Rising Lion

In one paragraph

Preached on Father's Day, June 15, 2025, this message landed in the middle of a week when Operation Rising Lion, Israel's preemptive strike against Iran, had put the words war, king, lion, and armies all over the news at once. Brian used that convergence as a doorway into Revelation 5 and a two-week series on worship. The core claim: in the generation of the Lord's return, the church will be...

Read together

1. Numbers 23:24 Balaam speaking over Israel, inspired by God: 'they rise up like a lioness, like a majestic lion rousing itself,' cited as the biblical inspiration behind the IDF operation name Rising Lion
2. Revelation 1:12-18 John's vision of the risen Jesus among the lampstands, described with white hair, eyes like flames, voice like ocean waves, and a two-edged sword, prompting John to fall at his feet as if dead
3. Revelation 5:1-14 The scroll sealed with seven seals, the Lion of Judah identified as the slaughtered Lamb found worthy to open it, and the resulting worship of thousands of angels and every creature in heaven and earth
4. Revelation 6:16-17 Kings and rulers crying for rocks to hide them from the face of the one on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb
5. 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
6. Revelation 15:2-4 Those victorious over the beast standing on a sea of glass mixed with fire, holding harps and singing the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb, praising God's just and marvelous works

Talk about it

1. Brian said he believes there will be millions of people who consider themselves part of the church who will reject Jesus at his return, just as Israel missed him the first time. What do you think makes a person vulnerable to that kind of blind spot, and what do you think guards against it?
2. The group prayed together and got on their knees before moving into the main teaching. What role does physical posture play in your own experience of worship, and is that something you think about intentionally?
3. Lissa described reading Revelation as a soothing balm the closer she gets to the Holy Spirit, while Brian acknowledged many people find it scary or irrelevant. How have you personally related to the book of Revelation, and what has shaped that?
4. Brian laid out the idea that in the generation of the Lord's return, the church will be marked by worship at a deeper revelation of Jesus, in the midst of judgments, and in the midst of persecution. Which of those three feels most foreign or most challenging to you personally, and why?
5. Brian asked whether you have the muscle memory, the habit, and the theology to worship Jesus in the middle of hardship or persecution. What habits are you actually building right now that would prepare you for that, and what is getting in the way?