Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 12:1-2 cited as God's invitation to stop conforming to popular hooks and be transformed by renewing your mind
1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service.
2 Don’t be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Psalm 119:1-8
read aloud and used to illustrate hanging beliefs on God's instructions rather than popular narratives
1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to Yahweh’s law.
2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes, who seek him with their whole heart.
3 Yes, they do nothing wrong. They walk in his ways.
4 You have commanded your precepts, that we should fully obey them.
5 Oh that my ways were steadfast to obey your statutes!
6 Then I wouldn’t be disappointed, when I consider all of your commandments.
7 I will give thanks to you with uprightness of heart, when I learn your righteous judgments.
8 I will observe your statutes. Don’t utterly forsake me.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Matthew 6:19-21
Jesus telling listeners not to store up earthly treasures but heavenly ones, and that the heart follows its treasure
19 “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where thieves don’t break through and steal;
21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
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Matthew 6:31
Jesus asking why believers worry about food and clothing, saying the Father already knows their needs
31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’
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1 Corinthians 6:18
Paul's command to flee sexual sin, described as a sin against one's own body
18 Flee sexual immorality! “Every sin that a man does is outside the body,” but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
1 Timothy 2:22
instruction to run from anything that stimulates youthful lust and pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace
Keep this verseGenesis 1:27
God creating human beings male and female in his image, used in discussion of gender
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
On June 24, Brian Hunter led a conversation-style message using a hat rack as a central image for how we form and hold beliefs. The core question was simple: are the hooks you are hanging your beliefs on strong enough to bear their weight? The morning moved through three subjects, the Bible, money, and sex, testing popular cultural narratives against what God's word actually says.
What was said
Brian introduced the hat rack analogy from the previous week to frame the whole conversation. A hat represents the sum total of any one belief you hold, and the hook or hat rack it rests on is the narrative or foundation you have chosen for that belief. The principle of the biggest hook is this: the most compelling narrative is the most likely to get your belief, and compelling does not mean true. A hook can look solid and still snap under weight.
The conversation opened up quickly, with people in the room adding their own observations. One person pointed out that young people raised without a foundation at home are especially vulnerable to hanging their hats wherever the loudest voice directs them. Another described hanging a hat on the hook labeled "me" or "self" as the oldest and most effective trick there is, connecting it to the Israelites building the golden calf the moment Moses was out of sight. Someone else raised an honest question: what if you tried the hook of Christianity and felt like it failed you? Brian's answer was that the hook of a charismatic personality, a denomination, or a particular theology can sit very close to the hook of genuine faith in Jesus, and when the wrong one snaps, people mistakenly conclude that Jesus himself cannot be trusted.
On the Bible, Brian described a growing cultural narrative that treats scripture as an antiquated collection of myths, something you are welcome to pick and choose from. He pushed back on that directly, saying that once you decide one part does not have to be taken seriously, you have opened a door that keeps swinging. Psalm 119 verses one through eight were read aloud, and Brian drew the analogy forward through those verses: joyful are those who let God decide which hook each belief belongs on, who say to him, please don't give up on me, rather than reorganizing the hat rack on their own terms.
On money, Brian described several popular reasons people defer tithing, waiting until finances are stable, waiting until they can give a full ten percent, treating it as optional. He pointed to Matthew 6 and read verses 19 through 21 and then 31, noting that Jesus consistently calls out the hooks people are already using and offers a different one. The Passion Translation of verse 21 got particular attention: your heart will always pursue what you esteem as your treasure. Brian framed giving not primarily as a financial transaction but as a tangible way of saying, Lord, I love you and I trust you.
On sex, Brian acknowledged that sleeping with someone you are dating has become so normalized in the surrounding culture that abstaining is now the thing that draws a strange look. He read from 1 Corinthians 6 where Paul tells believers to flee sexual sin rather than merely resist it, and from 1 Timothy 2 where the instruction is to run from anything that stimulates youthful lust and instead pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love, and peace. He added a brief word on gender, reading Genesis 1:27 and noting that whatever a society permits, the standard that will matter at the end of a life is the one found in scripture.
Brian was careful to separate the content of what he was saying from the tone in which he wanted it heard. The words were not meant as condemnation or as the church wagging a finger at people who believe differently. His framing was that a God who stayed quiet about harmful hooks because he wanted to be liked would not be worth serving. The God of the Bible loves people enough to say, that hook will not bear the weight, and I want to show you a better one. The invitation was to receive that as love, not as rejection, and to bring whatever the current hat rack looks like, messy and broken hooks included, into relationship with a God who already knows what it looks like and has not walked away.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Pick one belief you are carrying right now and ask God honestly whether the hook you have hung it on can actually bear the weight.
- Read Psalm 119:1-8 slowly this week and sit with that last line, 'please don't give up on me,' long enough to make it your own prayer.
- If you are hanging a hat on a hook you know is wrong, just move it, even if the person in your life is not going to like it.
- Pray specifically for someone close to you whose hat is on the wrong hook, remembering that you are not in charge of their life but you can bring them before God.
- Fill out the connect card prayer request and let the Tribe staff carry something with you in prayer this week.
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 the principle of the biggest hook as hanging your beliefs on the most compelling narrative, not necessarily the most true one. Where have you personally been drawn to a compelling hook that turned out not to hold the weight you put on it?
- One person in the conversation shared that they had spent about fifty years hanging their hat whichever way the wind blew before finding something that could bear the weight. What finally made you take a harder look at where your beliefs were actually resting?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Brian usó una imagen sencilla para ordenar la conversación: cada creencia que tenemos es como un sombrero, y cada sombrero necesita un gancho donde colgarse. El gancho más llamativo no siempre es el más verdadero, pero solemos colgar nuestras creencias ahí de todas formas, porque suena bien, porque es lo que nos enseñaron, o simplemente porque es lo más cómodo. La idea central fue que la verdad real tiene que ser objetiva y trascendente, es decir, verdadera independientemente de si la creemos o no. Dios nos invita a examinar dónde estamos colgando nuestras creencias y a confiar en que sus palabras son el gancho que sí aguanta el peso.
A partir de ahí, Brian tocó tres temas concretos: la Biblia, el dinero y el sexo. Sobre la Biblia, señaló que la cultura la trata cada vez más como un libro anticuado del que podemos escoger lo que nos conviene, y que esa actitud abre una puerta peligrosa. Sobre el dinero, habló de la mayordomía y del diezmo no como una obligación religiosa sino como una manera práctica de decirle al Señor "te amo y confío en ti." Sobre el sexo, citó lo que Pablo escribe sobre huir de la inmoralidad sexual, y también mencionó lo que el Génesis dice sobre el hombre y la mujer creados a imagen de Dios. En todo momento dejó claro que el mensaje no es de condenación sino de amor, y que si algún sombrero está mal colgado, siempre se puede mover.
Al final, Lissa compartió una imagen que el Señor le trajo a la mente: su hijo Kai comiendo mucha azúcar sin conectar ese hábito con el dolor que luego sentía en el dentista. Igual que un buen padre ve venir ese dolor y quiere evitárselo al hijo, Dios ve lo que nosotros no vemos y nos pide obediencia aunque no entendamos el porqué todavía.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados
- Salmos 119:1-8
- Mateo 6:19-21, 31
- 1 Corintios 6:18
- 1 Timoteo 2:22
- Génesis 1:27
- Romanos 12:1-2 (mencionado de memoria, sin lectura directa)
Read the full transcript 11,884 words
Good morning. How is everyone today? If there's seats a little more forward, if
you don't mind just moving forward, Unfortunately, lot of our visitors come late and then they have a seat in the back, that would be great. Thank you. Thank you. You can just fill in the front. Let
me just
take a second before we start. I'll do all the technical things. Let me just pray for us before we start today. Lord Jesus, we invite you into this space today. We tell you that we're here for you, that we've come to meet with you.
Would you come and meet with to Jesus. We're in
we're be the
We're to of unique and awesome, and we're so thankful for this space. But you just worship the Lord the way you're comfortable worshiping the Lord. If you need
to sit down, if you
need to stand up, if you need to raise your hands, if you need to kneel before him this morning, just have the freedom to worship freely today. Amen? Because what he wants is our earnest true heart of worship today. He doesn't want us to just sing songs and mouth the words. He wants us to enter into his presence.
Amen? So however you you do that, that's between you and the Lord today. We just invite his presence.
We're We're Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out. Holy anointing, holy anointing, power of your presence. Pour your spirit out. Pour your spirit out.
We need we need a fresh wind.
Just let this be your prayer.
Fragrance of heaven.
Just talk to him from your heart this morning. You. Heart of worship. We fix our eyes on you. We take our eyes off ourselves for the things around us, maybe even what happened this morning.
And we just laid out your feet again, everything, Lord, the good, the bad, our hallelujahs. We just bring it all to you today. We come with a heart of worship and we just ask that your Holy Spirit would come. We bring the sticks, the idle sticks of our worship as we lift our hands in praise and our voices, and we ask that you would send the fire today.
Holy
Let's listen for his voice today.
Holy Spirit,
Thank you God that your word says that it's your kindness that leads us to repentance. You could have set that up so many different ways, but you chose your kindness, your loving kindness to lead us to repent. So if there's anything this morning as you allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart that you need to be that you need to repent of to be right before him, that's between you and God. Take this opportunity as your father cries out to you. He longs for there to be nothing between you.
Let his holy spirit speak to you.
Sing of the goodness of God all my life. Oh, my life you have been faith. That's declared in this place today. Of God.
Lord, we could sing forever and ever and ever and ever of your goodness, your kindness. Lord, we would just if you never did one more thing for us, Lord, you died on the cross, paid everything, and yet you're intimately involved in every detail of our lives. Pouring out your spirit on us over and over and over. We're just so thankful today. Let just gratitude just rise in your heart today.
Let you just rise right now. Just tell them thank you this morning. Just open your mouth and just thank you. We come today with a thankful heart. We praise your name because you are holy and worthy.
You're worthy today. Lord, we pray as we dig into your word today that we would allow your word to speak to us today. Even the things that are sometimes hard or to swallow because the world looks so different from your truth sometimes or give us ears to hear today. We'd allow your Holy Spirit to come speak to us today. Tell her we love you, Jesus.
And everybody said, amen. Well, turn around and greet somebody. Say good morning. If you're new here, pretend that you've always been here because the person next to you is probably new too. Yes, sir.
Thank you. Yeah. That's good. Good? Yes.
Thank you.
Yeah. Of course.
Yeah. That that needs to come like right here or right here. Can I get my coffee, baby? Could I get my coffee? Yes.
Doesn't that guy look like Kai a little bit? That guy in the red shirt. Yeah. I'm talking about you. No.
Red shirt. That guy. He looks like Kai. Yes. Yeah.
Go make sure it's not Kai. Alright. It sounds like everybody has their coffee this morning. So glad that y'all are here joining us for church in a bar this morning. This is great.
No. Would you hand me a connect card? Thank you. I'm so thankful that you've chosen to spend part of your weekend with us here at Tribe. It's great to see lots of familiar Tribe fam faces as you are traveling in and out of town.
I'm so glad that you're here this Sunday. And for all of the new faces that I haven't seen before, welcome. So glad that you found us. Yes. We're doing church in a bar.
That's how we how we roll this this week. Actually, next week, we're gonna be in a completely different location. So we just wanna keep you on your toes. Remember, church is not a building, but church is what? A group of?
Humans. Humans. As as weird as you are, you're family, and so I've I just love having you here. When you came in, there was is a connect card on your seat. We'd love to have a record of your visit.
If you just fill that out, you can either leave it in your seat or put it in a little box in the back or put it in somebody's hands that looks like they know what they're doing. And if you'd like to be kept up to date on some of the things that we have going on, we just send out a text blast every now and then, and it's a great way for for you to stay in touch with us and what's going on with the vibe of tribe. And there's also a spot on the back where you can fill out a prayer request. We take those seriously. We pray over them every week, and so we'd love to lift you up in prayer.
With that in mind, if you have your bible with you this morning, would you turn to Psalms one nineteen? Psalm one nineteen. We're just gonna read that one chapter today. Bible joke. Psalm.
Bible joke. Justin gets it. Let me Justin. Yeah. If you would just go ahead and read that chapter for us.
We're not going to we're I'm not gonna tell you what what address yet because I need to give you a little bit of background but I wanted to give you plenty of time to find your way to Psalms one nineteen. We'll wait for that page to load. Here's what we're going to talk about today. If you wouldn't mind putting the title of this morning's message up. If you're brand new to Tribe, you picked a great Sunday to join us because this week, we're gonna talk about sex, money, and the bible.
To give you a little bit of background to give you you thought I was joking. To give you a little bit of background, we started a series of conversations last week talking about this idea of of truth and hanging your hat. And, yes, I used the word conversation. I used that word intentionally because that's what I want you to think of our time together during this part of worship. We worship the lord with song.
We're going to worship the lord through digging into his word, reading his word, engaging with the word, and with each other, and then we're gonna worship the lord through our tithes and offerings at the end of the service. But I really want today to be a conversation that you and I and we have collectively. Now don't worry. We're not gonna, like, do, like, little breakout sessions. Turn to your neighbor and, like, I don't know, tell them your darkest secret.
Like, all like, it's okay, introverts. Just relax. But we collectively get to have a conversation, and here's what I mean by that. If you have a question, a comment, or maybe you're making a connection, something that we're talking about, there's like a hyperlink in your brain, maybe to another bible verse that you're thinking of or another biblical principle that comes to your mind. You're like, man, that that could be worth sharing.
We would love to hear from you, and here's how that will work. Here in the room, we have a wireless mic. And if you have a question, a comment, or a connection, if you just raise your hand. Kat, are you running the mic around today? She's got a running cowboy boots on, and she will get the mic to you.
We can probably hear your voice in the room, but we use the mic so that all the families that watch the livestream get to can stay engaged and be a part of the conversation with us. So that's why we have the mic, and we'll we'll run it around today. Last week, we started a conversation that began with an analogy. It was a picture that I saw in my my mind's eye, and it was of a hat rack. And I want you to to think of this hat like the sum total of any one particular belief that you have about a subject.
For example, it could be your philosophy on parenting. Everything you think about parenting could could be represented by one baseball hat. Perhaps, something else could be your belief on the Bible. Is it is it an inspired work of god? Was it written by the hand of man?
Is it relevant for us today? Do we kind of have to like pick and choose because there's stuff in it that is doesn't apply to our lives. That you think about the Bible could be a belief. And hats go on hat racks. That's right.
You're smart. And I want you to think of this hat rack or any one hook on a hat rack is a narrative that fits best with your belief. It makes sense that hats would rest on a hat rack. Similarly, let's say that you you have this sum total of beliefs about parenting. That's just the example that came to me that we're going with for right now.
And perhaps there is a website that's like a to z of parenting, philosophy of parenting, tips and tricks, resources, here's what parenting should be, and and it's it's really robust and comprehensive, and it's a website, and you go to it all the time, and you recommend your friends to it. So that would be, in terms of parenting, where you might hang your hat. Right? Alright. How about how about this one?
Another example. The moon landing. That was I saw a lot of reactions, even one that was like, it was made up. Okay. So if you hold on to that particular believe there is a popular narrative out there.
Oh my gosh. I'm seeing all kinds of reactions. This is great for me. There is there there are multiple narratives out there about the moon landing, and they're different, and they're opposite and opposing. What is the sum total of your beliefs about the moon landing?
That's the sum total of beliefs about the moon landing is where you would hang your hat. Are you with me so far? I feel like the moon landing illustration really connected. Really really hit home, really landed. Questions, comments, connections, but not critiques.
My sweet, sweet Lissy, she's my wife. And if you're brand new, my name's Brian. Last week here's a big takeaway from last week, and then we're gonna get into today's conversation. The principle of the biggest hook. And I made it up.
I don't know if it resonates with you or not. But in real practical life, maybe you are out in the woods, and you gotta take your backpack off. If there's an option to hang it on, you know, a little nub of a branch on a tree, makes sense to hang it there. Do you look for the smallest nub to try to hang your backpack? No.
Nobody does that. You look for, like, oh, this would support the weight of my backpack. You look for the biggest branch. Yesterday, I went climbing with a buddy at Guideswall, and at the base of the climb up Cascade Canyon, it's a really popular route with several different options. But people who've climbed there before know that you don't want to leave your backpack on the ground because little Chiselers and Marmots, they like to come and see what you pack for snacks in your backpack, or chew on your shoes, or whatever.
And so you put your stuff in your backpack, and you hang it in a little branch up above the ground. And there are lots of options, and I saw Christian there yesterday, and it was great. But you hang your backpack on the biggest branch. So it is also true about our beliefs. Listen.
The most compelling narrative is the most likely to get your belief. That is the principle of the biggest hook. The most compelling, and I use that word carefully. I didn't say truthful. It might not be true.
As the ministry team comes forward to play music softly, I will now ask you, what belief are you hanging the hat the the belief of your hat on a hook that is just false and not true? We hang lots of beliefs on hooks just because it's compelling, or it sounds good, or it's convenient, or it's what our parents told us. It's what our denomination told us. Cat, we have a hand up.
Yes. Well, that's what I was gonna say too is, as we've grown up and whatever our parents have told us, you know, we grow up trusting them and believing what they've said. You know, I remember the moon landing. We watched it in elementary school, you know? And it was so real to us.
We were like, oh my gosh.
Don't don't don't go don't give me air quotes as soon as she says moon landing. Yeah. I see you.
Continue. That's why, you know, when you're you're young and you grow up and what you're told is you truly believe it and that we take that to heart but as you mature and you grow, then you've got to learn to seek wise counsel, to line up with the word of God, and find the truth. Find your truth and see how it lines up. But as we're taught things, and I think that's what so so many young people are lost right now because there's so many homes without parents to teach them. You know?
Sure. And it's the basis of what we learn when we're young. Sure. It's a foundation, but you've still got to, as you mature, seek truth.
Okay. I know you, and I know where you were going. But there was one statement that you said that I'm sure there are a few people's needles whose their needle jumped a little bit at one thing that you said. So I'll give you a chance to take another run at
it What and say was it?
You said your truth.
Well, then that's you're you're right. That's that's another problem. And when I said that, we are we are in a society that my belief and want my truth. So scratch that. That was a missed word.
I knew it. I knew where you were going.
No. It's gotta line up with our our morals and everything else. You know, just yeah.
The truth.
The truth. The word of god. It's gotta line up. God. And it
It must.
I don't know. I could preach right now. So, yeah.
I could I could down and I I knew where you were going. Yes. Because it's really popular to to say, well, that's your truth. That's where you hang your hat. But the very definition of the word truth implicit in the definition is that it must be objective and I would suggest to you, included in the definition of truth, it must be transcendent.
And what I mean by that is, if it's actually really true, it will be true regardless whether we believe in it or not, or whether we acknowledge it or not. It must be true outside of human existence. That's what I mean by transcendent. For example, gravity. Now, if there are any philosophy majors or, like, like, you you study philosophy as a hobby, and you like to twist yourself and others into pretzels, like, by trying to argue that, like, gravity isn't objectively true.
Awesome. Here's what we'll do. Let's go stand on top of the Grand Teton together. Say all your words about how gravity isn't necessarily objectively true. I will listen to every word you say, and then you put it into practice and step off the north face.
We'll find out real quick where you hang your hat. Some things, some beliefs that we have, that we we we subscribe to a particular narrative, like, yeah, that sounds like truth, or I'm gonna create my own truth in that area, and then we hang our hats on it. Here's here's the thing that's important that goes along with the principle of the biggest hook. Your beliefs, your worldview, your autonomy as an intellectual sentient being is so valid and important that and god cares for you too much to allow you to hang the hat of your beliefs on just any old hook. Because he would tell you, any hook that you hang your hat on must be able to bear the weight of that belief.
A lot of young people have been raised to hang their hat of faith on Christianity Because their parents raised them in a Christian home. And so when when they're growing up, they're just like, okay, yep, brink. But then as they get to college and they get around the indoctrination program of a lot of our universities around America today, and I'm all for broadening your perspectives and and considering. But but through professors and influences and things, this the the hook of the Christian faith literally gets sawed off, snapped off, broken off, but it's but it's done in such a really clever way. I want to closely examine and deconstruct.
The problem is, after you've deconstructed it and snapped that hook off, then you're left with nothing to hang the hat of your faith on. Look, consider the Bible says, love the lord your god with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, with all of your strength. So we are invited by the god of the Bible to yank on this, put our full weight on this hook. And if it's objectively, transcendently true, it will bear the weight of any belief that you of belief that you have about any one subject on it. Are you with me so far?
That is wonderful, especially considering that, like, we've already had a whole week last week of getting into this. So here's what I thought we would do today. I thought we would take three different subjects, sex, money, and the bible. We would talk about popular narratives regarding those things. And then we'll look at the truth and see and see what god's word has to say about these three really popular subjects that we all interact with at some way on some level.
Before we jump into these, it's a good chance it's a good opportunity to check-in with you, and I would love to answer any clarifying questions that you might have or connections that you're making in your mind. I would love to hear from you.
I thought of this when Nancy did drop the buzzword of your truth a little bit, but culture, when they say that, I feel it's like the equivalent of saying, oh, yeah, wherever you wanna hang your hat is good. Like, anything is good to hang your hat on. I just picture, like, a guide out in the forest or whatever climbing or whatever saying, oh, yeah, like, just hang it up. It doesn't matter if it's a good or bad because that's just you. And then you're going to learn if it holds your backpack up or not.
Because when we go climbing away, we're going to see who's ends up off the ground and who's falls down and gets destroyed by the world. Yeah.
Because I love you, I want to invite you to carefully consider what where you're hanging various beliefs. Because there is a world of marmots prowling around on the ground that don't care how much you spent on those approach shoes and that backpack and those snacks that you're looking forward to eating, they will ravage your gear. And, in the same way, we live in a world that think about this with movie stars or or musicians. They've got some talent, and they mean well, and the world's like, this is amazing. They blow them up until they reach this atmospheric level of stardom.
And then one, like like, human slip or or or there's another bigger star, and the world just loves to see their downfall and their demise. And the only thing that gets more views of a documentary of a rising star is when that rising star shaves all of her hair off and, like, goes into public bathrooms barefooted and just kind of loses her marbles. Love you, Britney. Praying for you. Come on back.
And so and so the lord loves you. I love you. I don't want you hanging your hat on on a branch that is either false just because the narrative is compelling or popular, that that is either a lie and or won't support the weight of your belief. Your beliefs are too valuable.
Could I add? That's where Christianity, I think, not even necessarily Christianity, but just faith based teaching gets a bad rep, right, is because we say, hey, don't hang it on that branch. And they go, but I want to. You go, it's going to fail. And they go, what do you know?
And then it fails. And really, it's the heart that says, just there's something so much better. But it sounds off putting, like preliminary, in the forefront of it.
Yeah. That that that can be very offensive about Christianity because Christianity is not a personal belief system of truth. It is an all encompassing worldview that is true.
I have a different word for you. I have the advantage of not having been here last week. So I'm probably repeating something. But I would rather say immutable, immutable rather than transcendent. And I don't have my dictionary with me, but that that's my personal dictionary speaking.
And I would also say, if you don't hang your hat on the right hook, what hook are you hanging it on? And if the answer is, however I feel about things today or tomorrow or yesterday, that's my hook, You're in deep trouble. And that's where I was for about fifty years. So I speak from some experience, and this also involves sex, money, but not the Bible.
That I've I've I've so love your honesty and vulnerability in in what you said about, I was hanging my hat all different kinds of places in really which way whichever way the wind blew for fifty years. Like, it's just beautiful. And you find the truth, you know, support your weight.
I just wanted to ask a question for something that might be going through a couple different people's minds.
Love it.
What if I feel like the hook of Christianity failed me and fell and didn't support the weight of my beliefs? Man.
Beautiful. What if I hung my hat, my faith, on the hook of Christianity, but I feel like it failed me? All right. Some hooks hang very close together. What if either you accidentally you you were aiming for the hook of faith, a genuine, real, authentic, personal relationship with the lord, but it ended up landing on the hook of a charismatic personality On a person, a gifted teacher, or somebody with a huge following.
Somebody that genuinely, positively impacted your life. They're human. Human hooks tend to what? Break. Break.
How amazing is god that he would dare even trust somebody like me? And so another, you could have been aiming to hang your hat on the hook of genuine faith, and it landed on the hook of a man or personality. What if it accidentally lands on a particular theology that was very popular but but doctrinally inaccurate? What if you hung your you you could see where I'm going. So that hook breaks, fails something.
And then mistakenly, you're like, well, I can't trust Jesus. The reality is you probably inadvertently fell for the principle of the biggest hook, which means you just hung your hat on the most compelling narrative that was either a church or a denomination or a teacher or a particular theology instead of on Jesus himself. The good news is you can always trust the hook of Jesus. We read this last week that god says, I'm gonna I'm gonna put in a I'm gonna drive in a nail and he will handle great responsibility, but there's coming an even stronger nail. It was a it was a prophetic look forward to the person of Jesus.
The Bible says, we we we sing about it at Christmas. Help me out with the address in the full passage, but it's like that literally the governments of the world will rest on his shoulders. If he can handle the government of the entire world, he can handle you and and putting your faith and trust in him. I feel like there's more that you wanna say.
Yeah. I was just gonna say, at least in my ideas, I feel like a lot of people get talked out of resting their cap on the hook of Jesus in Christianity. Like, they're, like, going for it. And someone's like, oh, no. Like, this this is, the science in school.
Like, oh, like, evolution or what and they're looking at it, they're like, okay. Maybe I'll rest it over here. Rather than the hook actually failing, they just choose a different
one. Maybe before it ever had to bear any weight of difficulty, opposition, sacrifice, disappointment, heartbreak, Maybe before it ever had to bear any weight, they got talked out of it. Or let's be really honest, you wanted to do what you wanted to do. And that belief that you were hanging your hat was incongruent or incompatible with the truth of faith in Jesus. And so you're like, I hand my hat over here.
And then you make up excuses about the hook of faith.
I was thinking about, even before Jesus, like, there's so many Old Testament examples of when the Israelites hung their hook incorrectly, you know, God rescuing them, and they're like, I guess we'll just build a calf. You're up on the mountain for too long. We'll just worship melt our gold and worship this calf. You know, like, there's so many Old Testament examples too. And so I think the biggest, biggest hook for all of time and humanity that we all hang our hat on is the hook called me or self.
And I think that's one that the enemy has crafted to delight you and to entice you to. And it looks the best because the world says, like, trust yourself, follow your heart, all of this. And you really you don't wanna just be polarizing and just dismiss it. But you're like, well, let me measure that with what the word says. Because we were made in God's image, so I surely would be okay.
But then you look at human history and us, and you're just like, I think the devil tempts us with hanging our hat all the time on the hook called me.
Yeah. Yeah. And the name above that hook and there's Colin has something all the way in the back. If it is to be, it's up to me. Very attractive hook to hang our hat.
I'm so glad that you're resonating with this analogy. And if some of you are like, I am just not get just hang in there. Hang in there.
Yeah, the connection that I'm making with what we're talking about that's in the Bible is the seed that was scattered. Some fell on, you know, rocky soil, some fell and the weeds came up and snatched it out.
Mhmm.
Some fell on good soil, and that's the the hook we're talking about of Jesus. So
Yes. That's so good. Alright. Here's here's a question that could be getting to sprout up in your mind is, how do I know what hooks are are have integrity, are based upon immutable truth found in the word of god? Here's something that's really, really, really cool about god.
Many of his attributes are unsearchable and unknowable, and we can't fathom them or comprehend them, Like, the eternity of god. We just like, we can't do it. But other attributes are communicable, and they're knowable. For example, patience. In Hebrew, in the Old Testament, when it describes god as being patient, the Hebrew word there is the same few groups of words that mean long nosed.
God is long nosed. What does that mean? The idea is whenever a person gets, like, like, irritated, angry, upset, they're they're like, you know, like, your neck, like, kinda gets flushed, and your cheeks and your nose get get flushed. Sometimes they can get red. In the Hebraic ideism, being longed nosed means that you've got great patience.
It takes a long time for you to heat up. So god is long nosed. He's very patient with us, and we have we have some idea and concept and understanding of of that. So how do I know which hook to hang my hat on? He is knowable.
He has he is person. He has the attributes of a person of personhood, and he is relational, Which means he wants you to engage at a heart level, I'll use a word to get your attention, heart level intercourse. Deep, deep, intimate connection at the heart level. He is not a philosophy. He is not just a a book of wisdom.
He is a person, and he longs to spend time with you in a way and develop in the context of relationship the ability for you to trust him enough for you to say, would you look at the hat rack of my life? Am I hanging any hats of my belief on a hook that it shouldn't? And sometimes, he would be so bold through the conviction of the Holy Spirit to say, hey. Look at that look at that hat. Look at the hook that you're hanging that particular hat on.
You really think it's gonna hold weight? And you can argue with them, and you can but that's that relationship dynamic. And then here's something really brave that you could do. You say, I don't I don't know. You you show me.
And with his little pinky, he goes, and it just snaps and breaks right off. But he's good and faithful, and he catches that belief, And you're shattered. It is better to fall on the rock and be broken than for the rock to fall on you and be completely squashed like a bug. And then you say, well, what hook should I hang that belief on? And then he's like, well, let's look together.
Romans twelve one and two, don't be conformed any longer to the patterns, the popular hooks of this world, but instead be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Hang your hat on god's truth. Whoo. That'll preach really good. Psalms one nineteen, let's keep we gotta get we gotta get going here.
Psalms one nineteen. Would somebody please read out loud? Oh, wait. No. Okay.
We're gonna start with the bible. We're gonna start with the bible. Let's let's talk about the the bible. There is a growing popular narrative that tries to assert that the bible is nothing more than an antiquated book of outdated myths and fairy tales. The book, the Bible, is not treated among among, like, majority of the culture in The United States today, is not treated with respect.
It is not treated with reverence. It is not treated as immutable, transcendent source of truth. It is treated as, oh, that's good for for you. Years ago, I was when we first moved to Jackson, I went to Pearl Street Bagel, and I got my cold sport tea with no ice. Little pro tip.
And then I got a chocolate chip cookie and a breakfast sandwich. And I was sitting down, and I had my bible with me. I had my bible open, and I was enjoying my little quiet time at Pearl Street Bagel. And a girl that worked there actually came over to me and said, hey, that book is making people feel uncomfortable. Would you mind just closing that and not?
At the time, I was like, oh my gosh, sorry. I walked out, and that stuck with me for fifteen years, what I would have done differently. What I would have done differently is for another sermon another time. But but but people like this book, man. So there's a popular narrative that most people, even quite a few in the church today, are like, Worldwide flood?
I'll
hang it on a regional flood hook. Now is it oh, I'll use a churchy word. Is that salvific? Is that is that is that particular portion of is that, like, if you believe in a localized flood or a global flood, like, does your salvation hang in the balance if you go one way or another? Oh.
Oh, that's such a great point. So I'll say it again for our livestream family. So if you don't believe one part of the bible, that's a that opens a Pandora's box for or as a slippery slope for being like, well, this is challenging also. And, I mean, is that really real? And just for localized versus global flood, I'll just say this.
Examine the text closely, and you will see over seven different times just in those few verses, the whole earth, everything. The it's it's it is there's there's no hyperbole in that passage. He means everything. So so a lot of people would like to pick and choose from the bible. Unfortunately, that's not really an option if you're going to to follow Jesus.
Even the parts that are uncomfortable or mysterious or confusing, I I I trust you, Lord. So let's read Psalms one nineteen verse one through eight. Would somebody please read verse one through eight for me? And I promise we're not gonna spend this long on each one. Unless you want to.
I can go for it. Joyful are the people of integrity who follow the instructions.
Okay, hold on. Kat, you're reading. That sounds like your voice.
It is.
Don't race through that. Don't race through that, and I'm not correcting you. I'm inviting you to just savor God's word. Okay. Take another run at it.
Sounds good.
Joyful are the people of integrity
Yes.
Who follow the instructions of the Lord. Joyful are those who obey his laws and search him with all their hearts search for him with all their hearts. They do not compromise with evil, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments carefully. Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees.
Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, I will thank you by living as I should. I will obey your decrees. Please don't give up on me.
Oh, how how real is that please don't give up on me? You might have a pry a pretty sorry looking hat rack of beliefs. But God doesn't go like, oh, that's a nasty hat rack. He just loves you so much. He's like he's like the TLC show.
Hey. Want me to help you organize the hat rack of your total worldview? I could help you. But look thank you, B. Look at our analogy in these eight verses.
Can can you see our analogy jumping out at you? Are you able to connect some dots between god's word and the analogy that we're going with? Joyful are the people of integrity. My definition of integrity is your words and your actions line up. You gotta you've got a well organized hat rack who follow the instructions of who?
The lord. Not the popular narrative, not what your parents said, not of any one teacher, but of the lord. Lord, where do you want me to hang this at? Hang it right here. Oh, that's tough.
Well, okay. Nevertheless, lord, at your command, I'll let down my nets on the other side. Right? Peter said that, and he hangs his head there. Hey, Brian.
Oh, here we go.
What? No. No. No.
What Translation? Yeah. NLT. Okay. New Living Translation.
People look blamed that are blameless, and I like this one better.
Okay. Awesome. Joyful are the people who obey his laws. Meaning, I'm going to hang this hat on this hook that you have that that is true that you've put and search for him with all of their hearts. Lord, where do I hang this belief?
And he's like, hang it right here. Okay. They do not compromise with evil. They're not hanging their hat just anywhere willy nilly, and they walk only in his paths. You have charged us to keep your commandments.
And he says, I have a specific hook for every hat of your belief, even the Nephilim. He says, I got a hook for that. I got a hook for that. You've charged us to to keep your commands carefully. Everything in its place and every what what's the thing?
Place for the sun.
In a place for everything. Lord said that. And then verse five, oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your decrees. Oh, lord, help me that I would always hang the right belief on the right hook. Then I will not be ashamed when I compare my life with what social media says, what my friends are doing, what I've believed for fifty years.
There's one standard on which we are invited to measure our life, and there is one one standard on which we will be judged When we stand before a holy and righteous god and give an account for our life, there is one standard, and praise the lord, he has not made us made it mysterious. When I compare my life with what? Your commands. As I learn your righteous regulations, as you help me to organize my hats properly, I will thank you by living as I should. And I will obey your decrees.
And then I just can anybody this is a poll the audience question. I need everybody to participate. Raise your hand if you can relate to the last sentence of that verse. Please don't give up on me. The Bible.
It's true. Let's talk about money next. We'll just just touch on it briefly. There's so many, like, little you know how you have the hook, But then on each hook, like, it's got, like, a couple little branches, and you're gonna, well, I can hang it here or here. Boy, that will preach.
Let's talk about money. There's a popular narrative in the church that says that tithing, giving a portion of your finances to your local church. And if you're just visiting, just plug in your local church. Tithing is only for and then I just kind of made up a few fill in the blanks. Tithing is only for grown ups.
Here you are 28 years old, and you still have the mentality of, like, well, you know, tithing is for, like, grown ups. Tithing is for financially secure people. As soon as I balance my checkbook, I'll start tithing. Yeah. Yeah.
What are checkbooks? That's what that joke was. Tithing is only for, like, like, like, once I'm able to give a full 10%, which is an Old Testament word and phrase and number that we get, tithe is from an Old Testament concept of just 10%. All you needed to do in the Old Testament of your crops, your livestock, and your your finances, you just give 10, take that to the temple, and then you can hang your hat and spend your money anywhere else you want. That other 90%, go for it.
Jesus comes along, and he's like, not 10%. 100%. 100% of my finances, I need to tithe. No. No.
No. No. God Jesus is saying, I want a 100% of your heart. What I want is the heart posture that would say, lord, you literally spared nothing but gave all of yourself for me out of thankfulness and gratitude my whole life including 100% of my finances, is yours. And I look at myself as only a steward of of of your finances.
Because, like, do you really think you actually, on your own effort, energy, got that great job that you have? No, baby girl. God's good to you with that job that you have. God is good to you with that position that you are are in right now. Yeah.
But my manager is a jerk. Oh, wow. That's amazing. God has given you an opportunity to serve a less than awesome leader. So that when you get promoted around them, up and out and around them, and you've learned the lessons of serving under a leader that's not great, how much easier will it be to serve a leader that is awesome?
Everything I have is yours, lord. And what did Psalms 119 say? Please don't give up on me. Help me. Tithing is really it it's optional.
It's only for those who want to. It's real, tithing really is only for those whom the lord has done anything for in their life. That's that that's really it. Here's the truth that you can hang your hat about tithing and and finances just in general. When we tithe and when we give a portion of our finances, we are obeying god.
And this is like, I'm not gonna, like, throw at you, like, a bunch of verses about, like, why you need to tithe. You just go search them up yourself. We're obeying god when we give a portion of our finances back to the local church that we call home. We discipline our flesh because our flesh wants to hang on to every last penny of that paycheck. And if you live here seasonally or year round, you know how precious and valuable every single penny is.
Right? You gotta pay to play here. When we give a portion of our finances, we're surrendering it to the lord and the lord uses the local church to administer those finances, right? But but it leaves our hands. Our flesh says, hold on to it but we discipline our flesh when we when we tithe.
And as you hear us say regularly and frequently, it's a way of tangibly, practically saying, lord, I what do we say? I love you, and I trust you. I love you, and I trust you. Have you ever thought of every time you give, like, whether it's, like, through your smartphone or you drop something there or whatever, have you ever thought of that money leaving your hands electronically or however? Have you ever thought of it as an expression of saying, Lord, I love you, and I trust you?
Hang your hat on that hook. See if it'll bear the weight. Turn to Matthew chapter six. And I'll go ahead and read verses 19 through 21 and then jump ahead a little bit to verses 31 but both of those passages are up on the screen. Jesus is saying, don't store up for yourself treasures here on earth.
We're rust and mutt. I remember a guy said that one time, and now it always sticks in my brain. Destroys them. Where thieves break in and steal. Instead, store your treasures in heaven.
He is inviting us to hang our belief on a different hook. Hopefully, you will see this throughout god's word from now on. This is inviting me to hang my hat of this belief on a different hook. He's telling us, have you ever heard like, when you read God's word, he says, you have heard it said, and then he goes, But then what does he always follow it up with? Four words.
But I tell you, Jesus is calling out those hooks. You've hung your hat here, but I'm telling you, hang your hat here. It can't bear the weight. But if you hang your hat here, it'll bear the weight. So here's what he's saying.
Store yourselves treasures in heaven where moths and rust cannot destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. Then he warns us, wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will be also. And then jump down to 31. So don't worry about these things. Why are you hanging your hat here on as if it's really up to you?
What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear? Then he says, so many people hang their hats here. These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers.
Then he invites us to hang our hat somewhere else. But your heavenly father already knows all your needs. Seek first the kingdom of god above all else, whether it's with your finances, your future, your career, your pain, your worry. Just put him first. Seek the kingdom of god above all else.
Live righteously and he will give you everything you need. I love what this same verse 21 says from the passion translation. For your heart will always pursue what you esteem as your treasure. What was that? Okay.
I'll say it one more time for you. I'll say it slow so you can write it down. This is verse 21 from the passion translation. Your heart will always pursue what you esteem as your treasure. Last one.
We won't spend much time on it. Cue that '80s song. Let's talk about sex. Thank you. Okay.
Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Alright.
And now for an interpretive dance. If the dance team Ella's like, oh, no. No. The fabric the fabric of our nation is slowly unraveling. Among other areas of our national culture, we can observe the change in our collective views about sex.
The nation was founded on biblical principles and existed for, what, a hundred and eighty years living out these values. But it could be said that during the sixties, with the rise of the the the sexual revolution and the and the the snapping off from the coat rack of traditional biblical values and ideals and morals, especially considering sex that we saw the sexual revolution and the the lyrics to the song where if you or I I don't know if it was a song or if it was just a saying. If you can't be with the one you love
Love the one you're with.
Love the one you're with. Song. Song. Who who who who is that? I don't know who.
It doesn't matter who it was. It was a song. Sex outside of marriage has become so, so accepted in today's society. It's actually really weird and taboo if you aren't sleeping with the person that you're dating or that you just met that night. And for those of us who are married, for those of us who are a little older, it seems like, I don't know about that.
But if I were to take what I just said to the Mangie Moose or to the Deck At The Bird or to Pearl Street and say that people would look at me as if I were from another planet like an alien visitor, What in the world are you saying? And maybe some of you have your your hat is currently hung there right now. And the the the quickest thing to do is to deflect and be like, yeah. Yeah. A lot of people do think that way.
Yeah. But what about you? What about you? Sex outside of marriage has become so accepted by our society, it's really weird or taboo if you aren't sleeping with somebody that you're dating. The world offers us the hook of total acceptability.
Sleep with whoever or whatever you want. That's your truth. It will not bear that hook. I love you enough to tell you, that hook will not bear the weight for your entire lifetime. It the hook will break, and it leads to all kinds of things.
And you know it. You know it. You know it. If we are Christians, where do we hang our hat? Just two verses, and then we'll land the plane.
First Corinthians six eighteen. Paul is talking and he says, run, or your translation might say, flee. I love that word. Flee. We are supposed to resist the devil.
This is the devil. Remember his description in that movie, o brother, where art thou? Well, the great Satan himself is a scaly creature with a bifurcated tail and a pit remember, like, George Clooney's okay. Maybe that was just me. Paul literally tells us to resist the devil, but when it comes to sexual temptation, he goes, turn and run from sexual sin.
No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Sex outside of marriage is sexual immorality. That's the hook that god says. That's his standard.
Remember Psalms one nineteen? Please don't give up on me. If your hat's been hanging on a different hook, just just move it. Yeah. But my boyfriend's gonna be upset for me.
My girlfriend's gonna be upset with me. He ain't got he ain't gonna stand before them at judgement day. And how many hooks has that girl already hung her hat on? And if you are like, I'm not doing that anymore, she's just gonna find another hook to hang her hat on until she gets her life right with the Lord. Second or first Timothy two twenty two, run from anything that stimulates youthful lust.
Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. Okay. Okay. Okay.
Last thing I'm gonna say. While we're on this topic, let's talk about gender for just a second. What crazy interesting hooks there are about gender these days. But there's one hook from God's word in Genesis chapter one verse 27 that you don't have to hang your hat on, but this question will be on the test. Genesis one twenty seven, so god created human beings in his own image.
In the image of god, he created them. Male and female, he created them. We live in a free society where you can identify any way you want. You can identify as a giraffe. Okay.
Well, that's a pretty interesting hook to hang your hat on. You're you're welcome to. But at the end of your life, you'll stand before a holy God, and the only hooks that matter are his standards. And to to his bible's closing. Maybe you have hung your hat on an aberrant hook for some time.
Maybe you know somebody that has. Maybe you're the parent of somebody that has. The words from God's word that have come out of my mouth are not are not intended to be from my mouth to be words of condemnation. I'll say what God's word has to say and let the Holy Spirit do the conviction. That's, like, really the best that that that that I could do.
Could I have that mic real quick? Okay. Stay on your toes. Imagine imagine a God that that was more concerned about you liking him and you being friends than interacting with a God that is absolute truth. I just want you to like me and I know that that you you the beliefs that you have about this particular thing are are are gonna lead to your harm and to your destruction and cause you pain, but I just want you to like me.
Or, well, I really don't have anything to say about that, so go ahead and believe, like, what you want. I don't know that I would wanna serve that kind of a god. But he's got something to say about every single aspect of human life and human nature. And when we come into conflict with our beliefs regarding his transcendent truth, we are invited to conform our lives to his truth. Now there's a popular narrative that would try to wag its finger at you and say, you're terrible and you're a bad person.
And and me speaking for the church, I reject you because of a belief that you have that happens to be wrong. If you're hearing that, you've kind of missed the whole point of what I've been trying to say today. God loves you so much that he wants to inform you gently, lovingly, kindly, that hat, that that hook that you're hanging your hat on, it won't bear the weight in the long term. And I'm inviting you to hang your hat somewhere else. Now maybe there's something that I've touched on today is settled for you, but maybe somebody close to you, you know, they're hanging their hat somewhere else.
The these words coming out of my mouth are not a rejection of them or a a finger wagging at them either. It's not. It's not. I'm not in charge of their life, and I know that you would take it upon yourself to to feel that way, but you're not in charge of their life either. They're gonna hang their hats where they're gonna hang their hats, but you can pray for them.
The Bible says in the book of James, the prayer of a righteous mom is powerful and effective. Let's just close our eyes and invite the Lord to just speak to us for a moment. Help us. Help us. Help us, Jesus.
Holy Spirit, would you do what you do best? Hover over the hearts of your people here this morning. Wrap us in your great love. And from the context of that, your great love, would you whisper to our hearts about any one area of our our life where we're hanging the hats of our belief on a hook that it doesn't belong because it can't bear the weight? Help us.
I just feel like the Holy Spit the Holy Spirit showed me a picture of two different hat racks. And there's one hat rack with all the hats just organized and hung well, and and it just looks really good. And there's another hat rack that's, like, haggard and hooks snapped off of it, hats stacked one on top of another, just really disorganized and messy. And that maybe somebody would be in here this morning that would try to hear, well, I need to get all my I need to get the hat rack of my life looking like this in order for the Lord to love me and accept me. And I feel like the Lord would say to you, that is so not true.
He would say, I love you. Messy hat rack and all. I love you right where your hats are. I love you. I have not abandoned or rejected you.
I love you right where you are. And if you would receive my love in the context of relationship, we can talk about reorganizing your hat rack, but that's only as you grow to trust me. Receive his great love this morning. Thank you, Jesus.
So as we stay in this attitude of worship just a moment longer, I I just am feeling like what we talked about today as a community of believers. Let's be a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable. And I know that feels cringe, but listen, culture is screaming so loudly. If the big c church, not just tribe, the church collectively, the body of Christ, if we don't speak up just as loud as what culture is shoving down our throat, the world will only see one opinion and then they'll have no choice but to hang their hat on what the world gives them because that's the only option. So as a church, not just the pastor, not just who's on staff, but as a believer, let's collectively be okay with having some tension.
When it's done in love, tension and uncomfortability is where a lot of growth happens. So let's just be a little more okay with being uncomfortable when done in love and cringe. But it's true. We need to stay strong. The Lord needs strong believers that he can trust.
Who knows what will that will stand up against hard times, who will stand up in the face of, you know, you somebody could you see it online all the time, like political stuff or religious, like people yelling at each other. And I know I'm a passionate person, says my husband, and so I get it. I get why they yell and can and have such a strong opinion, but that's not really where growth happens. You're just screaming and sharing your feelings, and that should be done like in counseling. Counseling.
Right? It's okay to scream. Just do it. Just pay someone to listen to you do it. We should be more okay with being uncomfortable.
So as we just keep that in mind. We Brian hit on it already about bringing our tithe and our offering to the Lord. But when you really think about it and when you really give a 100% of your heart to the Lord, it's really not it it's okay to release that money to him because you just, like we said, love and trust him so much. And there's nothing but wins when you bring your tithe because you're winning because you're obeying the Lord and doing what he asked. You're winning because you're giving to your local church who is the hands and the feet of the ministry, and there's practical needs of people in our community that your tithe here at Tribe goes to.
And then you're also pleasing the Lord, and so that's another win because he's like, ah, you're doing it. I can trust you. He knows exactly what's in your bank account, and that's irrelevant to our heart posture for tithing anyhow. So as we think about that, we're just I'm just gonna pray over us today and our bringing our tithe and our offering to him. And just real real quickly, just practically speaking, we don't pass buckets.
We're meeting in a bar, so we don't pass buckets or do anything. We're kind of unconventional, which is amazing, and we love it. On the screen, you see the easiest way to give, that's with your smartphone and you just type a new number to 84321 and then you type in the amount you want to give, it gives you some quick instructions. If you have cash or check, something physical, you can also just put it in the tribe box, it's right there by the saloon doors to the right as you leave. Thank you, Phil.
And you can also give online, tribejh.com at any time. So let's just close our eyes collectively as a tribe family while we're here meeting corporately today. Father, thank you so much for just, first of all, who you are and how you love and how faithful you are. You never change. The Bible says you you're the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Now your ways can change because you're so creative and different generations bring different personalities, but your ways and your faithfulness never change, and so we just say thank you for that. Today, collectively, while we're here as a tribe family, whether you're part of like we say at Olive Garden, if you're here, you're family. So this tribe family here today, this unique gathering, I thank you for everybody here. Father, thank you that you meet us where we're at, whether we're, like, all in, tithing is agreeable, and I'm all in, great. If you think it's absolute bullcrap and everywhere in between, father, thank you that you meet us where we're at.
You're not afraid to meet us where we're at. Thank you for changing our heart, molding us, shaping us to be more like you, Jesus, and to see your word and the truth of your word in the ways and in the times and the seasons that we need to see see it. I pray today that the tithes and the above and beyond that, the offerings that come in will just go to do your work, father. Let not one penny do something you don't want it to do. Let us be good stewards as a tribe staff.
Be good stewards of this money. It's all yours anyway. We just practice surrender. We practice obedience. We practice self discipline by giving a portion of our tithe and our offering to you.
We say thank you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yes.
I was just gonna share something really quick as we were just sitting there. I just see this picture in my mind about I just the Lord brought up this memory of, like, how Kai, he would just eat so much sugar. He gets that from me. He would eat so much sugar and, oh, it tasted so good. I was like, I get it, bud.
Like, if I had my choice, I'd eat everything you could get at a fair. That's what we what I would live on. And I just saw this picture and I was like, Lord, what is why why is that coming to my mind? Then he would go to the dentist and then he would cry because he'd have to get all these fillings. He'd have cavities and he'd have to get fillings and it was painful.
And he wasn't connecting the dots that it was all the sugar he was eating was causing all these cavities. But I knew as a parent, I'd like, bud, you know, in the moment when he's eating the candy, he's like, it tastes so good. I was like, I get it. I get it. But in a month or two or whatever, like, you're the one that's gonna hurt from this.
And as a good parent, like, I'm not trying to keep something good from you. I'm trying to save you from down the road, The pain that you're gonna feel and I just felt like the Lord remind me of that that when we think about something that we're walking in, it might just like that candy seem good. It might actually seem good like I don't get how this could connect to something harmful in my life and the Lord's like, you might not but you need to trust me. You might not. So when you're asking the Lord like, Lord, where am I not following your ways But there's another area of your life that's like really hurting.
You might not connect, you know, tithing with broken relationships in your life. And I just feel like the Lord is saying because you know this area isn't aligned, there's something that's going on that you've been praying for. Does that make sense? And so it just all comes down to trusting the Lord. He's a good father.
If he's telling you to do something or lay something down, you and you're asking, but why? He you might not know the why. You just be obedient and maybe down the road he'll show you. But just like a good parent, he's trying to save you the pain later because he loves you so much. So Lord, I just pray over all of us right now, Lord.
If we're trying to in our mind make a connection of what it is we need to lay down or be obedient in or hang our hat on the right hook because we think that the we're gonna hang the hook and we're gonna see an immediate response. We might not. Our job is to listen to your voice and to obey it because we trust that you're a good good dad and you see that dentist appointment coming and you want to keep us from that and you want to keep us close to you ultimately because you love us. So as we leave here today, would you show us those areas that we've been crying out about why do I have why is this swirling my life? Why do I never seem like I have enough money?
Why do I have these broken relationships? Or what maybe it's your health, whatever it is. And then the Lord might highlight something. Lord, highlight it to us. Maybe there's disobedience, but they don't seem connected.
Lord, we trust you. We trust you. That's right. Reveal that to us in Jesus' name. Amen.
Well,
if you need prayer today before you leave, there's a couple options on the back of the connect card that you guys sat on today. It's right here. Not only can you sign up to get text to know what's going on around here, the vibe of tribe, but on the back, there's a place for you to write a prayer request. And the tribe staff, every Monday, takes these and prays over you and takes them very seriously. And so in their private, you can just put it in the same boxes where the tithe and offering goes right there by the exit doors.
But fill this out, but also there's gonna be real people here right after service when we dismiss in just a second back here by the booths to just pray with you. And you've heard us say this before, but there is nothing in the world that is too small or too big that we don't want to just partner with you and join our faith with yours and agree in for whatever you may be going through or just need advice in or wisdom. And if we were being truthful, every last one of us, there's something that we need prayer for. So please don't hesitate to stop by the booths right in the back before you leave. Couple more quick things.
We'll get you out of here. The men's bible study is coming to a close. However, you can still jump in if you want to. Tomorrow is tomorrow the last day? So tomorrow, Monday at the TMC, which is right across from Whole Foods.
It's the building that we own, the tribe center. You can come to the men's bible study at 6PM. If you know anything about Braden's ribs, they're famous and delicious, and he's making them tomorrow. So dudes only, come at six, and we'll be finishing up they'll be finishing up a book, but you can come for the fellowship and the food. And so that I that's so jerky.
Finger foods, fellowship, and fun. Don't ever say that. Scratch that from the livestream. Yeah. Finger foods.
And the last thing is this. Next Sunday, do not come here unless you're just coming to the bar on a Sunday morning. Do not come here. Tribe is gonna be meeting. It is so beautiful, and we live in Jackson.
We're gonna have a fun, family friendly, all ages, and whoever just happens to be playing at the park, we're gonna invite them in at Powderhorn next Sunday, same time, 10:00, but we're gonna be at Powderhorn Park, and it's gonna be a really fun outdoor service. We've done it before, and it's always very fun. And we'll have pizza for everybody right after. So and then there's a float trip happening as well right after. But you can, again, on this, if you're like, I don't get those texts, fill this out so you can have all the details of what's coming up.
But next Sunday, June 30, 10AM, Powderhorn Park, please bring a chair, a lawn chair, and that's it. Just around the corner. There's there's a song for
that. Alright, Brian. We
take our faith very seriously, but not ourselves. Will you stand up? Could I pray for you? When you said real people, like like as opposed to AI, pray for they're real humans. They're actual, like, natural born humans that will pray for you.
Let's do this. Let's receive the benediction, which is just me commanding a blessing over your life. Hold your hands like this. I'm I'm holding them up so that you can see my hands. So hold them comfortably in receiving position.
Lord Jesus, thank you so much for your goodness extended towards us. We receive it this morning, today, and this week. God, I command a blessing over all of your children here today. Just drench them in your great love. Grant them your favor and give them a great amazing week.
We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. I love you so much. Have a great week. And remember, Teresa Hunger, you got this.
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