Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Numbers 23:24 Balaam's Spirit-inspired words over Israel about rising up like a lioness and majestic lion, cited as the inspiration behind Israel's Operation Rising Lion
24 Behold, the people rises up as a lioness. As a lion he lifts himself up. He shall not lie down until he eats of the prey, and drinks the blood of the slain.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Revelation 1:12-18
John's vision of the glorified Jesus with white hair, eyes like flame, voice like ocean waves, and a two-edged sword, used to show a deeper revelation of Jesus that results in worship
12 I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands.
13 And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
15 His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
16 He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
18 and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Revelation 5
The whole chapter read aloud, showing the Lamb taking the scroll, the breaking of the seals, and the worship of thousands and millions of angels and living beings around the throne
1 I saw, in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a book written inside and outside, sealed shut with seven seals.
2 I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to break its seals?”
3 No one in heaven above, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look in it.
4 And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look in it.
5 One of the elders said to me, “Don’t weep. Behold, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome; he who opens the book and its seven seals.”
6 I saw in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.
7 Then he came, and he took it out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 They sang a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were killed, and bought us for God with your blood, out of every tribe, language, people, and nation,
10 and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on the earth.”
11 I saw, and I heard something like a voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousands of ten thousands, and thousands of thousands;
12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who has been killed to receive the power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing!”
13 I heard every created thing which is in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb be the blessing, the honor, the glory, and the dominion, forever and ever! Amen!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen!” Then the elders fell down and worshiped.
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Revelation 6:16-17
Kings and rulers hiding from the face of the one on the throne and the wrath of the Lamb, used to show a fuller picture of Jesus than the Sunday school version
16 They told the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb,
17 for the great day of his wrath has come; and who is able to stand?”
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Revelation 12:10-11
Followers of Jesus overcoming the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony, not loving their lives so much as to fear death, used in the section on worship in persecution
10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ has come; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 They overcame him because of the Lamb’s blood, and because of the word of their testimony. They didn’t love their life, even to death.
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Revelation 15:2-4
Those victorious over the beast standing on a sea of glass holding harps, singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, used to close the section on worship in persecution
2 I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who overcame the beast, his image, and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God.
3 They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God, the Almighty! Righteous and true are your ways, you King of the nations.
4 Who wouldn’t fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you only are holy. For all the nations will come and worship before you. For your righteous acts have been revealed.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
On Father's Day 2025, Brian used Israel's Operation Rising Lion against Iran as a doorway into Revelation chapter five, asking what faithful response looks like when headlines and scripture start echoing each other. The answer he kept returning to was worship, not as a feeling or a Sunday routine, but as the defining mark of the church in the generation of Jesus' return. The congregation worked through the question together, with lots of voices in the room.
What was said
Brian opened by sitting with the week's news: Israel had launched a preemptive strike on Iran, the operation was named after a verse in Numbers, and the word "king" was everywhere in the culture because of protests across the country. He was not claiming God engineered each of those events, but he said the intersection of the words king, lion, Israel, war, and armies felt like an invitation to pay attention and ask what posture the heart should take in days like these.
From there he raised a point he said the congregation had been sitting with for a few weeks: the return of Jesus is not going to be the clean, unambiguous moment many of us were taught to picture. He pressed the room on this. Jamie drew a comparison to Israel missing the first coming because the Messiah they expected looked nothing like the one who showed up. Chris Bates added that in an age of digital deception, even a trumpet blast and clouds might be filtered through enough skepticism that millions would refuse to believe it. Brian said he expects large numbers within the church to reject Jesus at his return.
That uncomfortable premise led to a reading of Revelation five, passed around the room verse by verse. The chapter describes a sealed scroll in the right hand of the one on the throne, a lamb who appears to have been slaughtered stepping forward and taking it, and then wave after wave of worship breaking out, first from the four living beings and the twenty-four elders, then from thousands and millions of angels, then from every creature in heaven and earth and under the earth. Brian pointed out that the book people most avoid is, after Psalms, the one with the most songs in the entire Bible.
Brian organized his main argument around three areas where the church in the generation of Jesus' return will be marked by worship. The first is a deeper revelation of Jesus. He read from Revelation chapter one, where John, who had leaned his head on Jesus at the last supper, sees him and falls down as though dead. Brian's point was that the facets of Jesus in Revelation, including what chapter six calls the wrath of the lamb, have been in the Bible the whole time. A church that receives that fuller picture will not produce arrogance or date-setting. It will produce worship.
The second area was worship in the midst of God's judgments. Brian offered a definition of God's judgments as designed to remove whatever hinders love, and intended to bring the maximum number of people into relationship with God through the least possible calamity. He then walked back to what happens in Revelation five when the lamb breaks the first seal. The rider on the white horse that appears, he said, is more likely the antichrist than Jesus, drawing on the pattern of the horsemen elsewhere in scripture. His question to the room was whether they had the theology and the habit to worship Jesus at the moment the activity of the antichrist begins to unfold on the earth.
The third area was worship in persecution. He read from Revelation twelve and fifteen, where people described as victorious over the beast are holding harps and singing. Their victory came, the text says, by the blood of the lamb, by their testimony, and because they did not love their lives so much they were afraid to die. Brian referenced Stephen's face at his stoning and the joy recorded on the faces of apostles being martyred. He said the church in the eastern hemisphere and across two thousand years of history knows this. The American church, he said, has had it soft for a few generations, and now is the time to develop the muscle memory.
Lissa closed the message by tying worship back to everyday habit, naming Bible reading, singing, giving, and study as the training that gets a person ready, the same way you would train for a race or study for a test. She framed the tithe and offering the congregation was about to bring as one more practice of that same habit, an act of trust that ties the heart to Jesus as he reveals more of himself.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Read Revelation chapter five slowly this week and let yourself sit with the questions it raises rather than rushing past the unfamiliar parts.
- Put on worship music, or no music at all, and let a song from your own heart come out to the Lord.
- Pick one passage that feels like a no-go zone, whether Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, or Revelation, and spend a few minutes with it, asking the Holy Spirit to guide you into it.
- When confusion or fear rises up around what you see in the news, take a breath and ask the Lord where to focus rather than letting anxiety take over.
- Come to the all-community worship night at Gateway Church in Rafter J this Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Brian talked about how many people in Israel missed Jesus at his first coming because their expectations of what the Messiah would look like got in the way. Where do you think our own expectations about Jesus and his return might be shaping what we are willing to see or accept?
- Brian said he believes there will be millions of people who attend church and think they have allegiance to Jesus who will reject him at his return. What do you think he meant by that, and does it sit comfortably or uncomfortably with you?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
El domingo 16 de junio, Brian comenzó señalando algo que le llamó la atención: en una sola semana coincidieron en las noticias palabras como rey, ejército, guerra, Israel y león, todo esto en el contexto de la operación militar israelí contra Irán, llamada "Operación León Ascendente", nombre tomado de Números 23:24. Para Brian, esa coincidencia no es algo que haya que ignorar, sino una invitación a preguntarle al Señor cuál debe ser la postura de nuestro corazón en estos tiempos. La respuesta que propuso fue una sola: la adoración.
A partir de Apocalipsis capítulo cinco, Brian desarrolló la idea central del mensaje: en la generación del regreso de Jesús, la iglesia estará marcada por la adoración. Explicó tres contextos en los que eso ocurrirá. Primero, una revelación más profunda de quién es Jesús, incluyendo facetas de su carácter que muchos en la iglesia no han considerado, como su ira. Segundo, en medio de los juicios de Dios sobre la tierra, los cuales describió no como castigo caprichoso sino como la forma en que Dios remueve los obstáculos que impiden el amor. Tercero, en medio de la persecución, apoyándose en Apocalipsis 12 y 15, donde los que vencen al enemigo lo hacen por la sangre del Cordero, su testimonio, y sin aferrarse a sus propias vidas.
Brian también invitó a la congregación a desarrollar desde ahora el hábito de la adoración, comparándolo con entrenar para una carrera o estudiar para un examen. No se trata de tener todas las respuestas sobre profecía o sobre cómo serán los últimos tiempos, sino de cultivar una relación tan cercana con Jesús que, cuando lleguen los momentos difíciles, la adoración surja de manera natural.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados
- Números 23:24
- Apocalipsis 1:12-18
- Apocalipsis 5:1-14
- Apocalipsis 6:16-17
- Apocalipsis 12:10-11
- Apocalipsis 15:2-4
Read the full transcript 10,128 words
I know.
But you're you're not here at the end
of the eleventh. I know. That's true.
I usually just make sure to do it on Monday. I also have all these things I had in place for Mondays. I check the physis, do the deposits. Yeah. And when we don't have staff meeting, I get I because she's working on the site.
Uh-huh. People in the outside. Or I'm, like, doing meeting. I just get off my roof. Yeah.
Yeah. Do
you need words for second service? Can stay. Oh, yeah.
For worship. And then I can help. Yeah. Yep. Perfect.
If people are being okay. No. No. TV.
Where's everyone?
Your hair looks good. Like, you kinda dried it or something? Good morning. Yes. It's not slipping.
It's so weird.
This is odd. It's very odd. That's true. You might wanna come in the front row. Hi, Claudia.
What a weird day. Yeah, come to the front. Then they can fill in the back. Let's stand together. Lord Jesus, we tell you we're here today for you.
For you and you alone. Come,
have your way in
this place as we worship you.
Jesus, we are here. We're here for you. We're gathered in this space to honor you. Yes, we have. To worship you
Just close your eyes with me for a second. Just ask the Lord to remove the distractions of your mind. Tell him you're here for him today. To meet with him today. It's all about you, Jesus.
It's all about you, king Jesus. You. I will sing and I will sing all you've
done.
I remember how far you together worthy, all together wonderful to me.
There wasn't a day, I love that line that in all my life your love has been true. I was on this text with my mom and dad and they're like really struggling knowing what's true like with media and everything. Like my mom gets a 100 scams a day, you know, you didn't pay this toll on the highway and we have your license plate and she, you know, calls and like, should I pay this? Like, no, mom. Don't pay it.
But some of them look so real. They're they there's enough truth that it tricks you. It tricks you. And I was saw a thing on Instagram the other day and a girl says, okay. Start training your brain to start seeing with AI what's real, what's true, and what's not true.
And I was like, okay. And she said, like in this image right now, what's not real? And I looked at it and looked at and was like, would have no idea and she goes boop and she wasn't actually pregnant. It looked so real to me. And she went through all these reals and I I immediately, like, I felt fear rise up like, how will I know with everything going on in the news right now?
What's real? What's not real? What's superimposed? What's not? And then I just felt like the holy spirit be like, take a deep breath.
Like you have literally the living truth inside you. Like when all else fails, he is the truth. And he leads us into all truth. So we do not have to fear. We can ask the Holy Spirit.
Lord, where should I focus? What should I and it might be confusing. And you just leave it at the foot of the cross and you say, Lord, I cling to you because your love, you are the truth. You are the way, you are the life. And so Lord, we just press into that today.
We worship you for these reasons that you are not movable, you do not change, you do not lie like any any man. But you're true and your love is true. You are a good, good, good father. And Lord, on Father's Day, we just say thank you, thank you, thank you that you are not even close or equivalent to any earthly dad as wonderful as any of our daddies were or as absent or crummy. God, you are the perfect, true father in all that you do, in the way you discipline us, in the way you teach us, in the way you love us.
Thank you. Thank you. It's in that truth that we come and we worship you because we can trust you. These aren't just words to a song. You are faithful.
I will worship you. You are faithful. There is no other thing we can say that about. Any other little g god or entity or ideology that is faithful like you are. We tell you we love you.
Open our hearts and our spirits today to what you want to speak to us. Let Brian's words come straight from you. Give us discernment. Give us a spirit of revelation to learn more about you today and true worship. Lord, that's our desires to worship you in spirit and in truth because that's what your word calls us to do.
Teach us what that really means. Teach us what that really means. We tell you we love you in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Say good morning.
We got a little elbow room today.
Liz, you Good morning everybody. Liz, you Who? Yes,
dear.
Liz, you brought up something. Can I do can can you adjust the reverb? Oh, or me? Okay. Alright.
But you are so far from the record.
Okay. Liz, you brought up an interesting point. I guess everybody's coming to the eleven today. It's great. Is that better?
Oh, yeah. Love it.
If you need it, you can just go.
Right. Wait. Where do I look? Show me one more time. Okay.
Liz, you brought up a really interesting point. I don't know that we have seen such an intersection of poignant words in a words and events in a long long time. So yesterday, there was like no king protest around the country whether you regardless of your political beliefs about that. The word king was was widely in the conversation in The United States. So we have kings, we have armies marching, we have war happening, we have Israel, we have the name of their their of the preemptive strikes on Iran is called Operation Rising Lion.
So think about the interest just for a moment. This is just coming to me, the preamble to our conversation today. Think about all of these words and themes intersecting this week. War, king, lion, Israel, armies. Did I White horse.
If I see a white horse in the news, y'all just better get on down to our house real quick. Yeah. Right. Okay. Wait.
Hold on. We we should talk about this sometime. Pause the livestream. Just kidding. But isn't that isn't that interesting?
So I would suggest to you that most of the world sees all of these things happening in their news feed or social media or or participating in or feeling the effects of whatever or celebrating whatever and are completely oblivious to the opportunity that that God orchestrated for us to key into the times that we're living in. He I'm not saying that he orchestrated all of those things. In his foreknowledge, he knew about them. Yes. But look at all of these themes and and words and developments that are happening now.
I believe I'm just saying that these words are coming out of my mouth as I'm thinking them. I believe that there is an opportunity or an invitation from the Lord to pay attention to these things and use it as an opportunity to press in and say, Lord, what are you what should the attitude and posture of my heart be in the midst of increasing developments? Yeah? Are you picking up what I'm putting out? Whether you agree or not, whether you see it or not, can you at least hear my the words that are coming out of my mouth about the intersection of all of these themes or keywords.
Okay. Birth paint. Quite possibly. Quite possibly. It gives us an opportunity here.
Us an opportunity to have dialogue with somebody about, you know, if we wanna talk about kings, the one and true the one true king is Jesus. Jesus. You know? Mhmm. Everything else is man made.
I think that we have not seen the last of those posters. Sorry. Was The no king posters. We have not seen the last of those posters, and I believe that someday they will most certainly be used against in protest of the return of the king of kings. I grew up with a theology that that when I die, I, like, go to heaven, and I just, like, live in heaven.
Wasn't quite sure of what I did up there. Float around on clouds, play a harp. As I grew older, I was like, okay. I will be worshiping God in heaven forever, and I'll never get tired of that. And there'll be never ending revelation of his nature and character, and I'll just be like, wow.
Wait. Wow. Wait. Wow. And worship and worship and worship in heaven forever.
And then I grew more, and I was like, wait a minute. I don't stay in heaven wherever that is geographically forever. Jesus is coming back, and I come back with him. Wait. We're coming back to this planet?
So if I didn't get to ski in Shemone before I die, maybe there's a chance that I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. But Mhmm. So I also thought that when Jesus returns, that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord.
That he just comes back and he's like, it's me. And the whole world goes some of the world goes like, yay, and other parts of the world go, oh rats. It really was all true and and like okay fine. You're the king of king and lord of lords. Like every knee will bow and every tongue confess.
And and then, like, poof, everything is, like, all better. As I continued to grow in maturity and understanding of, to use a churchy word, eschatology in times, including the return of Jesus, the more conflict and controversy and swirl I see around the events leading up to and the actual return of Jesus. The world is not gonna be like, oh, that's Jesus. In fact, I think that there will be huge numbers within what today we would call the church that are like, nope. That's not him.
So we've been in a series of conversations just letting that sink in, and it's gonna tie into our broader conversation in a moment. I'll say it one more time. I believe that there will be millions in the church around the world, what I would say the church attend a church or part of a church, think that they have allegiance towards the God of the Bible and his son Jesus, that at the return of Jesus will be like, nope, that's not him. Reject him and and protest against him. And it just will not be as clean-cut as our sanitized imaginations like to portray things.
Yes. You may ask a question.
This is an
important message, I know. But
I know. I know.
I'm just gonna ask a question that I'm sure some of us are thinking. But then what about that scripture that says, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess?
Yes.
I've always thought that meant when he comes back.
Right. Right. We should look up that verse and put it in context and then with Right. Further understanding of of the full counsel of scripture. Just somebody look up that verse of where that's found.
Every. Who said that? Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes. That is that is great. We grew up thinking it'll be so obvious. The whole world will see him return riding on the clouds that there will be zero room for doubt or confusion. I would suggest to you that if you examine scripture carefully, you will see chaos and confusion.
Mass chaos and confusion surrounding his return. Did you have your hand raised?
I mean, you already said it. He's coming in the clouds. He's gonna come there's gonna be a loud trumpet that'll blast. Right. Gabriel blow the trumpet and he's gonna come down.
It's gonna be the battle of Armageddon. I just don't see why how is there gonna be a question.
Like it Exactly.
It's gonna be like this divine moment where he's gonna be proving himself and a lot of people will be saying I told you so.
Right. You would think you would think that there would be zero ambiguity about the events. Chris Bates and then Connor back here.
I would like to take a stab at connecting two dots that have been put on the canvas by Lissa and Dan. Dan. In this increasing speed and age of digital, the opposite of authenticity
Trickery.
And the complexity of the times in which we live in, it's probably not gonna get simpler or less deceiving.
Yes. Yes.
So it's gonna be more easy to see deception across digital images, videos, etcetera. So why would you believe a video of, you know, whatever we're talking about in in eschatology? Right. If you're not seeing it with your own eyes.
Jamie has something and then over to Connor. Oh. We all want to laugh, Jamie. That note that you were passing, should I read it in front of the whole class? Yeah.
I'm I just
think for me, I think about there's nothing new under the sun. I mean, you look at the you look at Israel, and they had promises on promises on promises of the Messiah. But the Messiah that they were expecting looked a certain way.
Yes.
Did a certain thing would come with an iron fist and destroy and overthrow Rome. And that expectation clouded them so much that they missed it when he was there. Yes. Who are we to believe that we would be any better? Yes.
Right? Like, the the modern church already, like, we can point so many different things about the American church specifically, like and the differences of expectation and the ways that we view Jesus, Like, that aren't biblical. Yes. And just imagine like that continuing with the complexity and stuff. Like Yeah.
Just like the Israelites. I wouldn't be shocked if many missed it.
Yes. Ella, could I see that mic? That's such a good point. On. Okay.
I'm I'm using the mic, and I'm gonna invite all of us just right now in this moment. Get out of your seat. Get on your knees, and we're going to supplicate. We're going to we're going to bow before king Jesus and ask him to help us just like Conor said. So I'll I'll pray it as I say it.
Jesus, there's stuff that we read about you and your return. And we have our impressions, our interpretations of scripture, but we submit them all to your leadership. And we invite the person of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the spirit of truth to penetrate our hearts. Open the eyes of our heart that we may see you to the extent that you want to reveal things to us accurately. And God, we ask with humility that you would not let us get ourselves pigeonholed into some intellectual box of this is how it's gonna happen, and this is what it's gonna look like, and then and not be open to the reality of who you are and how you roll.
Lord, help us to not be like the Pharisees who missed your first coming. Keep our hearts soft and malleable for for who you are. And God, I I just ask that you would give us a hunger for your return. I ask that you would give us humility, and I ask that you would give us a yearning and a burning in our hearts for your return. However you wanna do that, in Jesus' name.
And all of us in agreement says, amen. So this prayer that we just prayed, in a way, is an act of worship. Oh, here you go, Ella. In a way, the the prayer that we just prayed is an act of of worship, and the posture of our body was one of humility, bowing before him that is an element and an aspect of worship. We talked we're in a two week conversation about worship, worship.
And last week, we talked about what I said was when we enter into a series of conversations about a topic like worship, it's like me filling up a thimble of water, handing it to you, and trying to describe the entire ocean. It is impossible. There are so many different elements and aspects and reasons and benefits of worship and commands and and there's so much to talk about. But last week, we just talked about the three c's of worship and how how when we worship the lord, and we have I have been intentional not to intentional not to fill in the gaps of exactly prescriptively how to worship because worship can look like if it's unto the lord, being creative and making something, worship can look like singing out loud. There's lots of different ways that that worship can manifest itself unto the lord, but we've just we've just, for the purpose of our conversation, have just rested at this idea of worshiping the Lord.
And this week, I had a direction that I was going to go with worship, but I wasn't exactly quite sure about what to say and where to go. And then on Friday, June thirteenth, thirteenth, if you saw anything in the news or media, you saw that Israel launched a preemptive strike against Iran to eliminate their nuclear arms capability because they had intelligence and United Nations had intelligence that Iran was very, very close to being able to develop a nuclear weapon, which they have stated would be immediately used on Israel and then the other great Satan, which would be The United States or military or United States military targets. The name of that operation was called operation rising lion, and it comes from a verse in the bible that a passage in the bible. I will read it to you really quickly. Now these are the words of the bible.
You can you can be offended at at the bible. So Israel is in the wilderness. These surrounding tribes, people groups were like, woah. You got a million or so Israelites tromping through the the wilderness. They're on their way to cross the Jordan into a land west of the Jordan River, which had been promised to their ancestors.
These other people groups are like, ah, like, we don't want this. This is not good. And so there was a a king named Balak who hired a guy to curse Israel. And so Israel has got their own turmoil happening down in the camp of Israel, but this guy, Balak, brings this guy, man of god we're not quite sure what the guy's deal is, brings him up onto a high overlooking hill. Like, think top of Snow King or High School Butte or the pass looking down into the valley to curse Israel.
And Balaam says, I can only say what the Lord says. I mean, you can pay me a lot of money, and I'll come out. That's fine. But I can only say what the Lord tells me to say. And Balak's like, okay.
Fine. But, like, dude, we're paying you a lot of money. Just curse. Just just just curse Israel. How hard is it, bro?
And the guy's like, alright. Let's go. So he goes up, and he starts to open his mouth to speak curses over Israel, and nothing but promises and covenantal love and blessing come out of his mouth from the Lord over Israel. This these are some of the words that were recorded of that event. This came out of Balaam's mouth.
I'm in Numbers chapter 23. Numbers chapter 23. Might as well turn there. This came out of Balaam's mouth inspired by God to speak over Israel. So if you wanna get your undies twisted, just don't get them just get them twisted in the right direction of who to who to get them twisted about.
Okay? So in Numbers chapter 23 verse 24, Balaam is speaking inspired by God to say this over Israel. These people, Israel, rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself. They refused to rest until they had feasted on prey, drinking the blood of the slaughtered. That's a cool Father's Day verse.
So this is the inspiration behind the name of the military campaign carried out by the IDF against Iran. And we see that on Friday, June 13, there were over 200 aircraft involved doing bombing runs and missions, over a 100 military targets. And they had not only did they they take out these military targets including Iran's capabilities, but there's a number of leadership that they also took out. These are top commanders and officials and nuclear scientists that were actively creating this. Imagine.
So this one guy right here, I can't pronounce his name. You can go back to the rising lion slide. He's the commander of the entire military in Iran. Got him in his home where he was sleeping. Simultaneous attacks on all of these leaders.
And we do not celebrate violence and bloodshed. We grieve and mourn the loss of any human life. Because that's what our relationship with Jesus instructs us, and not out of religious duty, but out of the overflow of our heart. Like, Jesus died not only for my sin and for your sin, but for the sins of the whole world, which includes these dudes. But but the brilliance, the the magnitude of complexity of what happened on Friday the thirteenth will be written about in military textbooks until the brilliant commander of commanders returns, Jesus.
And so we have this idea of of a lion, Israel, war, combined combined with with intersection intersection of of other other events, events. We have armies that are marching. We have no king, and I believe that it is an invitation invitation from from the the Lord Lord for for us us to to begin begin to to key key in and lean into what is it, Lord, that you're up to. What should our posture be in these days, and how can we prepare for the days ahead? And if I were to sum up an answer to all of those questions, it would be this idea of worship.
The title of our conversation this morning is rising lion. And in just a moment, we're gonna read from the book of Revelation. But we're gonna look at the intersection of these things and talk about how do I respond, what am I supposed to do, and the answer is worship. And I'll I'll show you this as we dive into the book of Revelation today. So if you have your bible with you, would you turn to Revelation chapter five?
We're gonna read all of Revelation chapter five, the whole thing. Revelation the book of Revelation can be confusing. The book of Revelation can feel intimidating. The book of Revelation may seem even irrelevant, but it is not any of those things. And the more time you spend with it, the more questions that you ask, the the more you pray and seek for understanding, the the more comfortable you become.
And so let's together read Revelation chapter five. And even in this one chapter alone, there may be stuff that you read or counter a, that you've never heard or read of before or b, that you've even thought about or considered. Just like, you ain't got be scared and let's it is I know. Yes. Right.
Yeah. Those were the two stay away froms. So there are there are probably lots of things over the course of I don't know how many messages I've delivered during pastoral ministry, youth pastor, young adults, children's pastor, this assignment as a lead pastor. But I can remember when I was an elementary pastor, I would spend time every week with my fifth graders just before they were on the verge of going to, in Oklahoma, middle school, sixth grade. I asked them, like, what do you what do you guys wanna, like, get into?
What do you wanna learn? They all, hands down, resoundingly shouted revelation. And I was like, alright. Sounds good. Let's go to Romans.
Starts And with an yeah. So I would say that the book of Revelation can be scary if you avoid it. But we're not avoiding it. We're leaning into it. Yes.
The way that I think of it is, especially as tribe when we went through this so long and then just our personal journey too, I think of it as a revelation of who Jesus is. And so that takes away some of the scary or dispels some of the mystery to me because it is revealing Jesus. That's what revelation means, revelation of of who our savior is. And the closer you get to the holy spirit, like we always talk about cultivating a relationship him with him, the more you read revelation again and again with different eyes, you'll find that it's like every time you read it, if you're getting closer to the holy spirit, like, it's like a balm, a soothing balm to me. I know that sounds weird, but, like, I find comfort in the book of revelation.
I know that sounds weird on the surface, but because it tell because I'm, like, getting in the inside scoop or because I'm like this is who we're serving and this is what's happening so now I feel like I'm getting military intel or you know something like that. So the more I read it I'm just like ah okay this is very helpful for me. So I don't know. That's just where I'm at today. But
Also, like, it's the full revelation of this book. Yes. It's the end of the story. Yes. Like, we shouldn't be afraid.
What's scary is not knowing what's in it.
Yes. Amanda, keep the mic. We'll have you start reading. But So Dan, you said something a moment ago. Like like, the Bible literally tells us that there will be a loud trumpet blast at the return of Jesus.
And we see that not just in Revelation, but also Jesus speaks of it. Paul speaks of it. So even if you didn't read Revelation, you should have some familiarity with it. But just imagine having not become comfortable with uncomfortability of the book of Revelation. And all of a sudden, in your your ears, you hear the sound of what sounds like this loud trumpet.
Do you hear that? I hear that. Do you hear that? I hear that. Is that the air raid sirens going off?
No. That's not. That's different. What is I'll tell you what. That is scary.
Not having any clue. So we will be wise. We will be humble in our interpretation. We will seek for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, and we're going to lean into the incredible truths contained within this book and other books and passages that seem like no no go zones. You know, like Daniel nine ten eleven, Ezekiel, most of Isaiah, like, but when we spend time together corporately reading into this, it helps us.
Revelation chapter five. Would you read a few verses, and then you can pass it on to to somebody else to read?
Yes. This is the lamb opens the scroll chapter five. Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who is sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and on the outside of the scroll and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel who shouted with a loud voice, who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?
But no one in heaven or earth under this or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. I wonder if that means they tried. No one was able. Under the earth? Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.
But one of the 24 elders said to me, stop weeping. Look at the lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the 24 elders.
Quick pause. Who is the lamb that appears as if he had been slain?
Jesus. Jesus. Let's
let's remove any ambiguity or uncertainty. This is Jesus.
He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represented the sevenfold spirit of God that is sent into our into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. I love picturing this. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings, the 24 elders, fell down before the lamb. Each one had a harp, and they had gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God's people.
And they sang a new song with these words.
You wanna
sing it? Yeah. Yes. I do. In f sharp.
You are worthy to take this scroll and break its seals and open it. You for you were slaughtered and your blood has ransomed the people for god, every tribe and from every language and people of the nation. And you have caused them, which means Jew and Gentile, to become a kingdom of priests for our God, and they will reign on the earth.
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne. Just picture that. Thousands and millions. That's a funny way to put that, around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus, worthy is the lamb who was slaughtered to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, they sang blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever. And the four living beings said, amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped the lamb.
Woah. What an incredible scene unfolding before the author of the book of Revelation, John, the apostle John, who was Jesus' best friend as described in the gospel of John that we read earlier in the bible. It's one of one of two things. Either a potentially very real geographic place, place of the dead, Sheol, Abraham's bosom. It it could be.
We need to read the text with the to get the most accurate picture from the text with the mindset that they had at the time. What was John's understanding of of hell? He was grew up as a Jew, and Jews understood this place of the dead. Deuterocanical canonical books, books that were not a part of the canon of scripture or books called the pseudo epigrapha. That's a those are really really churchy words.
Pseudepigrapha means the authorship of a book ascribed to somebody famous that we might know to lend credibility to the book. For example, Enoch. We don't know that the book of Enoch was actually written by Enoch. We we don't know that for sure. Like, we can know that the Gospel of John was written by the hand of John, a disciple of Jesus.
So number one, where it says under the earth, it could mean a real geographical geographic place or realm. The other option is that it is a literary device used to include, like like hyperbole or exaggeration, Everything under the sun. And so it's one of those two. And that would be worth a bible study a different time.
In a similar spirit of question that I kinda have to pose is with us understanding how time flows and the lens in which to put this scripture into context is when every tongue would confess and every knee would bow that Jesus is lord with, you know, him experiencing time different than us in a linear fashion.
I like how how you are bringing that consideration into the text, and it's valid. Events that are time and space. How do they fit into us and our experience going through time and space at a rate of one minute per minute? I don't know. Okay.
So the book in the bible that that is the designated songbook of Israel and of Christians is what book of the bible? Psalms. Right? That word means songs. Okay.
What book of the bible contains the second most songs, recorded songs in the whole bible? Yay. Add a star to your father's day chart. You're really racking up today. Yeah.
So
of all the bible of all of the songs recorded in all of the bible, the second most the second most recorded songs in all of the bible besides the book of Psalms is the book of Revelation. The book that people are, like, not supposed to go to. The book that's confusing. The book that's scary. The book that's like, yeah, we don't really talk about that.
It's all about worship. Worship in heaven. Worship of the saints. Beings. Other entities created in God's realm.
Worshiping Yahweh God. And in Revelation chapter five, we see a scene of worship unfolding in heaven. And so on this topic of worship, I hadn't planned to go to the book of Revelation. I was milling on the around on a couple of different options and directions to go to. And then when the IDF launched this operation, and I was praying and reading and consider this is where the Lord had us go to.
And so in our conversation, as we continue, I wanna try to weave several themes and topics together. Israel, worship, and the return of Jesus at the end of the age. And if you don't hear anything else, here's our here's our our the the bottom line, what I want you to take away from today. In the generation of the return of the Lord, the church will be marked by worship. Hey.
I I wrote that down. In the generation of the return of the Lord, the church will be marked by worship. You may think I mean, we'll be marked by fill in the blank today. Will be marked by large churches. Will be marked by book sales.
Will be marked by likes, clicks, and views on social media, will be marked by perfect health, will be marked by prosperity, mental, physical, material, whatever. We'll be marked by church planting movement. We'll be marked by, you know, a a Christian president in the White House. I I don't know. Fill in the blank.
I don't know. But what an unusual word to fill in the blank. But if you listen to our conversation today and consider and do your own diving into scripture, I think that you will come to a similar conclusion. In the generation return of the Lord, the church will be marked by worship. And there are three arenas and areas in which I want us to talk about this idea of the church being marked by worship.
So here is the first one. The church will be marked by worship in deeper revelation of Jesus. Lyssa already sort of telegraphed this point. The book of Revelation reveals Jesus. Let's look at Revelation chapter one verse 12 through 18.
Let me read this to you. When I turned to see who is speaking who is the I in that passage? John. You're exactly right. And who is John?
The disciple of Jesus and the author of this book. K? When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstand was someone like the son of man. That phrase, the son of man, is most often quoted and used in the book of Enoch.
Do with that what you will. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his his head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like the mighty ocean waves. Oh.
You wanna do a fur a fun word word study search? Just look up that phrase, voice thundered like mighty ocean waves, how many times it's repeated in the book of Revelation, and whose voice is sounding like mighty ocean waves. And you'll make a cool connection and be like, and then the hearts appear in your eyes like, Jesus. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all of its brilliance.
When I saw him who's speaking? John and who's John again? Disciple of Jesus, Jesus' best friend, the author of this book. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, don't be afraid for anyone that would dare read this book.
I am the first and the last. I am the living one. I died, but look. But then I live. I am alive forever and ever, and I hold the keys of death in the grave.
John knew Jesus as son of Mary, adopted or stepson of Joseph, a little deuter from Nazareth growing up in Galilee, carpenter, a bold speaker, a challenger of the status quo, a miracle worker, a healer, prophet, even as the anointed one, the Christ. John knew Jesus as his best friend. We have this evidenced in the gospel of John by what actions of John is recorded. Yes. This is John who laid his head on the shoulder of his best friend Jesus, as now exemplified by Huxley to his bigger brother Christian.
I mean, how well do you have to know someone in order for for a gesture or a demonstration like that? Pretty well. But now look. John says, I saw someone who looked like the son of man, but he had this attribute and this attribute and this attribute. And what was the result of John?
I'm out. I can't even take this. It's too much. Worship, adoration, even though it does not implicitly in the text say worship, it is very easy for us to conclude a posture of abject supplication and submission. I fell at his feet as though dead.
In the generation of the return of the Lord, the church will be marked by worship. Why and how? One of the reasons is we will receive and dig and uncover a deeper revelation of Jesus unlike any of the generations in the past. And the natural overflow byproduct result will be worship. Not arrogance, not timelines, not YouTube videos of here's how and here's the date.
Just worship. This deeper revelation of Jesus will also gird and strengthen us for the mounting chaos and confusion before his return. I'm not exactly sure how it's gonna play out, but I know because I've cultivated, as Amanda just said a moment ago, intimacy with the Lord that I'll recognize him even if I see new facets of him. And that's why that results in worship. And that's why we dig into the book of Revelation.
Even with all of our questions and doubts and preconceived notions and and atheistic theology, I'm not quite sure. And bring your bad theology to test it against scripture and submit to orthodoxy, like proper theo biblical theology. And the whole idea is that as we receive a deeper revelation of Jesus, we will fall face down before him in worship. Let me show you one other place. We've talked about this.
We've touched on it here and there, but go to Revelation chapter six, a deeper revelation of Jesus verse sixteen and seventeen. Do I have that whole verse? Okay. It's kinda long. Well, it's just two verses.
Sixteen and seventeen. Then everyone, the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person. I don't know if Christians are included in this passage. I'm not sure. Six?
Thank you very much. There we go. They all hid themselves in caves and among the rocks of the mountains, and they cried to the mountains and to the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from what? The wrath of the lamb. For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?
Hide us from the wrath of the lamb. Did anybody get that story, the story of the wrath of the lamb when they were in Sunday school with the felt board Jesus flanograph and the Sunday school teacher. Raise your hand if you got that story. They did not have that felt Jesus. What's the felt board Jesus that we all learned in Sunday school?
The lamb on his shoulders. The blue eyed Jesus, maybe sitting down and teaching something wise. Maybe he's coming out of the tomb. Jesus loves me. Forbid not.
Forbid not the little children to come unto me. All beautiful, wonderful facets of the attributes of Jesus. But in the generation of the return of Jesus, the church will be given a deeper revelation of his full nature nature and character that's been in this bible your whole the whole time. I'm not talking about additional or extra or outside of. That would not be cool.
But this has been in our bible the whole time. The wrath of the lamb. What is that like? I don't know. But what will the end result be?
Worship. Worship. Worship. Do you have a relationship with Jesus and a theology that allows for Jesus, your Jesus, to be wrathful? If you don't, you still have time.
Number two. If that was stretching, we'll just take the stretch a little deeper. Worship in judgments. Now I heard one person, if we if we wanna define terms, judgment, the judgment of God. I like this definition of the word judgment, if this is not on the screen.
The judgments of God are designed to remove any obstacle or barrier that hinders love. Not just pull the belt out and like, go to town. That's it. I've had it. Judgment.
Different. The judgments of God are intended to remove barriers and obstacles that hinder love. And I think the same person said this, that the judgments of God always involve the very least amount of calamity to bring about the maximum number of people into the deepest relationship with lord with the lord possible. How how does any human do that? It's impossible, but God knows.
So the church in the generation of the Lord's return will be marked by worship. They'll be marked by worship at a deeper revelation of God when the world and many in the church will be like, no. No. No. No.
No. No. That's not Jesus. We will be like, that actually is Jesus, and I worship you and I praise you. And the world goes, you're crazy.
The church in the generation of the Lord's return will also be marked by worship when we see the unfolding judgments of God against a wicked and rebellious people. We will worship him, not as a bloodlust, bloodthirsty, Get him. But different. Let me show this. Let me show this to you.
We just read it in Revelation chapter five. Let's go to verse thirteen and fourteen. I think I do have that one on screen. Okay. We will I'll say it again.
We will worship God as the judgments of God are unfolding on the earth. We just read it. Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, they saying, blessing and honor and glory and power belongs to the one sitting on the throne and to the lamb forever. The four living beings said, amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped the lamb.
There is worship happening in heaven and for the saints on the earth. And what was the event that was the catalyst for their worship? We just read it in Revelation chapter five. Do a little bit of looking. What event happened that that catalyzed worship, that started them worshiping?
They opened the seal. They opened the seal. The first seal on the scroll was broken open, and then John you have to read a little bit ahead. Then John sees, and then I saw riding out from heaven was what? Chris, you said this earlier.
The white horse. Who is the rider on the white horse? There now there are some, like, there's some, not controversy. There are several options for who the rider on the white horse would be. One of them could be what's a safe Sunday school answer?
Jesus. Could be Jesus. Could be. But and I've even read commentaries and, like, little notes, like, at the bottom of your bible that says, like, oh, Jesus riding out for victory. But they failed to look at what we see for other horsemen riding out in the book of Ezekiel, and that first rider is not Jesus.
It is the the rider on the white horse is the antichrist riding forward. So wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait. Let's put this together.
The church in the generation of the Lord's return is worshiping God, worshiping at a deeper revelation of Jesus. And as they worship, the lamb takes a scroll, breaks open the first seal, and at the breaking of the first seal, the white horse a white horse rides out the revealing of the antichrist and his activity on the earth in the generation of the Lord's return. Followers of Jesus worship Jesus in the midst of the arrival of the activity of the antichrist on the earth? That's a great response. Do you have capacity or theology that would allow for the worship of Jesus in the midst of the revealing of the antichrist and his activity on the earth?
Yeah. Best to develop that theology, habit, and pattern right now. And if this hasn't stretched you enough, one more. In the generation of the Lord's return, the church will be marked by worship in the midst of persecution. Do you have a thought theology?
Do you have a relationship with Jesus that allows for worship to pour out of your heart in the midst of of either personal tribulation and persecution that you could go through that you could be going through right now, practicing these little things right now. Do you have a theology? Do you have a pattern? Do you have the muscle memory? Do you have established deep in your heart the worship of Jesus in the midst of global persecution when Christianity could be outlawed?
When when the federal government removes all five zero one c three status of all charitable organizations, including this one. Church in the Eastern Hemisphere does. The church of two thousand years does. It's only in this last few generations that the church in The United States has gotten pretty soft. Now wait a minute.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Worship in the midst of persecution? Well, let me show you. Revelation chapter 12.
And I wanna get through these verses, not quickly, but be expedient with them. Revelation chapter 12 verse ten and eleven. And they, these are Jesus followers, have defeated the enemy, him, by the blood of the lamb and by their testimony. And they they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die. How do we overcome the enemy?
By laying down our lives. Was it Martin Luther when just before he was martyred said, here I am. I can do nothing else. It was it was one or more of of the 11 original apostles that as they were being martyred had joy on their face at about being on the threshold of meeting their savior face to face. It was Stephen as he was being stoned in the book of Acts.
The the the witnesses recorded that his face glowed like an angel. And what do the angels do? They're surrounding the throne, worshiping the Lord. Worship in the midst of persecution. Do you have a theology?
Do you have a habit? Have you developed that muscle memory? Revelation chapter 12. This is the last verse that we're gonna read. Excuse me.
Revelation chapter 15 verse two and four. I saw before me what seemed to be a sea of glass mixed with fire, and on it stood all the people who had been victorious over the beast and his statue and the number representing his name. How were they victorious? Many of them by laying down their lives. They were all holding harps that God had given them, and they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the lamb.
We know the song of Moses. I don't know that we know the song of the lamb yet, or maybe they're two different names for the same song. Great. Oh, well, here's the song of the lamb. Great and marvelous are your works, o Lord God, the Almighty.
Just and true are your ways, o king of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed. What do the events unfolding in Israel with Iran mean?
Where do they fit in God's prophetic timetable? I don't know. I don't know. But what I do know super clearly is that in the generation of the Lord's return, the church triumphant will be like a rising lion and rise and rise up marked among other attributes marked by worship. Let's just chew on that for a moment before we worship the lord in one other way this morning.
You
know when we wrote that bridge? I remember we had a conversation about it because we're speaking this in faith. It's not a guarantee. You know, yes, love has sparked this burning in my heart. Like, we love the lord and we live for him because he first loved us.
You know, he even was the one who wooed us and drew us to him, like, not on our own strength. And love has sparked this burning in my heart, and it will never die. It will never die if we stay close to him. Because the Bible says that the love of many will grow cold. So it's not a guarantee.
It's a guarantee if we stay close to him. And I will burn through every storm to see your name lifted high. That we're we're proclaiming that. That's that's the people we wanna be. And the only thing we have to do is just stay close to him.
So let's just sing that and just thank him that we can hold on to that truth. And our part is to press in and to know him and be close to him. Sing this. Love has sparked.
If you're preparing for a race or a test, if it's coming up, you do stuff to prepare for it. Right? And so just like me, you know, you go on a few runs if you're gonna do a race. You study chapters in your science book if you have a science test. Right?
You do things to prepare. So, in the most simple but yet profound way, you know, we sing Jesus find me ready. We we need to form habits. We've touched on it today that get us ready. So, spending time reading your Bible, spending time just put on worship music and worship him.
Don't put on any music. Just let a song of your heart come out. That's so precious and sweet to him. You know, study the things we've been studying. Do word studies like there's so much and when we bring our tithe and our offering to the lord, it's a habit that we're forming.
It is a form of worship. Because it's showing him we love him and we trust him with something that is required living in this world. You know what? It's in exchange. Right now, we change money for things.
That's how our economy works. So giving him something that we use so much is an act of trust and an act of worship. So as we bring our tithe and our offering, just think of it as not only it's your heart posture because you ask the Lord, like, what would you have me give? Because he knows your heart, but it's also just like you would study for a test or train for a race. Bringing our tithe and our offering is like forming a habit, getting ready for him, who he is, as he reveals himself more and more to us.
So it's just that heart tie. It's one more thing of many that helps our heart tie to him as we do that. So, before we pray, just practically speaking, if you have cash or check, you guys know this. You can drop it in the box right here with our little logo or outside in the black safety deposit box. Always giving online at wwtryjh.com.
There's a giving tab. And then we have a new number. Speaking of habits, we need to break the habit of 84321, which we've come to love. I don't know why. But this is the new number.
So we'll leave it up there so you can either type it in your phone like you have a new friend contact or or you can just take a picture. But type in this number, (833) 369-7847. You text.
And give you add that emoji,
I think, to it? I was doing this for Christian's pictures. Was taking a photo. But then you you don't just put an used to, you could just put, like, 100, period, and then it would it would you would give a $100. But here, you have to type the word give and a dollar sign, then write the amount.
So give that a shot. If you have trouble, just let us know. But let's pray together whether you're giving now or another time. Let's just believe God as a tribe family together. Let's just pray.
Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to bring our a portion of our finances to you, God, to say we love you and we we trust you, and it is all yours anyway. We have the privilege of being good stewards. Help us to develop in that area more and more just to be good stewards, not just of money but other things that you've given us, father. Help us to be care for those things in the way and in the manner that are pleasing to you and that bring glory and honor to you and lord, as we bring our tithe and then above and beyond that, our offering here at this local church club tribe. I just pray blessing over these families who are giving whether it feels sacrificial or whether it's easy peasy or anywhere in the middle.
Father, you meet us where we're at. Speak to us, lord, as we give every time. Just put on our heart what you would have us give because nobody but you knows us that intimately. An amount that would bring glory to you and maybe challenge us in the way that we need or whatever it is, father. That's up to you.
We just say yes and thank you for every single penny that comes into this local church, that would just be used and stewarded well to bring people into your kingdom. We get to be your hands and your feet as we partner with you in these things. We thank you for it. Thank you for being a good, faithful provider as our heavenly father. In Jesus name, amen.
Just a couple quick things as we leave today. Number one, if you are not on our email blast list, please fill this out and you can be. Also, on the back, there's some empty lines for you to write a prayer. If there's anything on your heart today that's weighing, that you just need someone to be in agreement with you in. We pray over these every Monday as a tribe staff and really spend some time and take those seriously.
So, write out a prayer. We can also pray with you in today in what we call our VIP room right afterwards. And then you got this text blast, but this Wednesday is an all community worship night, not here, but just down the street in Rafter J at Gateway Church. The text said six because that's what someone else put, but it's 06:30. 06:30?
So not six, but you
can come at six. Yeah.
You can. Go ahead. It's better than being
late, but We'll be there
at six. We'll be there at six. Yeah. So it's a first b worship representatives from tribe, first b, and gateway were will be there. And these worship nights we've had in the past are really beautiful.
The churchy word is ecumenical. You hate that word, ma'am. I hate yeah.
I also hate finger food.
Just for everyone. You'll never see it.
And pot.
At Tribe, you'll never hear us say food, fun, and fellowship, and finger food. We're different. Anyhoo. Anyhoo. So come at 06:30 to Gateway this week.
There's one more. Sorry. Happy Father's Day to all you dads. Let's give them a big hand. Other than to you future dads, to you current dads, to you dad figures, what better says happy Father's Day than a scripture about blood and beef jerky?
That's right. So please pick up your beef jerky pack as you head out today.
Peppered and non pepper.
Peppered and non pepper. Oh, spicy. We love you dearly, dads. You provide for us. You protect us.
You love us in ways that only dads can do. So we say thank you.
Brian Grayson. And I did refrain from playing good good father today as every church in America was gonna play good good father. I rebelled. Just FYI, but I did say the words.
Would you stand up? Can I pray for you on Father's Day here today? Lord Jesus, thank you for being a great father to us. Thank you for part of being a good father is, equipping us to give us confidence and peace about the days ahead. Help us to exercise that worship muscle, and we love you, Jesus.
We tell you that we love you. Father, I command a blessing over each and every person gathered here today. Give us a great week. Help us to exercise that worship muscle. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God.
And everybody said Amen. Amen. Happy Father's Day. And remember all of us, you got this.
You got this.
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