we'll see how great. How great are you got? Yes, you are. One more time, last time.
How great? Just lift your voice. How great are you God? Come on, sing it out. Sing with me.
How great are you God? And oh, we'll see how great how great are you God.
Oh, Lord, we just acknowledge that you are here in this place today. You are the guest of honor. We wouldn't wanna do church without you, heaven forbid. Oh, we all have better things to do. But Lord, when you're here, you come and you change us.
You set captives free, you break bondages off of us. There's no place we would rather be than in your presence. Fix our eyes, fix our hearts on you today and as we dig into your word, Lord, we ask that we would be changed by the hearing and the obedience of your word today. That
we
would not just be hearers but we would be doers of your word today. Change us. I ask right now that every person who leaves through those swinging saloon doors today had an encounter with you because they gave you permission today to come even into those dark places, those places that the enemy would try to heap shame or condemnation. That you would come and you would just pour your love out on us today, your grace, your mercy, your conviction today. Thank you for all you're doing already.
Thank you that we can come freely like this to worship you. We do not take that lightly or for granted today. We tell you we love you Jesus and everybody said, amen. Turn around and say good morning to someone. Greet them, act like you've been here forever even if you're a first time visitor.
Alright. Yeah. Know. I love it. I love it.
It's it's coming. Is it warm? I bumped it down a little bit. I bumped it down so it'll it'll cool off. It'll get better.
Because it was too hot. Leave it. Alright. This is good practice for thanksgiving. Bumping around, seeing faces we haven't seen in a while, hugs all over the place.
This is great. Maybe after church, we'll like break out Catan or something. Put on an Indiana Jones movie. I don't know. Whatever your holiday family tradition.
Break out... Oh, my gosh. Elf. That's a good one. Story.
Christmas There's a connect card in your seat. If you are new or visiting or just passing through, we would love to have a record of your visit. You can fill that out. There's also an opportunity for Brittany Simcoe to sit on the front row who is back visiting with us all the way from the Far Far East Coast of The United States, which is great. Christian is home for Thanksgiving break.
Jay and Nina are home. My gosh. It's just like things are getting more and more right in the world with getting to see all of you. That connect card, it's a great way for you to communicate with us, and it's an opportunity for us to communicate with you. We do an an occasional text blast that goes out, and so if you wanna stay with the vibe of tribe, you can just fill that out and leave it in the in the box right there behind the the...
Right near the swinging saloon doors. Also, there's opportunity for a prayer request on there. If there's anything that you need prayer for, we would love to agree with you in prayer. And I'm so glad that you're here with us today for the conversation because we've been in a conversation for the last couple of weeks talking about this idea of new wine and the container for the new wine, a a wineskin, and so far, in the first couple of weeks, we have answered two really basic questions. What is the...
What does the new wine represent? What does the new wine skin represent? And, we are going to go over those answers by just way of bringing everybody up to speed right after we read God's word together. There are two places that we're gonna read from this morning. Matthew chapter nine and then Luke chapter five.
And as part of our conversational atmosphere, I'm going to invite you, not all to read along together, that's too churchy, but I would invite somebody... Kat has the mic in the room, and if you'd be willing to read that first passage, Matthew nine fourteen through 17 and then we'll go to Luke chapter five, but who would be willing to read that for me? And the reason why we have a mic in the room is you probably could be heard in the room without a mic, but for all of our families that are watching the livestream, there... Your mic'd voice goes into the livestream so that people who are watching can stay engaged and hear what you have to say. They like to hear your pretty voice too.
Matthew nine.
Then the disciples of John came to him saying, why do we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast? And Jesus said to them, can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. No one puts a put a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. Neither is new wine put into old wine skins.
If it is, the skins burst, the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wine skins and so both are preserved.
Well done. Let's take Luke in chapter five. The Sunday that not one person laughs, smiles, smirks, or even shows a resemblance of a grin is the last Sunday I'll do it. You'll
have to save it for a
Sunday I'm not here because I will always fall for that.
You will always fall for that. That's why I need you. What did you do? I was like, I just kept talking. Right.
Yeah. Yeah. Some... One person's gonna laugh, and the rest of the church is gonna go, my gosh. No, it didn't.
Alright. We'll have our family discussion afterwards. Would you please read for us Luke chapter five verse 33 through 39?
And they said to him, the disciples of John fast often and offer prayers, and so do the disciples of the Pharisees, but yours eat and drink. And Jesus said to them, can you make wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in those days. He also told them a parable. No one tears a piece from a new garment and puts it on an old garment.
If he does, he will tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says, the old is good.
Isn't that interesting? The old wine is good enough. So it's a passage that that many of us have read probably lots and lots of times, but we wanted to get really practical and and strip away all of the the the things that we think we might know about what Jesus could be saying, and we just got really basic. We've just been really practical, and we've looked at... The first question that we tackled was what does the new wine represent?
And, we answered that question in two ways. What does the new wine represent? We answered specifically, what does the new wine represent? Jesus came to fulfill the law and establish a new covenant, a new way of having a right relationship with God. And, we talked about that.
We'll put that up on the screen for you really quickly so that you can take a picture of it or write it down in your notes. What does the new wine represent? Specifically, Jesus came to fulfill the law and establish a new covenant, a new way of having a right relationship with God, but it also works on a macro level. What does the new wine represent generally? Generally, new wine is any new way that God is moving in your heart, in our church, in the big c church around the world.
That's what the new wine represents. And then last week, we tackled this question, what does the wine skin represent? And, we looked at we looked at a passage about Nicodemus, and I'm gonna remind you of that in just a moment, but the wine... We answered this question, what does the wineskin represent? The wineskin represents a person's capacity to receive and adapt to a new work of the Holy Spirit in their life.
It sounds so basic and so simple and so straightforward, but there's really a lot to it. What is your capacity to be able to change, to grab a hold of, to adopt, to buy into whatever new work the Holy Spirit is wanting to do either in your heart, in the life of a church, or in the big c church, or in the world around us. And last week, we looked... We read the story of Nicodemus, a pharisee, coming to Jesus at night, and it was a beautiful illustration of Nicodemus literally like, where does this new wine go and can I? What are you saying?
So we read that story last week. So what I thought we would do just before we get into today's conversation, I thought I would bring us... Put us all on the same page to review that story, but instead of reading it again, let's engage with the story through the eyes of a producer that has made that series The Chosen. And so, this is just a short little clip of Nicodemus wrestling with the new wine, and I want you to be looking for what is the new wine that Jesus is talking about, and where do you see this new wine skin thing coming into play? Let's see if we can roll that clip.
Mhmm. Can you see it? Perceive. So if I told you of earthly things and you do not believe, how can I tell you heavenly things? I believe your words.
I just fear you may not have a chance to speak many more of them before you are silenced. I have come to do more than speak words and goodness. I did not come to deliver the people from wrong. And from what? From sin.
From spiritual death. So what is in that story? What is the new wine that Jesus is presenting Nicodemus? You can just just tell me, and I'll I'll say it. Well, you don't need the mic.
Again. To be born again in the the the arrival of the Holy Spirit. What else is the new wine that Jesus is pouring out for Nicodemus right there? A new kingdom. Yes.
The... He is announcing the arrival of a new kingdom and the opportunity for citizenship in the new kingdom. That's really good. That what? Oh, yes.
What? That it's not about Rome. Yes. The arrival of the kingdom has nothing to do with Rome. Now, what was Nicodemus' wineskin situation?
The law. Law. Oh, yeah. He was stuck in the law. He was also stuck in the traditional interpretation of
What the Messiah would do when came.
Of what the Messiah would do when he came. Thank you. You get a stool. Sit right here. No.
We're doing this together. We're all doing this together. But but but but but what... I read the law, and I imposed my own interpretation on it, and I thought it had to do with Rome. I thought it had to do with an earthly kingdom.
This is not fitting in the wineskin of what I thought you would do and how you would come. What else is the wineskin issue in this clip? Oh, that's great. External versus internal. Similar to to an an external king coming to kick down the door of Caesar and be like, there's a new sheriff in town.
And Jesus is pouring out the new wine of, I'm talking about an internal spiritual kingdom. And then Jesus says, oh, man. Okay, Nicodemus. I really want you to get this. How can I describe it?
It's like it's like it's like what? The wind. He's trying. He wants he wants... When he pours out new wine, he wants every heart to have a container, a vessel that can receive it.
He's not being elitist, hey man, snooze you lose, you don't get it, sorry. Anything else about the Nicodemus in that wine skin in that moment?
It's it's not condemnation.
Oh, he's being so patient with Nicodemus. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, well, let's just pour a little in at a time. Little in at a time.
You have to be born of of... You have to be born of the spirit. Nicodemus is like, you have to be born again. And Nicodemus is like, wait, what? Stretches.
And then he says, you have to be born of water, like from a mommy, and of the spirit. And then he just maxes out. And then last week, what was the end of the story? How did Nicodemus turn the corner? We read...
That's right. We read it in John chapter 19. I'm gonna help you out. We read it in John chapter 19. There were two people that came to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.
Who was one of those people? Oh, buddy. He got that new wineskin. And if he got a new wineskin, there's hope for your stubborn, crusty, stale, dried out, no more stretch to it heart. But getting a new wineskin will cost you.
Oh, wait. That's the title of today's conversation. You can write that at the top of your notes. It's gonna cost you. Like when you take your car to the mechanic, oh, we can fix it but it's gonna cost you.
Mark chapter 10. Let's look at Mark chapter 10. Would somebody please read verse 17 through 28? And I'm going to announce that there could be in a few verse... There could be a few verse extension.
Just depends on how we feel when we get to verse 28. Mark chapter 10. Let's read verses 17 through 28, and we're going to keep in mind the idea of the conversation that we're having today about obtaining a new wineskin. So keep that keep that document open on your desktop while you open a new window of the bible, and we're gonna overlay those two things. We're gonna hold them side by side on our desktop.
Mark chapter 10, would somebody please read verse 17 through 28? And we may go further. Thank you so much, Jay.
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Know the commandments. Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not defraud. Honor your father honor your father and mother.
And he said to him, teacher, all these things I have kept for my youth. And Jesus looking at him loved him and said to him
Oh, wow. That's great. Wait. Where did you see... And where...
What... Wait. 21? Yours says looking at him Loved him. Loved him.
Oh, yeah. Mine says, felt genuine love for him. That's a cool detail.
Verse 21. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him Wow. And said to him, you lack one thing. Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.
Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, how difficult it is for those... It will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. And they were exceedingly astonished and said to him, then who can be saved? Jesus looked at them and said, with man, it is impossible, but not with God, for all things are possible with God. Peter began to say to him, see, we have left everything and followed you.
Alright. We'll we'll pause right there. How can you see the dynamic of new wine and the dynamic of a wineskin playing out in this little... Small little self contained story to use a theological phrase called a pericope. In this little pericopee, which is different than a chickpea, what do you see about wineskin and new wine?
I'd love to hear from you. How do you see those two different things? What... Let's... We'll we'll we'll start with the new wine.
I think you have to make a choice on what you're gonna do with that new wine. Okay. How are you gonna use that new wine? Okay. You know, you've got the new skin.
You've got the new wine. But now, you have to be a part of that.
How do you see that in this?
Well, that guy, he's making a choice.
The the the rich young ruler. The rich young ruler. Mhmm. He got to
make a choice. He wants... He he he's taken it all in, but now he has to make a choice.
Oh. His
actions are gonna determine what he does with that new wife.
Wouldn't it be great if we could just, like, add Jesus to our life? How many people think of themselves as Christians and all they've really done is add Jesus to their life? Did you have your hand up? No? You were just like...
Okay. Alright. If it's... If it if it... If you need to, just...
We'd love to hear from you. You can't just add Jesus to your life. Okay. Okay. Right here.
Ella.
You were asking, like, how you see old wineskin and new oneskin in this story. So the verse we read earlier was talking about how people are okay with their old wineskin, how they would rather have that. And the rich young ruler, he turns away when Jesus gives him the opportunity to give away everything that he has. And he says, well, actually, I'm okay with having all of this possession and all of this. Like, I'm not ready to give that up, so I'll take the old wine skin.
Oh my goodness. That's awesome. You can create a manual hyperlink. Is that... Does such a thing exist?
In your bible by by taking the passage that we read earlier and just write it in the margin of your bible of the passage that we just read. This perfectly illustrates what Jesus said in Luke when he said most people though, after tasting the new wine, choose to stick with the old stuff.
Maybe this is where you're going with your message, but I'd love to hear a little bit more of why you can't just add Jesus to your life.
In the same way that Jesus used two different examples of the wineskin and the fabric, he says he uses the fabric first. I came... I come from the days of, like, my mom buying me Levi Wranglers that were, like, this too long and, like, this too big on my waist because the first time you put them in the wash, they were, like, shrink up and like fit me. And in today's modern era of like pre shrunk fabric, we we don't deal with that too much. But in Jesus' day, when you wove a new garment, if you were to cut a patch out of it and put it on an old garment, and then after it got worn, after it got wet, after you washed it, the new fabric would shrink, it would tear the patch, and then Jesus said, what two things would be lost?
The new patch and the old garment, and then we're gonna get to the wine. And then likewise, he said... And I love what Conor said last week just before... As he was rolling into offering an announcement. He says, there are lots of different vessels for containing various kinds of liquids, and you put the right liquid in the right vessel.
You could put water in jars or in stone jars, but you did not put new wine into clay jars because of the fermentation process, it would like explode. You need to put new wine so that it can ferment into a fresh wineskin that still had stretch. You cannot add Jesus to your life because if you try to fit him and his ways and following him into just adding it into your life, it will wreck your life. Were you out sleeping with your girlfriend on Friday and Saturday night, and then you just try to add him and, like, be a Christian on Sunday morning? That's gonna wreck you.
And it really makes you miserable at both. Right? You're not a very good Christian when you look just like the world the rest of the week. Dishonest in your in your life and in your morality, but then try to but then try to come in here, you wanna draw close to the Lord, you do draw close to the Lord, he meets you, and Jesus loved him. Jesus is loving you.
You get your heart washed clean, and then you're like, ah. And then your friends ask you to go out and live that old lifestyle, and that's awful because it doesn't taste as good as the new wine that you've been drinking at church, and then you're a lousy sinner and a lousy Christian. That's why you can't add him. Purchasing a new wineskin will cost you, and we're gonna talk about specifically what that cost is in just a moment. Great question, Jay.
Great question. I... You know, to your point of not being all in with Jesus, you know, it speaks to the the young rich ruler, and he goes away disheartened and sorrowful. You know? It's not it's not even like he's just like, can't do that.
See you. It's like he's feeling that loss in his in his spirit and in his person that he doesn't have the ability to go all in.
Yes. The new wine that Jesus is pouring out, first of all, he checks him because the rich young ruler tries to win favor with him by, like like, gassing him up, by, like like like, flattering him. Good teacher. And Jesus is like, why are you talking like that? Nobody's good but the lord.
But anyways, what's your question? You know, I've done... Like, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And then Jesus is like, alright. We'll start with the bar being really easy low, lists off several commandments, and then the rich young ruler is like, check, check, check, check.
Anything else, Jesus? And he's like, dude, you're in. You're in. You've done it. You've earned.
You've inherited righteousness. You've done... Oh, well, I mean, there's there's one little thing. It's an easy little thing. And then what does he do?
He pours out new wine. Your wineskin, rich young ruler, has been able to successfully contain all the laws of Moses since you were a child. But Jesus is like, one drop of new wine. He says, you lack 10 things? No.
He says you lack 20 things. What does he say? You lack one thing. Just one. One little thing.
Just go sell all that you have, give it to the poor, and then come follow me. That one drop of new wine, his wineskin could not contain it. Now I can I can see your wheels turning? I know that that many of you would have something that you would wanna say, but let's talk about obtaining a new wineskin. Getting a new wineskin is gonna cost you.
What is the price to be paid for a new wineskin if you were to... If I were to like, send you mentally the one word that I was looking for you to say in terms of purchasing a new wineskin, what does it cost to buy a new wineskin? What would you say? And you can just try some try some words out. Everything.
Oh, everything. Sorry. That's... I mean that's that that's... Yeah, that's pretty good.
That's pretty good. But there's one word that I'm looking for specifically, and think back to an actual physical wineskin. Obtaining a new wineskin will cost you. What does it cost you? Life.
But I was... I mean, you were all getting it. In one word, in one word, obtaining a new wineskin costs you death. Death. Death must happen in order to purchase a new wineskin.
New wineskin is only purchased through death. New wineskins don't come for free, it will cost you something. How are wineskins made? There's never been a goat, cow, sheep that's been like, oh, hey, I'm not using my stomach. I have an extra one.
I mean, some animals do have extra stomachs. But but wine was fermented within the the the stomach bladder of an animal that had to die. Now, what had to die in order to make a stone vessel? Nothing. What had to die in order to make a clay jar?
Nothing. But Jesus talks about life in the spirit, walking with him, following him, not as an addition to your life. I mean, he can be added to your life for a while for a season if the two of you are like getting to know one another, and he... Just like he was patient with Nicodemus, he'll be patient with you. But when you come to that place of I'm done living my life out of my own resources, energy, intellect, strength, I surrender all to you, that's a picture of death.
Wineskins don't come for free. It will cost you something. Death to what? Death to your old mindset? Death to your tightly held traditions?
Death to your religious dogma? You can't have church in a bar. If you bump up against something in the church or in this church that causes you to... Well, we always... We never...
Like, that that could be an old brittle wineskin that's creeping up. You might need a new wineskin. Remember... How many how many of you remember Jeff Foxworthy? You might be a redneck if...
Raise your hand. Alright. For you young kids in here, Jeff Foxworthy was this like southern comedian and he would always talk about like, well, you might be a redneck if, and he would go on and on. I wrote just a few of them down. You might be a redneck if directions to your house include turn off the paved road.
You might be a redneck if both your dog and your wallet are both on chains. You might be a redneck if there's a stuffed possum somewhere in your house. I mean, I'll keep going until you laugh more hearty at each one of these. You might be a redneck if you own a homemade fur coat. This is this is parents.
You might be a redneck if on your mama's Christmas list it says ammo. You might be a redneck if you consider a six pack and a bug zapper high quality entertainment. You might be a redneck if your mom has ever been involved in a cussing fight with the principal. You might be a redneck if you've ever financed a tattoo. You might be a redneck if you've ever worn a tube top to a wedding.
You might be a redneck if you ever go outside to get something out of the fridge. You might be a redneck if you've never paid for a haircut. You might be a redneck if you've ever climbed a water tower to redeem your sister's honor. Now that was the warm up. We are going to play a little game called, you might need a new wineskin if.
Gonna make you wish you had laughed at the redneck jokes a little more, because I am going step on your toes. You might need a new wineskin if you only think that you will be raptured before the tribulation. Might need a new wineskin. If you think God's seven main family traditions are only for the Old Testament and for Jews, you might need a new wineskin. If you get itchy when church goes longer than eighty minutes once a week, you might need a new wine skin.
If you have a passive no man knows the day or the hour of the return of Jesus, and you just have an... Just passive wait and see attitude, you might need a new wineskin. If your wife carries this spiritual burden and is a spiritual leader of your family, you definitely need a new wineskin. If you don't let your husband spiritually lead your family, you need a new wineskin. Anybody wanna go back to the redneck jokes now?
Bonus round. I'll just say it. Can your current wine skin contain the fact that that our government has literally acknowledged that UFOs are real? Well, they're just demonic spirits. Well, demonic spirits have like crashed vehicles and our government has said, we've got materials that we don't know what they are or where they came from, terrestrial or extra.
Can your wineskin contain the fact that the bible talks about more than just God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, but that he actually has a divine counsel with which he consults to make decisions about the cosmos and the universe. Oh, I can tell everybody's like, oh, now to distract you with a baby. You've just been let off the hook with the keynote. How is a new wineskin purchased? A new wineskin is purchased by saying, Lord, I surrender to your leadership.
I've thought about this, I've considered this, it's been challenging for me, but I accept your invitation to the new thing that you're doing. And I love you and I trust you. New wineskins are purchased with death. Death to your old mentality, death to your old ways, Death to previously tightly held conceived construct. Now, we don't abandon the old wineskin until Jesus, not me, not a church, not a church culture, not popular society, only Jesus, only Jesus pours out new wine for us.
And you'll know that it's new wine because just like the rich young ruler, there's gonna be some tension, there's gonna be some challenge, there's gonna be conviction. You will have to wrestle with it, and you will realize that it's new wine because there will be an invitation for death. To die to some old pattern, to die to some old mindset, to let go or modify something that you've always read and and and seen. So we saw the story of the rich young ruler. Good teacher.
But let's keep reading in the book of Mark and read about the next person that Jesus bumps into. Mark chapter 10. I'll read in verse 46. Then they reached Jericho. And as Jesus and his disciples left town, a large crowd followed him.
A blind beggar named Bartimaeus, son of Timaeus. That word Timaeus means unclean and of infamous reputation. He was a scoundrel. Timaeus was a scoundrel, a crook, a swindler, unobservant Jew, a lawbreaker, an outcast, a rebel. And guess what his son's name?
His son's name was, you're just like your dad. Bartimaeus. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus. Oh, and remember the story of Jesus and the disciples walking on, and they saw a blind man, a man that had been blind since birth, and the disciples asked, Jesus, remember? Who sinned?
Him or his parents? Following right down in the line. And so when they... When people saw and knew of Bartimaeus, they're like, of course, he's blind. He get...
He got what he deserved. He's a junkie. He's a failure. He's a loser. Just like his dad.
He was sitting beside the road. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus of Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. What did the rest of the world tell him to do? Shut up. Many of the people yelled at him, but he only shouted louder, Son of David, have mercy on him.
When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said to him, tell him to come here. So they called to the blind man, cheer up. They said, come on. He's calling you. Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus.
What would you have me do for you? Jesus asked. My rabbi, rabboni, the blind man said. I want to see. He said, I want to see.
And Jesus said to him, go, for your faith has healed you. Instantly, the man could see, and he followed Jesus down the road. Can you see the parallels between these two stories? One man comes up to Jesus, and Jesus pours out new wine, and the man what? Walks away, dejected, downcast, the Bible says, because he wasn't willing to.
Bartimaeus demonstrated a willingness to purchase a new wineskin through death. How can you see Bartimaeus purchasing a new wineskin? Let's look carefully at the text, and then you can answer, and then we're going to go into communion again today. How can... How did Bartimaeus show a willingness to buy a new wineskin?
He threw off his coat. There's there's there's one thing. Yep. And we'll talk about that. What else do you see?
He didn't identify with his father's son.
Oh. He was willing to abandon the reputation by his father. I didn't even have that in my notes. That's a good one. I'll write that down.
So good. What else do you see? He asked, have mercy on you. Have mercy? So there's some contrition there.
He wasn't looking to, like, add a miracle of Jesus to his life. He was asking for mercy. And how can you ask for mercy if you don't know your, admit, cognizant, become aware of your current state that you even need mercy? Well, that... I I didn't have that one written down either.
It's true. Let's put let's put all of these up here on the screen. You'll be able to see them. In one instance, the man says, will you do this for me? The other instance, the man says, Jesus, will you?
There's there's some contrast there between the two people. I love that. So look at this. Bartimaeus was willing to throw aside his possession, his cloak. In the book of Exodus, the Bible talks about if you secure a loan for somebody and they give you their cloak as collateral, don't keep their cloak.
It's their only possession. How else will they keep warm at night? That's their livelihood. That's their that's their main material possession. That's one of their most important things in their life.
And what does blind Bartimaeus do? He casts it aside. He's willing to throw aside his previously held tight gripped position. Number two, he left his comfort zone. In order to receive the new wine of what Jesus has for you, you were going to have to abandon your old tightly held previously previously held position and leave your comfort zone.
The third thing is he fell at Jesus's feet. He... Submit submit to Jesus. Submit to Jesus. Submit to Jesus.
Quit trying to do it on your own. Submit to Jesus. His sight was instantly restored. And then did he go back to his little blind beggar spot? Did he go back to get his coat?
Nope. It says that he followed Jesus. Lord, what you're speaking to me through this series or when I read something in your word about the return of Jesus, developing an expectation of eagerness and excitement for your return, challenging me on my paradigm of what church is and what it should look like and and and and... Oh, this is this is just a lot. There is a a beautiful gentle invitation from Jesus.
He is wise and he is economical. He will offer your new wine, but he's not going to continue to pour out old wine, new wine into your old wineskin because he knows that you just can't handle it. And then remember, he says, how can you not understand these these physical things that I'm talking about? I can't even get to the spiritual stuff. Remember he said that to Nicodemus?
There's so much. I'm ready for that wireless mic so I can walk and preach for a second. There is so much that Jesus wants to to lead you in. But he says, you gotta have a new wineskin to be able to contain the the new wine, the new way that I want to move in your life, the new place that I wanna take you to. Now what he has been doing, what he has said, days, weeks, months, maybe even years, has been adequate and it's been sufficient perhaps.
But he says, I am doing a new thing. And I love you enough to tell you that the wineskin that you have had up until this moment has has been adequate. It's worked. It's been good enough. But the new wine that I'm pouring out, you're gonna need a new wine skin for.
And so many people would say, can you just... Can like... Isn't there like a little bit of stretch left? He knows the condition of your wineskin way better than you. And he says, no, baby girl.
If you try to put the new thing that I'm doing in your heart and doing in your life into your current existing wineskin, you'll be stretched too far. Your wineskin will burst. The new wine that I'm pouring out will be spilled on the ground, and then you don't even have the old wineskin. I know it's scary. It's scary to say, okay.
That wine was for that season in that container, and I'm gonna set that aside. I know it's scary. That's why we have the story of Nicodemus in the Bible, to help us, to encourage us so that we can see what Nicodemus wrestled through, so we can see how Jesus was patient with us. What new wine would Jesus be wanting to pour out into your life and into your heart today? He's always inviting us into deeper waters.
Help us, Lord. Help us. It's gonna cost you. So we said some words, sang some songs. How about a a practical, tactile opportunity to encounter the Lord by participating in one of the sacraments that the Lord has established that we know of as communion.
When we drink from the cup of communion, it is an incredible, beautiful picture of receiving the new wine of the new thing that he wants to do in our life and in our heart. The Lord would say, I'm trying... I'm I'm I'm using this climber dirtbag ski bum to use his Brian ness to try to get through to you that that the world is changing. The world is changing. And if you try to go through the days of...
The days ahead with your current wineskin, it's going to be inadequate and insufficient. For the days ahead, you need new wine. And I love you enough to tell you your old wineskin ain't gonna cut it. So as we come to the table of communion today, let's be mindful of the invitation of the Holy Spirit to to receive the new wine that he has for us. The Bible records that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, the bible says that he was in the upper room with his disciples and that during the meal, Jesus took bread.
He blessed it, and then he broke it. He gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat, for this bread represents my life's body, which I am giving for you. And then during the meal, the bible records that Jesus took another cup. He gave it to his disciples and he said, take and drink for this cup represents my life's blood which is poured out for you, and it ratifies or confirms a new covenant that I am making with you in my life's blood. And then he used some language that was very familiar to people gathered around at the table that had ever either been married, like Peter, or had been around the culture of a wedding or an engagement.
Because when a young man would make a proposal to a young woman, he would go to their house, they would have a fancy dinner, the young woman was all prettied up, no one like, here it comes, he's gonna ask the question. He would stand up, He would take a cup, and then he would pronounce his wedding vows to the young woman, not at the altar at their wedding day, but at the engagement. He would hand her the cup as he pronounced his wedding vows, and if she received the cup, go ahead. That would... That was like her saying yes, and then he would say, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you on our wedding day.
Jesus said, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it anew with you in my father's kingdom. Behold, the cup of salvation, the cup of redemption, the cup of eternal life, the cup of the Lord. Jesus, I ask that in the sacredness of this moment that you would perform a miracle, that you would take these simple common elements and you would transform them into a sacrament, which is simply a means of grace where we can touch you and encounter you by faith. God, I ask that you would meet us in the mystery of this meal, that we would say yes to the invitation of receiving your new wine knowing that it's gonna cost us, and the price to be paid is death. Death to holding on to old mentalities and mindsets, death to to previously held things, death to doubt, and that we would drink deeply of your new wine.
We pray these things in Jesus' name, and everybody said, amen. Here's how we take communion at tribe in in just a moment. I'm invite Clay to come up to help me serve communion, and our communion is open to anyone that calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. And in just a moment, I'll stand here. I have the elements of communion.
Clay will be off this way. We'll work our way from the back up around and through the front. I'm I'm sure you can figure it out. If you can if you can make it through a crowded lift line, a thunder chair, you can figure this out. Alright?
There's two exclusions for receiving communion, not my standards, but the Lord's standards. Number one is... And this has to do with the wine skin. Number one, if you've not invited Jesus into your heart and you are not a Christian, the bible says that if you partake of communion, you will literally be taking God's judgment on yourself. Your wineskin can't handle it because you ain't got no wineskin.
So do not take communion, and it's not an exclusion of me or tribe. That's just the lord. Number two, if there's if there's any unsettled accounts that you have in your heart between you and the lord, Any unconfessed sin, any any area that you're in the red, the the bible says that you'll be you'll be taking god's judgment on yourself when you partake of communion, and you don't want that. Here's the really cool thing. You can fix both of those before you get up here.
You can invite Jesus into your heart, make him the leader of your life and say, I need a new wine skin. I need the new wine. I need the new life. I need to give it to me all. I get the whole...
I wanna need the whole package. Sign me up. And then the second thing is before you come up here, you can ask Jesus to forgive you. However you've messed up, however you've blown it, just say, Jesus, please forgive me. The Bible says, according to first John one nine, that if we confess our sins, that he is faithful and just.
He will forgive us of our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness. So with that in mind, anybody that remains in their seat during communion, there is no judgment at all. This is an opportunity for you if you would like to take advantage of it. Clay, would you come up here and help me?
Take me back to the garden. Lead me back to the moment. Heard your voice and back to communion. Again. It feels so good to know you are my friend.
This is the garden. Here in the place I find you close. This is communion. You are in the air here's where the dead things Me and you and you and me. I don't have to prove a thing.
You've already approved of me friend because you are closer because you are closer closer than my scare yes you are Jesus
As we stay in this attitude of worship, I was just thinking over the song Majesty that we sang to start the day. And that for us in America, the idea of like royalty and kingdoms and rulers is so foreign in that way. But it used to be that you would have to pay like two royalty. Like each one of us would have to pay a tax tax to whoever the leader was. And I think the new wine skin for us is that Jesus doesn't just ask for a certain small amount, but he asks for all of us.
And he asks for all of our heart. And what a blessing it is too that he doesn't often just ask us to sell every single thing that we have. Right? That we get to keep possessions and that he still will take our offerings every time.
Yeah.
Bow your heads and pray with me over the offering. Father God, we give you everything that we have. We give our lives to you. We give our possessions to you, and we give our time, our talent, and our treasure to you, God. And we ask that you take our natural and throw your super on it, God.
That you do infinitely more than we could ever imagine with the things that we give you, God. That it may be used to further your kingdom here in Jackson, to their surrounding area, and to the world at large, God. Amen. Practically, as far as giving here, we've got a few ways to give. We've got a box by the swinging saloon doors.
We've got a give tab at tribejh.com on our website. And my favorite way is you just write a new text to 84321 and you send any dollar amount. And if it's your first time, it'll ask you a couple setup questions, but after that, it's as easy as texting a friend. Couple announcements. The next two weeks, we'll be meeting at the TMC.
That's right across the street from Whole Foods. We'll be sending out information about it in our text blast. If you don't get the text blast, those connect cards are a great way to make sure that you do. We will have two services at each one, a 9AM and an 11AM. So if you come at 10:00, you might be walking in right into the middle of service, but then you get to do both.
And if you show up here, we will not be here. We will have people kinda taking care of stragglers, but we would love to just see you all at the TMC. We just welcomed a new member into the tribe family, baby Tegan Bates. Chris and Keisha had their baby. Baby Tegan is all healthy.
What a blessing. So cute.
That baby's pretty cute too.
Oh, yeah.
Nice.
And now that winter is starting to feel like it's officially coming, Tri Mountain Adventures is gonna be kicking off the winter season with a free wax night on December 6 at 6PM.
Ladies, that doesn't mean your face.
Yes, exactly. We will be waxing skis and snowboards. If you have gear that you wanna get waxed, come bring it. And then for all of you in the room that would consider yourselves past the young adult club, I would love to see you guys there because this is gonna be a big outreach event. We're gonna push this to as much of the employees at JHMR and any young adult in this valley that we can and get as many of them there.
And for me, my heart has been that a lot of these 20 that are just here for the winter only interact with people their age, in their circle. And to have some of you that have kids, that have families, maybe your kids are gone now, to come and love on these people, to interact with these people, that like you may be the only person outside of that twenties range that they get to interact with besides their boss at work. And it's been on my heart that God is gonna use that in really powerful ways. So we'd love to see as many of you there as possible even if you don't have gear to get waxed. Cause we'll be doing a meal, we'll be hanging out.
So just to have you be able to love on all the people of this valley that come in, that aren't a part of this church, and let them know that they are welcome and that God loves them. It'll be at the TMC, 06:00 December 6. Bee, you wanna come and pray us out?
Thank you, Connor. Before we head out, let's... How about we sing one more time together? Right? Let's let's stand up and just marinate in this song.
Lyssa, would you lead us?
Yeah. Friends and you are closer. You are closer, closer than my scare. Yes, here's where the dead things come back to living I feel my heart being again feels so good feels so good to know you are my friends. And here's where the dead things, and here's where the dead things come back to living.
I feel my heart beating again. It feels so good to know you
are my friend. That's how I always feel when I receive communion. Get right with the Lord, take communion, take part in his... The meal that he's ordained, and just feel that closeness that like, yes, Lord, we're friends. You call me friend.
It's amazing.
Lord Jesus, I command a blessing over each and every member of our tribe family here today. Thank you for the new wine that you're pouring out. We're willing to pay that price of a new wine skin. Give us a great week. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God.
And everybody said
Amen.
Men, I love you. John and Kate, Micas, Lanisha will be in this back corner if there's anything that you need prayer for. I hope you have a great week. And remember, you got this.
