Seven Lambs and Two Loaves

In one paragraph

This was Pentecost Sunday, and Brian walked Tribe through the biblical feast of Shavuot, its roots in Leviticus 23, and the way it points to what happened in Acts 2. The central images were the seven lambs and two loaves described in the feast ordinance, and what each one reveals about Jesus. The goal was not to over-celebrate the feast but to let it do what Brian says God designed all seven...

Read together

1. Romans 8:28 opening encouragement that God works in all things for those who love him
2. Psalm 77:4-12 read aloud as the first reason to recognize the feasts: to remember God's past deeds
3. Psalm 119:37-40 read as the second reason to recognize the feasts: to recalibrate, turning eyes from worthless things
4. Leviticus 23:2 God's instruction to proclaim appointed festivals as holy convocations, with convocation meaning rehearsal
5. Colossians 2:17 the feasts are shadows of the reality yet to come, and Christ himself is that reality
6. Leviticus 23:15-21 read aloud describing the Pentecost offering of seven lambs and two loaves of fine flour
7. Ephesians 2:14-18 Christ united Jews and Gentiles into one body, reconciling both groups to God
8. Acts 2:1-4 the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost with wind and tongues of fire
9. Acts 2:37 Peter's words pierced the crowd's hearts and they asked what they should do

What was said

• Read Acts chapter 2 today, since it is Pentecost Sunday and the whole chapter ties directly to what was discussed this morning.
• When you see the yellow mule's ear flowers blooming on the hillsides this week, let them remind you of the Holy Spirit's goodness and what Pentecost means.
• Take a quiet moment this week to ask the Holy Spirit what is filling up your cup and keeping you from being filled by him, then surrender it.
• If you want to serve beyond Sunday, sign up for the Wind River Reservation VBS trip to Riverton on June 25 through 28 to work with kids.
• Check the fridge at Tribe for what Tribe Mountain Adventures has going on this summer and find one outing to join with the community.

Talk about it

1. Brian read Romans 8:28 at the start and talked about giving up control and being present in the now. Where in your own life right now is it hardest to stop trying to manage the outcome, and what would it actually look like to rest in that?
2. Brian laid out three reasons God wants Tribe to recognize the feasts: to remember, to recalibrate, and to rehearse. Which of those three do you personally need most right now, and why?
3. The sermon spent time on the image of fine flour, how grain has to be crushed and sifted repeatedly before it becomes the finest product. Where have you seen that process at work in your own life, and what did it produce in you?
4. Brian drew a distinction between the law and the spirit, saying the law reveals sin that condemns us but the spirit reveals the Messiah who saves us. How does that distinction change the way you think about your own failures and shortcomings day to day?
5. At the end of the sermon, the question the crowd asked Peter at Pentecost was raised: now what, what do we do? If you asked that question sincerely this week, what area of your life do you think the Holy Spirit would most likely point to first?