Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Jeremiah 33:3 God inviting people to ask him and he will tell them remarkable secrets and things to come
3 ‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great and difficult things, which you don’t know.’
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Keep this verse
Psalms (unspecified verse)
my heart has heard you say, come and spend time with me, and my heart replies, Lord, I am coming
Keep this verseHosea 2:14
God saying he will win her back, lead her into the desert, and speak tenderly to her there
14 “Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her.
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Hosea 4:6
my people are being destroyed because they don't know it
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you, that you may be no priest to me. Because you have forgotten your God’s law, I will also forget your children.
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Hebrews 3:15
today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled
15 while it is said, “Today if you will hear his voice, don’t harden your hearts, as in the rebellion.”
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Philippians 4:6-7
do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known to God, and his peace will guard your hearts and minds
6 In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
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1 Kings 19:11-13
Elijah hearing not wind, earthquake, or fire but a still small whisper, and God asking what are you doing here
11 He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before Yahweh.” Behold, Yahweh passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before Yahweh; but Yahweh was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake; but Yahweh was not in the earthquake.
12 After the earthquake a fire passed; but Yahweh was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a still small voice.
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle, went out, and stood in the entrance of the cave. Behold, a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Tribe met in the saloon at the Virginian for the second Sunday of a four-week trial run, and Pastor Brian used that moment of discernment to open a series on hearing God's voice. The series runs alongside the church's process of deciding whether the Virginian is the right long-term home for the congregation. That combination, a real decision in real time, is what shaped the whole conversation.
What was said
Pastor Brian opened with a story from his time in Tulsa, when he was a youth pastor desperately wanting direction and walked the property at Dry Gulch asking God for an audible word, a visible angel, a hand squeeze, even leaves crunching underfoot. None of it came. What came instead was a quiet interior question: "Son, I am a spirit. How do I frequently communicate?" The answer was spirit to spirit, not through external signs. That moment, Pastor Brian said, planted a confidence in him that God can and does speak, and it set the frame for everything that followed.
He established early that hearing God is not a gift distributed to a select few. When he put the question to the room, nearly every hand went up for "a skill to develop" over "a gift." The logic he offered was simple: if it were a gift, some people simply would not have it. Because it is a skill, everyone in the room has the same capacity to grow in it, and the same responsibility to do so.
Before getting to God's voice, Pastor Brian named the three competing voices that crowd it out. The first is our own internal noise, including thoughts, memories, and the conscience God has wired into every person as a kind of compass bearing toward him, a bearing that can be seared and dulled through years of ignoring it. The second is the voice of the world, what the New Testament calls the spirit of the age, which Pastor Brian said often sounds reasonable and even caring but cannot be followed at the same time as following the clear principles of scripture. Several people in the room pushed into that tension, including a conversation about how individual Bible verses can be lifted out of context to say almost anything, and why that makes wise counsel from people who know the whole of scripture so important.
The third voice is the enemy's. Pastor Brian drew a Venn diagram in words, putting the voice of the world largely inside the circle of the enemy's voice. He said the enemy's native language is lies, and that his three standard moves are attacking your identity, attacking your destiny, and heaping condemnation all at once. He contrasted that with the Holy Spirit's conviction, which he said addresses one specific thing at a time, always with an invitation rather than a pile-on.
The passage from 1 Kings 19 anchored the second half of the message. After the wind, the earthquake, and the fire, God was not in any of them. He was in the still small voice. Pastor Brian's point was that God bypasses spectacle on purpose because his goal is relationship, not information transfer. Asking God to cut to the chase, he said, treats him like a vending machine and skips the very thing God is after.
Pastor Brian closed with six diagnostic questions to help someone test whether what they are hearing is from God, including whether it lines up with scripture, whether there is genuine peace, whether there is false urgency attached to it, and whether it draws a person closer to Jesus. He was honest that this is one tool among several he plans to build out over the four weeks, described as a learning laboratory where the congregation discerns together, not a series of finished answers handed down from a pulpit.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Set aside a block of quiet time this week and ask God a specific question you have been carrying, then wait and listen rather than filling the silence.
- Pick up a copy of 'Practicing the Presence of God' by Brother Lawrence and start reading it.
- When something surfaces in your mind that feels like God's voice, run it through the six diagnostic questions Pastor Brian gave: does it line up with God's word, do you have peace, is there false pressure to decide quickly, does godly counsel confirm it, does it keep bubbling back up, and does it draw you closer to Jesus.
- Text or call someone you trust who has been walking with the Lord for a while and ask to meet for coffee to talk through something you feel God may be saying to you.
- On your next walk, run, or drive alone, leave the phone in your pocket and spend that time talking to God and listening for that still small voice instead of filling the time with noise.
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 a moment in Tulsa where he was desperate to hear God's voice and tried everything he could think of, only to sense God speaking quietly inside him rather than through any outward sign. When have you felt that kind of silence from God, and what did you do with it?
- Brian described three voices competing for our attention: our own voice and conscience, the voice of the world and the spirit of the age, and the voice of the enemy. Which of those three do you find hardest to distinguish from God's voice, and why?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
Pastor Brian compartió algo que le pasó años atrás cuando vivía en Tulsa, Oklahoma. Estaba en un retiro de liderazgo cristiano y salió a caminar solo, pidiéndole a Dios una señal clara, un ángel, una voz audible, algo. No llegó nada de eso. Pero en ese silencio, sintió que el Espíritu Santo le habló adentro, al corazón, y le recordó que Dios es espíritu y que su manera preferida de comunicarse es de espíritu a espíritu, a través de esa voz quieta y pequeña. Eso fue el punto de partida de una serie de cuatro semanas sobre cómo escuchar la voz de Dios, que Tribe está viviendo mientras también discierne si el salón Virginian es el lugar donde debe reunirse de manera permanente.
La conversación giró en torno a tres voces que compiten por nuestra atención: la nuestra propia, incluida la conciencia que Dios puso en cada persona; la voz del mundo y del espíritu de esta época, que suena muy atractiva pero no se puede seguir al mismo tiempo que a Dios; y la voz del enemigo, cuyo idioma nativo es la mentira. Pastor Brian explicó que el enemigo ataca siempre la identidad y el destino de la persona, y que su voz trae condenación en montones, mientras que la voz del Espíritu Santo conviene con amor sobre una cosa concreta a la vez. Varias personas de la congregación participaron en la conversación, compartiendo experiencias propias y añadiendo ideas sobre el discernimiento.
Para cerrar, Pastor Brian ofreció seis preguntas de diagnóstico que ayudan a saber si lo que escuchamos viene de Dios: si concuerda con la Palabra, si trae paz, si hay presión o prisa artificial, qué dice el consejo de personas sabias, si la idea sigue volviendo aunque intentemos alejarla, y si nos acerca más a Jesús. También leyó el pasaje de Elías en el desierto para ilustrar que Dios no suele hablar en el viento o el fuego, sino en el susurro suave. Escuchar la voz de Dios, concluyó, no es un don que solo algunos tienen, sino una habilidad que cualquiera puede desarrollar con práctica y tiempo.
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Pasajes bíblicos mencionados
- Jeremías 33:3
- Salmos (referencia a "ven y pasa tiempo conmigo", sin número de versículo específico)
- Oseas 2:14
- Hebreos 3:15
- 1 Reyes 19:11-13
- Santiago (referencia al hombre de doble ánimo, sin número de versículo específico)
- Filipenses 4:6-7
Read the full transcript 11,078 words
It's early. Play your seats up close, so. Good morning. That you're present with your people. And then as we sing these songs today, we sing them to you with your angels in heaven.
And we join our voices And they're not just words to a song, but they're worship to you. It's what we have to give back to you. Our whole life, our praise, and our worship, that's what we give you this morning. And just like we're about to sing, we search the earth, and there's something, there's something that can satisfy. A peace for the hurt.
And it was you, Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen.
Confessions are good for the soul. I struggle with food. And I overdid it last night, yesterday afternoon at a beautiful party for graduates. And I was so disappointed in myself. And I went home and I said, God, you are greater than that aspect in me.
And I am believing it. I know that there's gonna be a beautiful bouquet of food out there today. And I said, Lord, you're greater than that in me. And I claim that today, and I claim that every day, that he is greater than whatever circumstances could be that are troubling you. He is greater.
I promise you, I'm a living 70 year old woman that declares that. He is greater than any problem you may have.
Come here. They're me. So,
listen, you said if a picture comes to mind and a scripture. Oh, the truth is this is a new day, and we choose to rejoice in this new day. We choose to praise the only true God, the living God. And Jesus, we praise your name. We worship you today.
We glorify your name, and we declare that you are the king of kings. You're the way. You're the truth. You're the light. You're the life.
There is no life apart from you. So this morning, right now, we choose to step into your life, to step further into your life, and we thank you for receiving us. And for those of us that are experiencing chaos, whirlwind, Jesus, in the name of Jesus, together in unity, we release the peace of Christ, the peace of the kingdom of God. And we say, be still. All of the movement and chaos in our minds and our hearts, we say, be still and receive the peace of Christ right now in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's go a little closer. Yeah. Perfect. That's great. But he sits down.
Do you wanna sit right back?
Do you guys wanna sit over here with me?
I just have to crank you up. Well, we had to have church in a saloon to get Lisa's dad here, but he made it. And I see some I see some other adult here. Great to see. Great to see.
Is everybody doing alright this morning? Woo hoo. Yes. Good. Way to way to carry the rest of our track down right on your shoulders with that raucous response.
My name is Brian Hunter. I'm the lead pastor here. My wife just got done leading worship. It is our twenty fourth year anniversary. Sort of met at a bar, and so it only makes sense to have church this morning back here at a bar.
I'm so glad that you found us here, and I'm so glad that you you're here with us today. How many of you know that church is not a building, but it's a collective group of people? That's how the bible defines a church. So whether we are meeting at the TMC in the upper room where most of our Tribe fam, if you're familiar with us and you you call Tribe home, this is where we have been meeting for the last two years, or you're brand new to Tribe and you found us in a saloon, no matter where we meet, like I enjoy saying, we think of ourselves as the Olive Garden. If you're here, you're family.
So we're not actually meeting at an Olive Garden, but we're meeting in a saloon today for all of our livestream families that are watching. Thanks for joining us. If you're passing through and you're from out of town, I'm so glad that you found you found us. If you call Tribe home each and every week, look, here we are. We're doing a four week trial here at the Virginia.
Staff at the Virginia has been really great to open up their saloon and their conference room to us for tribe kids out there in the other room. Here we are as the grown ups getting to meet in here. Congratulations. You're now a grown up if you're meeting in this room. Don't know where you sit for Thanksgiving, but today you get to sit here at the grown up table, so welcome, welcome.
Another unique aspect of our tribe family here is that even though we're in a little bit bigger venue, I really want this to be less of a monologue, and I want this to be a dialogue. I don't know the last time that you went to church in a bar. I also don't know the last time that the preacher invited you to interrupt him, but I'm inviting you to interrupt me with questions, comments, and connections. Save your save your contradictions or Or after criticism. Save that for after service.
I do need to say that. Save that for after service, but if you have questions, comments, or connections, I really do want this to be a conversation. I want it to be more of a dialogue than just a monologue. So, as we get into today's content, we have the conversation that we're gonna have today. If there is something that just bubbles up inside of you, oh my gosh, this is reminding me of this bible verse.
Or just last week, I got to encounter or experience that. Or, man, I really feel like like the Lord would would put it upon my heart to say or to share. Or maybe you have a question. Hey, PD, pastor Brian. That's what a lot of people call me here at Drive.
Hey, PD. Time out. I have a question about something that you just said. We're going to make time and room for that here in the service today. Well, how do I do that?
We have as you already saw, you might not have actually seen it because we were all standing up, but we've got a mic right here. Kat is running around. She's our mic jockey. And Chris in the back of the room also has a mic. And so if there's something that you would like to contribute to the service this morning, then just slip your hand up.
They're like ninjas with these mics. They'll run around, get the mic to you, they will unmute it, and will their voices will be amplified in the room. So not only will we get to hear you amplified in the room, but also all of the families that watch on livestream will be able to hear your question, connection, or comment. So please don't let me get on a roll and let your thought go by without jumping into the service as well. Okay?
Deal. Deal. This is what we're gonna be talking about for the next couple of weeks. Hearing God's voice. And I wanna start by sharing just a a quick story of a time that I will never ever forget about hearing God's voice.
Did you know that there are lots and lots and lots of Christians who faithfully and dutifully follow God without ever thinking that they could hear his voice or even pressing in to hear his voice or even really kind of holding on to a deep belief that because I haven't heard his voice personally, they think, well, maybe he just maybe he speaks to other people, or maybe he doesn't really do that today. Well, I wanna tell you that that God is real. He is alive. He has attributes that can be known by us people, and he has a burning desire to communicate with you. He longs to connect with you.
He has the attributes. He is not a person in the in the form of a human, but he has personhood in the form of a spiritual being that transcends and is outside of space and time. And I know that's hard for our finite minds to grab a hold of, but it's important for us to approach the conversation that we're gonna have for the next couple of weeks with this bedrock foundational understanding that God is real, he is alive, he wants to communicate with us. Maybe you are accustomed to hearing the voice of God all the time. Maybe if you were to be really honest with yourself, you would say, I don't know that I've ever heard the voice of God, but I would like to.
That's what we're gonna be talking about for the next couple of weeks. And I said I wanted to tell you a story. So years ago, I was living in a place called Tulsa, Oklahoma, and I went to like a a Christian, like, conference thing to to hear these different speakers, and it was about leadership, and I was out on this really big, large property, and I was at this conference at a time and season in my life where I just really needed to hear the voice of God for direction in my life. And I was listening to all these speakers, and I was like, it's you know, the the speakers were speaking God's truth, but I was like, oh, I just really, really wanted to hear his specific direction for my life. I just needed to hear his voice.
And through all the speakers, I was listening so intently, and then after the speakers, I would go back and I would I would read his word, and I was like, okay. Yes. That's for me. That's for me, but I just really need to hear your voice. And so I went on a walk.
I think I skipped one of the sessions, and I went on a walk in this this big beautiful property out there called Dry Gulch. And and I was walking through the trees, and I was like, Lord. And then I I even, like, took another run at it. Like, what did what's really gonna get his get his attention? So I tried the most reverent prayer I could possibly think.
Oh, Lord. Have you ever had it like like, I I really want this prayer to go through, so you try to use, like, all the, you know, like, your very best, like, King James language. I was trying that. Like, I just really need to hear your voice. It was quiet.
And then I was like, okay. Okay. How how about, like, maybe, like, some sort of a sign, you know, like like, I could see an angel up ahead. I would know that was, like, the voice of the Lord in his direction for me. No way.
Okay. Okay. It would just be really cool if while I was walking along, maybe I could like feel your hand take my hand. Like you could do that. Right, God?
Like you literally have all you call the stars in the sky by name. Surely, I could just feel your hand. I didn't feel this. Okay. That might kinda lower the bar.
You're god of the universe. Okay. Okay. Okay. If I could if I could hear you crunching the leaves and and squashing the grass next to me as I walk, that'd be amazing.
And then I'd know. No leaves crunching. How about a puzzled wind to move the leaves as if they're wrestling, and then I'll take that. None of that. And that got kinda mumped.
I was like, I really need to hear your voice. No audible voice, no angels, no burning bush, no squeezing my hand, no walking through the leads. It was really cool. Were Kai and I were having a a tender moment last week, and he did something in my hand that we haven't done as a family for years and years and years. We got this from another pastor friend of ours, but whenever we're in it's it's copyright, so it's your right to copy this.
When you're holding hands with that special someone, if they squeeze your hand like this, I love you, That's how that's them talking to you. And then you squeeze back and you say, how much? And then they squeeze and they say, this much. That's how much you can know that they love you. And Kai gave me a big old squeeze.
And I was asking that from the Lord, none of that happened. And I got kind of bumped. I was in ministry at that time. I think I was a youth pastor. I was in ministry at the time, and and I was like, if he can't talk to me I was like, in the most serious, honest, innocent well, I was like, if he can't talk to me now, maybe I was, like, ready to toss him the whole towel.
And as I was walking along, I feel like the holy spirit did speak. God did speak in the person of the Holy Spirit. Not here and not here and not in the leaves and not in the trees and not in the wind, but deep here. We're gonna look at a bible verse in just a moment about that. But he whispered to a quiet place in my heart, and he asked me a question.
He said, son, that's often how he addresses me, son, who he said, what am I? And I was like, oh, I feel a trick question coming over here. I mean, you're you're caught. Yes. But what am And I was like, oh, I I don't wanna get the answer wrong.
Yeah. Can you just tell me? And he's like, son, I am a spirit. Yes. I don't.
As a spirit, how do I frequently communicate? I was like, through through your spirit? Yes. Into what? My spirit.
He's like, yes. Exactly. For every single person that has invited Jesus into their heart, made him the leader of their life, he places his spirit inside of your spirit. And he says, I've given you a built in walkie talkie. If you want to hear my voice, it starts not by looking looking out there, although there are lots of things out there that will point you towards me, but my favorite way to communicate with you and have connection and communion with you is through that still small voice of my spirit speaking to your spirit.
And the more time you make to take walks with me, just holding my hand, metaphorically speaking, I will speak to you through my spirit. And when he said that, there was a confidence that dropped inside of my heart that wiped away every fear and concern of any future time of wondering if I would ever hear from Do you know what I'm saying? There was a confidence that entered my heart that he can and will speak. And what we're going to talk about for the next few weeks is how he does that in the human heart. And right now, we, as a tribe family, are on a bit of a journey hearing and discerning God's voice for tribe here at the Virginian.
We're doing four weeks here at the Virginian in the saloon to just see, is this God's will for tribe? Tribe has been a church for about six years. This fall, we were we will celebrate our seventh birthday. Seven years already. Wow.
And we have met at at at small little churches, and then we've outgrown those. And then we on Sunday evening, and then we met at a conference center, in a large conference center that fit our needs really well, except we didn't own it, and it was hard on the pocketbook. And then COVID hit, which was hard on all of us, and we met in people's homes. We met outside. We met on hillsides.
Then in the right in the middle of the pandemic, we bought a building that was great for our needs as a small gathering. We were split between two floors and adults meet upstairs and children meet downstairs, and that's worked beautifully for us for two years. But we felt like God was speaking to us about that next step. We tried one Sunday here at the saloon, and it worked great. It was on Mother's Day, and we thought, well, one Sunday might be enough to hear God's voice for our tribe family, and it wasn't.
But I think we need I think we need a little bit more time to see if this would be a good fit for our tribe family, and if this is the leadership of senior pastor Jesus. And so, you guys are amazing. We came to you and said, hey, I think we need like four more weeks to be able to discern and hear the voice of God for our tribe family. As a tribe family, and even if this is your very first Sunday, again, it's like Olive Garden. If you're here in your family, like, you're a part of this, a part of this decision, or a part of this journey.
And so we said, how what about if we took the next four weeks and we met here? All of you said, great. We're in. We love it. That's what's brought us here.
But I thought we would combine being here with a series of conversations, and we'll just turn these four weeks into, like, a learning laboratory. Let's go through this process together. Far be it from me to pretend to be like the great and powerful Oz. Remember in that movie, The Wizard of Oz, where the sojourners finally make it to see the wizard, and there's this, you know, the great and powerful Oz. But in reality, it's a man behind the curtain pulling the lever, and he's weak, frail, quite mortal.
Well, I don't ever want to portray or come across as anything other than I am. And for those of you who know me, and many of you know me personally, you know there ain't really at all in any way, shape, form or fashion something special about old PB. It's just me. It's just me. And I need to go on this journey just as much as you do of a process of hearing from the Lord.
So let's go on this journey together. We'll turn these four weeks into a laboratory, a learning laboratory where we can collaboratively and together hear the voice of the Lord for us as a tribe family and our meeting space and for you, whatever it is that you might find yourself in needing the voice of the Lord to speak to you directly about some situation or some season that you're in. So can we go on this journey?
Let's do it then.
Let's do it. With that in mind, I wanna I want to put up a a quote for you from a guy by the name of brother Lawrence. He lived from sixteen o five to 1691, and he had this to say about hearing the voice of God. He said, There is none in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. That's a quote from his book, Practicing the Presence of God.
How many of y'all are familiar with that book? It's great, it's short, and I like great books and short books. And this fits both of those criteria, and it's a great book about developing a conversational life with God. So I would encourage you to to look into that. God is speaking all the time.
The question is, are we listening for his voice? And I wanna give you a couple of passages that you can write down. These are not gonna be on the screen. There'll be some other notes that are on the screen. But there's a there's a verse in Jeremiah that says, ask me.
God is speaking. In Jeremiah 33, he says this, ask me, and I will tell you remarkable secrets that you don't know about and things that are to come. The God of the Bible, the God of heaven and earth, the God who created the entire universe, he literally says, I want you to ask me questions. I want us to talk. I want you to come to Now I understand if those of you in this room watching the livestream would say, I've tried I've tried asking God questions.
I've asked him to speak to me, and it's just been crickets. Let's just get that right out. How many of you have ever I'm not saying I'm not asking you if you currently hear the voice of God, but let me just ask you this. By show of hands, how many of you have ever asked for God to speak to you about something and it felt like he's been silent and it's been crickets? Okay.
Now, keep your hand up. Keep your hand up. Put it back up. Now, look around the room. Is that not just about every single one of That puts all of us in the same boat.
That puts all of us on common ground. If you think that you are the only person that has ever had a need and cried out to God and it felt as though he's been silent, you're not special. Whereas my friend Matt Summers says, you're unique, just like everyone else. We've all been there. We all get to approach this conversation from the common ground of asking to hear the voice of the Lord, and it appears as though he's just been silent.
Jeremiah 33 tells us, ask me. I want you to talk with me. The bible there's a verse in Psalms that says, my heart has heard you say, come and spend time with me. And my heart replies, Lord, I am coming. He longs for you to spend time with me and to nurture and to cultivate that relationship so that when he speaks, you'll be able to hear it.
It could be here. It could be here. It could be from the voice of trusted confidant. It could come in the form of God trying to get your attention through creation. We'll talk specifically about that.
But let me write this address down. This is not up on the screen, but this is Hosea chapter two verse 14. God is speaking. This is a this is a prophecy spoken over Israel that will someday have a literal fulfillment, but it says this, then I will win her back again. I will lead her into the desert, and I will speak tenderly to her there.
And then in verse six, it says, my people are being destroyed because they don't know it. One more verse that you can write the address down, unpack it later. Hebrews chapter three verse 15 says this, remember what it says, today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled. I can understand what could be going through your heart right now in this moment. I wanna hear his voice.
But how do I distinguish his voice when there's so many other voices that are competing for my attention? I think maybe I've heard his voice, but there's also a lot of other clamor and clatter and there's just a cacophony of noises and voices competing for my attention. How can I distinguish and delineate his voice from all the others? Well, I have conveniently categorized the three major classes of voices that are competing for our attention into three different categories. So, let's just talk about those really quickly.
There are three different voices competing for our attention. Before you put one of them up, if you had to take a guess at what would one of those major categories of voices competing for our attention would be, what would you guess that would be? IPhone. IPhone and The enemy. The voice of the enemy.
Okay. So let's put it out there. That was not just a disappointing attention. That was crisp. So so we're we're gonna get to that.
That is definitely one. The the first voice that often competes for our attention is the voice in our own head that is rattling around. It could be our thoughts. It could be things that that we're just, like, chewing on or or rehearsing that have somehow gotten into that milieu of what we're spending our time thinking about. It could be our own thoughts.
It could be the voice of our past that is rehearsing things. Maybe it's past victories, maybe it's past failures, but our own voice takes up a lot of bandwidth. How many of you remember I know if Mac does this. I think Mac does this, but certainly older PCs, like when your PC started to slow down, you would like look at the diagnostic and they were like all like your partition was your hard drive was like really fragmented. You're like, oh, do you wanna, like, defrag your computer?
And you're like, I don't know what that means, but sure. Like, our the the hard drives on our on our of our mind get so, like like, discombobulated because there's so much, like, information, at least in my brain. It doesn't fit in there, like, nice and neat and organized. Like, it goes in there, like, sideways. And so my own thoughts spend so much take up so much bandwidth of my hard drive.
There's also under the category of our thoughts, our conscience. Now, that's an interesting aspect of our own thoughts because the bible says that God gave us a conscience that points towards him. There's a verse in the old testament that says no longer gone are the days that people will say, know the Lord, and we would need to be instructed about the ways of God. But God says, I will take my law and I will write it where? On your behalf.
On their hearts. And it shows up in the form of our conscience. And the bible says that our conscience, think of it like a compass needle. That compass needle always points towards God and his ways. We our thoughts, our words, our choice, and our action.
You don't even ever have to have stepped foot in a church or ever have read a bible, but there is an internal compass that God has placed within each and every human heart. The choices that we make, the decisions that we have, the thoughts, the words, it's binary. It either points us in the direction direction towards towards the the God of the Bible or away from the God of the Bible. And when we listen to our conscience that has been put there by God, it can't take us to the final destination by God and by God alone, but what it does is it acts as a bearing to follow. A bearing, if you're familiar with outdoor wilderness navigation at all, a bearing is not a destination, but it is a vector on which to travel.
I like what I just Right? So if you continue to follow that bearing, it's going to lead you to the cross. But the other side of that same coin is in the New Testament, it talks about how a person's conscience can be seared. It can be damaged. It can be covered and calloused over through a lifetime of habitual ignoring that internal compass.
Not this thing. I'm gonna do what I want when I want, how I want it regardless of the cost or consequences. Raise your hand if you've ever done no. I'm just kidding. Because once again, all of our hands would go up.
But if there is a pattern in a person's life of ignoring that compass bearing, your conscience can become seared, and yet it gets harder to hear the voice of God. So one of the voices competing for our attention is what? Our own voice. Our own voice. Now, let's look at this next voice competing.
The voice of the world. The voice of the world screams very loudly. The Bible in the New Testament talks about the spirit of the age. The spirit of the age is something, is a voice that is roaring right now. And it is the voice that many in America just gulp down and follow and believe as truth even born again, bible believing Christians allow the voice of the spirit of the age to yell louder than simple, basic, clearly defined biblical precepts.
And it is it's very hard to follow and listen to and obey the spirit of the voice of this current culture and age, and simultaneously follow this voice of the Lord through principles and precepts clearly laid out in his word. Schizophrenia. Schizo schism means a break. Phrenia means something that I just started out defining and can't finish. But your brain is broken.
Your brain literally gets partitioned. The bible in the book of James talks about a double minded man. A double minded man is unfortunately in unstable in what? All of his ways. You cannot listen to the voice of this world and follow it and believe it and agree with it and simultaneously follow and try to listen for the voice of God most often clearly defined in his word.
Are y'all picking up what I'm putting down about this spirit of the age right now?
Yes.
You can't do both. Jesus says, no man can love and serve two masters. He'll either love one and hate the other, or he'll serve one and hate the other. I know that there is, and we've already talked about this, an increasingly greater cost to following the voice of the Lord as outlined in his standards for values and choices and principles that we are today can take the stand for. And I see Nancy joining the conversation.
Thank for interrupting me
with your I do it well, Lemon. Well, it it is saying what you're talking about. One of the ways that you're in
listening to the voice of
the world with so much going on right now, if you're confused, all you have to do is see if it lines up with the word. You know, you don't have to go to somebody else and get their opinion if it lines up with or without what god says that there's your answer.
You're so right. But what happens when a bible verse or a general principle of God of God's word is taken out of context and used to defend or promote the spirit of the age with verses like, love thy neighbor. Then what you gonna do? Well, you have to seek wise counsel. Come on.
Yeah. And wise counsel doesn't mean going from someone who's got a loud mouth, like some of us may be louder than others. You know? Hello. But it means to go to somebody that can explain it to you.
Don't just go and and listen to somebody that's ranting about something. Truly seek wise counsel. That's what the word tells you today.
So we're gonna we're gonna get into this more and more over the next couple of weeks. Thank you for that contribution. But wise counsel, God's word, but you know that if you were to, like, take God's word just, like, out of context and apply it to your own, that's a great way to start a cult or find yourself into a cult. When God's word is cherry picked and it's it's taken out of context of the the whole counsel of scripture, what is all of God's word. You could make a case for polygamy out of God's word.
Yeah. But that is far from wise counsel and the the entire whole counsel of God's word. We gotta be formal and discerning in these days ahead. The spirit of the age sounds so good and so appealing and could not be more banquet. I wrote this down in my notes about the spirit of the age.
Ecclesiastes. Come on, Clay.
So I'm looking at Philippians four six. Like, there's several verses. It says, do not be anxious about anything, But in everything by prayer, supplication, with thanksgiving, they should request be known to god. Then in verse seven, it says, and the peace of god which surpasses all understanding will guard of your heart and your minds. Jesus.
I think so many times, let your pressure, let this the world in general lead, and we're so anxious to do something quick that we really dig ourselves a
hole that can't get out. I love it. Don't worry about anything, but pray about how much stuff? Everything. Everything.
Just because that works for the part of our conversation this morning during our quiet time, but I feel like this is a good moment to testify. As I gave my heart to Jesus, I was radically transformed in the mid eighties. And when I got to my twenties, I started dipping my toe in the world a little bit. No. A lot of it.
And the world with its voices said, you're amazing. I love you. Come back. Sing for us. You know?
Oh my gosh. You're the best person in the universe. You're so welcome here. Right? Walking into a bar, they would cheer for me.
Would cheer for me to sing karaoke, right as a karaoke queen in Wisconsin. And, you know, let's do drugs. Let's do this. Let's do that. And and you are the coolest person in the universe, and we see you.
And that fulfilled a need that the enemy knew I needed
to
build. Mhmm. And even though it doesn't get filled necessarily the same way, it within the family of god, like walking into church, you know, or whatever. Whatever it is, if I've seen the plans, the plots, and the voice of the enemy so clearly that it took me further than I wanted to go. Cost me more than I wanted to spend.
It kept me longer than I wanted to stay.
Would you say those last three statements one more time? That's so good.
Yeah. And I don't know if that CS Lewis or who said that originally, but sin takes you further than you wanna go, cost you more than you wanna spend, and keeps you longer than you wanna stay. Mhmm. And it did. And so you can hear through those voices when you think in the eyes of seniors here in a heart that feels the spirit of the Lord.
And you know that what the world has to offer is fake. It's fake. It's temporary. It won't last.
Another voice. The voice of the enemy. And if we were to look at a Venn diagram, you there's there's some significant overlap of circles between the voice of the I I would say, oh, the voice of the world fits within the circle of the voice of the enemy. If you if you're not into Venn diagram, I'm trying to look at all my intellectuals for nods of of of approval.
That's how you determine if someone's If they don't amend, I think that.
Ancient Yeah. If can visualize my my VIM diagram just from the auditory cues. But you'd have the voice of the world bumped up on the edge of the voice of the enemy, and next to that is the voice of God, which we're gonna spend the lion's share of our time talking about. But the the spirit of the age, the Bible talks about how even though Jesus has disarmed powers and principalities by triumphing over them in the cross, there is still ground that needs to be taken that will ultimately be fulfilled and taken when Jesus returns, when he comes riding on the cloud with a blaze of glory accompanied by a myriad of angels to rescue and ransom, battered, and abused Israel and lead her in trying to back to Jerusalem where he will establish his earthly global headquarters in Jerusalem. Come on.
Until that day, we get to be his emissaries of light, helping to advance the kingdom of God one heart at a time, one bar at a time here in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But there is still this spirit of the enemy that is at work in the hearts of people around the world today, and it comes through many times as the voice of the world. Mhmm. But the root is the voice of the enemy. He is called the accuser of the brethren.
The Bible says that when he opens his mouth, his native language is that of Lies. Lies. Like in Princess Bride, where the wife of the Miracle Max comes out. Come on. Help me out.
And what did she come out onto the scene yelling at him? How many of you have seen Princess Bride? Okay. Yes. It's a it's not an issue movie.
Uh-oh. But it's a good movie. Just watch it. And she comes out. She's like, Liar.
Liar. How many of you remember that moment?
I thought you meant tooth wave.
No. That's what Milton Mac said was coming out of who was the pirate that just gotten out of the pit of despair? Like, Brian, let's just get back to that. The voice of the enemy is always a liar. When he speaks, his native language is that of was.
How can I distinguish the difference between the voice of God and the voice of the enemy? Because let me tell you this, the voice of the enemy will often use he can use bible verses against you. Just because of thought comes trumping its way through your mind and there's some, like, biblical, you know, biblical reference or truth to it, but it's being used against you, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the voice of God using the Bible to get at you. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, the Bible says that the enemy literally came to him and tempted him, He started by asking a question. How did this question go, for those of you who remember?
Isn't it written? Then he just threw a bible verse at Jesus. Here's a couple of tail tell tale markers for identifying the voice of the enemy. Number one, he lies. Number two, he will attack your identity.
Are you really who you say that you are or who God says that you are? Yeah. Can you are you really come on. And he will attack your identity. God doesn't really love you.
The truth is you are his child. And every good parent loves their child. The voice of the enemy, they messed up, you blow it. But the voice of the enemy will come in and say, but does God really love Attacking your identity. Can he still love you after how bad you blew it?
And then he points out that thing again and again and again. So the voice of the enemy, he lies, he will attack your identity, and then he loves to attack your destiny. Identity and destiny. If he can get you to doubt those two things, like in a judo hand to hand combat scenario, he's throwing you out balance, he throws you to the mat and then you're down. Your identity is one of his favorite things to attack and your destiny.
Did God really say, look at those those times that the enemy confronts Jesus. Both of those things are are all three that that those are the standard go to right from the playbook of the enemy towards your life. Destiny. You can't really do that. Really?
Don't you think that idea of running a big long distance was really kind of like your idea? Isn't this really about your ego? Isn't this really about what you're gonna get out of it? It's not really He loves to attack your destiny. You can't really have a successful marriage.
You can't really climb out of debt. You can't really ever get sober. It's not your destiny to live in so bright, like, surefire ways. Let's talk really quickly about the difference between the voice of accusation from the enemy and the voice of the Holy Spirit that does actually need to, from time to time, legitimately address something in our heart. The voice of the enemy is always that of condemnation.
And it looks like this. You're terrible. You're a loser. You suck. You're awful.
And then when you start to agree with your own thoughts line up and agree with it, now it's a fight two on one. You don't stand a chance. The devil's like, ah, great. He just gets to step back and you end up fighting the own enemy's battle for him against you. Like Dwight Truth, like trying to like block his own touches in the office.
The voice of the Holy Spirit does not look like this, but it looks like this in its conviction. And it will always be about one thing at a time. The voice of the enemy loves to heap on life. Let's say you've blown it in one area and you're like, the voice of the enemy says, oh, yeah. Not only do you are you lousy in that area, but you should really look at this area and this area.
You're messing up in this area and this area. And he just piles it off. And you're like, oh, I don't know. I don't know. And you just then you just start fighting the enemy's battles for you.
He's like, oh, great. Reset it and forget it. But the voice of the Holy Spirit who does correct and confront and rebuke us, he will say, hey, let's talk about this. I love you. But we gotta talk about this.
And there is an invitation to come running to you. Then we have the voice of God. Our own thoughts, the voice of the world, the voice of the enemy, but then let's talk about the voice of God. Let's turn to first Kings chapter 19. We're gonna start to land the plane with this.
First Kings chapter 19. And would somebody wiggle their hands around and read verses 11 through 13? If you've been walking with the Lord for a while, this verse is this passage is familiar to you. If you're brand new, you can turn there and you can also read it off the screen. But would somebody read that verse out loud for me, please?
Those couple of verses. Oh, the talking
table. Yes. Okay. Starting with chapter I mean, verse 11. And he said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.
And behold, the Lord passed by the great and strong wind for the mountains and broke into pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind and earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his clothes, and went out and stood the entrance of the cave.
And behold, there came a voice to him instead. What are you doing here, Elijah? He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of host. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I, am left. And they seek my life to take it away.
He go, you did it. I did it. Well done. Wouldn't it be great if any time you wanted to hear the voice of the Lord, he would respond to us with an earthquake or with a fire or with a a sound of wind that was so violent that it ripped rocks. Like, it would be you couldn't miss hearing his voice.
Wouldn't that just be great? But that's not how he rolls. He rolls in a different way because his motives and his desires are different than ours. Our tendency is to wanna shortcut the relationship and just, like, cut to the chase. You ever you ever thought about that expression cut to the chase?
Where where does that even come from? Cut to the chase. Anybody know where that expression comes from? So it's a cinematic expression that we have adopted into our cultural vernacular that's understood to mean just get right to the good part. But in in movies, like in the fifties and sixties, like, you know, like Alfred Hitchcock movies, the forties, fifties, sixties, You know, like, the the drama would build up, the drama would build up, and the movie would usually end with a dramatic chase, either on horseback or on foot or on in a car chase.
And that's how, like, the movie would end. They would catch the bad guy and the plot would be backed up. And so, people would be like, alright, just cut to the chase. Like, let's get to the exciting We have a tendency to say that to the Lord. Just cut to the chase.
Just tell me what I need to know, what I wanna do, what am I supposed to do. Just cut to the chase. But God's like, when you do that, you bypass all of the wonderful benefits of cultivating a relationship with you. That's the desire of my heart is to cultivate a relationship with you. Don't come to me like a vending machine or slot machine or magic leap ball.
That's insulting to God. You have to put your time in. Cultivate a relationship with you. Oh. But when you do, when you invest in that time of hearing, cultivating a relationship with the Lord and hearing his voice?
I really appreciate what you just said a lot. I've been walking with the Lord for about two years. I really think got a culture information and I kinda been struggling the past year with like following him and, you know, all that. And I always wanted to be like, god, just tell me what to do and I I can do it and I'll fix it. You just have to tell me and I'll go.
I realized that the Lord wanted my heart to change first before I was ready to even do anything. It was the way that he wanted that relationship where my heart, above even wanting to do the right thing, just wanted him. So don't do that, but I really appreciate what you spoke on that. And I equally appreciate your vulnerability to to stay in shape. I've been walking with the Lord for a long time and still continually need that for my slow down.
My hand, let's just walk a little while together. I encourage you to go back and continue to read that story in first Kings because Isaiah wants to talk about this with the Lord. And God, in his in his wisdom and in his patience is like, I wanna talk about that. I wanna talk about this. A lot of times, God we ask God to speak to us and he does, but we ignore it because it's not what we wanna talk about.
How many of you can guess that whatever it is that the Lord wants to talk about is way more important than whatever it is that you wanna talk about? And why is it way more important? Because he's God. He sees things from a perspective that you can't in the moment. Alright.
Let me hear from you. I wanna hear your input on this. Which statement? This is a a vote by show of hands. Okay?
Which statement sits better with you? Option one, hearing God's voice is a gift. Hear the second. Which statement fits better with you? Option two.
Hearing God's voice is a skill to develop. Which statement fits best? Which sits better with you? Option one, raise your hand. Or option two.
A lot of hands for option two. Kat, let me ask you, why does option two fit better with you?
Well, honestly, almost raised my hand to option one, but I think it's a little bit of both. Right? It is a gift that we're given, but in order it is the development skill that we work on constantly. Like I hear from him differently now than I did just a year ago. So it's constantly developing.
If I were to give Bob a gift by the basic principles of logic, if I gave it to Bob, to you Bob, then the basic principles of logic says that I automatically give a non gift to everybody else. Everybody else not Bob is excluded from the gift. It's just for you. In a similar way, if hearing the voice of God was a gift, then that would mean maybe some of y'all have it and some of y'all don't. Well, I guess I just don't have the gift of hearing the voice of God.
But here's the truth. The truth is hearing the voice of God is a skill to develop. And why did so many people raise their hand when the option two was presented? Why?
I would assume they developed that skill. Or
you have the ability to develop.
Constantly to improve. Right? Yes.
And what I like about that too is when you bring up this passage, it's something I've heard a lot in quiet times to go out and spend a few hours with the boy for a lot of fun seasons. And it's such a good tool to be able to cut out the the noise of the world. And I was given that six or seven years ago, Carmel Jackson and having certain scriptures to turn to as a tool since our savior was a blue collar man who worked with tools skill to work on the the tools that he wants us to grow in our relationship.
Very difficult to hear the voice of god when your face and your intention is buried deep into that black mirror staring back at you. Lord, I really need help with our finances. What do I do? I have to make time. For some, that could be the rainbows moments of of of of silence and solitude.
For others, it could be worship. It could be diving into the word. I often hear God's voice when I'm on a run, and I can't I can't I have to keep my phone handy, not so I can get onto it, but I make voice memos. I call people. And the other day, I called Jay while I was out on a run.
Jay's a member of our our leadership team and and staff. And if he's watching the livestream, he'd be like, oh, yeah. But I was like he's like, hello. I'm like, hey, Jay. I got it.
I was like totally out of breath at my little, like, twelve fifty minute mile, but that's fast for me. And I was like I was like, Jay, I got like three things I need to tell you. And he's like, what are you doing? I was like, oh, I'm not. I'm running, but I'm not being chased.
It's okay. But let me let me land let me land with with this. There are some questions that you can ask, like diagnostic questions, that you can ask yourself to help determine, am I hearing the voice of God? So we'll just put them all up on the screen at once. You can write them down, or better yet, maybe take a picture with your phone, and then you can come back and and unpack them.
Six questions that you can ask. Am I hearing God's voice? Rapid fire. Does it line up with God's word? Do I have peace?
And what's really cool is from the back of the room, we heard you guys talking about several of these things already. Is there pressure or time constraint? Constraint? And and you mentioned this one, Clay. Is there a hurry up?
I gotta make a decision right now. I gotta make a I gotta make a you can just you can one of the tricks of the enemy, he loves to put this false pressure. If you don't decide this right now, it's all over the opportunities gonna go away. I'll tell you what, it could be a good opportunity, but if you wait on the Lord, either that opportunity or an even better one will come along again. If you feel rushed, take your time.
Or go back and instead of spending one week, go back and spend four weeks. Mhmm. There and just see. What does godly counsel have to say about it? Can I shake?
This is a crazy idea that I feel like God is calling me to. I try to push it away, but it keeps bubbling back up. It's almost inescapable that it could be of the Lord. Does it draw me closer into relationship with Jesus? All of these are great diagnostic questions that you can ponder and consider.
And in in fact, take a friend out, Text Meredith and say, hey, Meredith. I'm trying to hear the voice of the Lord and something. I know that you got you're you've been walking with the Lord for a while. Can I buy you coffee or can we go hide Josie's? Can I go through these questions with you?
Mouse them all with rent. This is one and each week, I'm gonna give you more and more tools that you can use to help discern the voice of the Lord for your life. But you know that the optometrist, like, is it better here or here? Click click here or here. And then finally, like, that final click and it comes into focus, we need several clicks.
This is one click that I'm equipping you with today. Let's make some time to begin hearing the voice of the Lord by putting into practice some of those things that we've talked about today. Let's close our eyes. Let's just be still for a moment. Jesus, we consider the conversation that we've had today.
All of us have a need and a deep desire to hear you speak to us. Okay. Take a look at me for one more moment. Now I'm gonna invite Amanda. She's going to lead us in one more way to worship the Lord and then share some announcements with us, and then we'll be dismissed.
But while we're singing, I feel like the Lord whispered to my heart, and he said that perhaps one or more people in the room today or watching the livestream have it would they have no doubt that God can speak. They have no doubt of the desire of God to speak, but they are terrified of giving permission for the Lord to speak today. Because the voice of the Lord in their particular situation in their life would be more than they can hear. And the picture that I saw was a person who has spent so much time, years maybe, with their armor up and their their teeth gritted. They might be trying to do religiously good things.
And from the outside, there might be the appearance of a relationship with the Lord and hearing the voice of the Lord. But when confronted with the opportunity to actually hear the voice of God, it is overwhelming to them because they know that they would be undone by God. They would be exposed, vulnerable, without defense. I can I can interact with God on my terms, at a distance, and through the riot shield of my own defenses? Whoo.
But to lower that shield and encounter him and allow him to see me as I truly am and to encounter him as he truly is, that a bit too much for that person or those people. I think the Lord would say, you really think that shield is doing anything? You don't think I already know every single nook and cranny of your precious little heart? That thin veneer of having it all together might fool the entire rest of the world, baby girl. But it don't feel it don't fool me.
Lower your guard. Take my hand. Hand. I am good. That fragile heart of yours that you have worked so hard to protect.
Give me a chance to prove myself. The Lord doesn't say, I demand that you take that part of yours and put it in my hand. He's not right. He says to me, give me a chance, son. Give me a chance, baby girl.
My tender voice will bring healing to your heart. It will bring comfort to your troubled souls. So for whoever that's for you, receive that in Jesus name. I really wish that I could ask that person or people to to raise your hand so I would know who that was for, but it's none of my business. But let me pray for that person or persons in the event the to come come.
Oh, that they would take a step to trust you. Oh, that they would trust you with their tender tender, fragile heart.
As we stay in this attitude of worship again, every time we get together and try, we bring our time and our offering to the lord. We don't do it to just check something off the Sunday box like I did it. That seems very religious and mechanical, and that's not really what we think. We look at bringing our tithe and then offering as above and beyond that as an act of worship to the Lord. We see it as an opportunity to surrender.
They have to practice surrender. You know, you heard us say you heard everybody say, the more you practice something, the better you get. And so what we were talking about today, like, when life is hard, when troubled times come and remain, I mean, life kind of feels like war a lot of the time. It's kind of maintain this military verbiage. You know, if you remember that kid's song, I'm in the Lord's Army?
Yeah. And we march in our catharsis. If you think of us as being in the Lord's Army, then we shouldn't just be defenses. Right? We should have tools or something in our armory that we're constantly using.
Or at least it's there and it's our choice to use. These guys are generally won't force that. But one of those things is surrender in your armory that you should use. One of them is prayer. You know, that's a direct line to your commander.
That's huge. And one of those things is bringing my tithe and our offering to the Lord. Especially when you don't feel like you have it together. And you don't have to tithe it. Try it.
That's not even what I'm asking. If this isn't your local church, don't even worry about it. But when you bring your time, your hard earned money to the Lord, he's like, okay. Because he's looking at your heart. He's not looking at how many zeros are at the end of what you're giving.
He's looking at your heart. Remember that precious story in the New Testament when the everyone was filing into church and Jesus and his disciples were kinda standing by and watching. And a lot of the important religious leaders were, you know, dumping gold coins, making sure some fell so they could pick them up and, know, did everyone see how much I just put in the offering bucket? And then this He's looking at your heart. She gave everything she had as an act of surrender to her Lord and Savior.
So I'm not that wasn't a segue to give everything you have today. But check your heart before you give. Whether it's now or somewhere else, check your heart before you get. Just ask the Lord. Say this is for you, Father.
What what do you want from me today? Let it be a a surrendered practice. So with that in mind, let's just pray together as we receive. Because we do your work. Your hands your hands and your feet, and we do your work to bring more people into your kingdom.
That's why we're here. Why we're having church in the saloon or whatever it takes. So, father, thank you so much for all that you are and who you are. Thank you so much. We just love and trust you.
Thanks for the opportunity to give to you. Thanks for the opportunity to pray directly to you because of what Jesus did on the cross. So we say all these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
We'll come back up and no trouble. Before you do, I just wanna hit a couple quick things. On this table right here to your right and my left, we have thank you bird. They have plan for us. We have several clipboards, and will you just go check those out real quick?
That's basically like our try fridge. You know, everything that's important goes on the fridge. Your kids are for important dates. That's our fridge today. And we have so many things coming up Sunday morning when we meet at Tribe and Tuesday evenings when we meet at Tribe.
Should not be the only Jesus time that we have. Right? It shouldn't be the only time that we see each other. So we have a lot of things going on. If you're interested in adventures, this is an adventure y place.
We've opened up Tribe Mountain Adventures, and there's all different levels of activities, so check that out. We have a new small room small groups coming this summer. There's a few different choices to kinda see what fits your schedule or your desire, what you wanna do. Check that out. And then two weeks from today, we have an opportunity for you to come and serve with us at the Wake River Reservation.
It's just about three hours or so northeast of here in Riverton, Wyoming. And we partnered with them for several things, and these kids are so precious. They're gonna hold a BBS, a vacation bible school, and we get to go and serve in that way. So if you're interested in that, you can talk to me right after service, but there's also a place to sign up over there. So it's a great way that we were talking about today, like, what do you do you wanna serve?
Jump in with kids. It's kind of like the the deep end of ministry. Like, to to serve kids and to handle all of that I'll check that out. Alright. Just
before you stand up, we have Tribe is graduating three high school seniors. They just had their graduation this week. Kyra, Kai, and Christian all c sounding words. So so why don't I pray for our three graduates? Just break your hand around real quick.
Alright. I'll tell you what. You can look at them with your eyes as soon as we dismiss. I know. Christian could stand up, and you and no one will still see you.
Alright. Because it's our anniversary. Do look awesome. They've arranged themselves by height. So I let them I'm I'm gonna pray for them.
I'll say amen. I'll have you stand up. I'll pray for you, and then we can get out of here. Alright? So, Lord Jesus, thank you for the immense amount of potential that is standing right here.
God, I ask that you would plant within their heart a burning desire to cultivate a relationship with you, to hear your voice, to surrender their immense talent and ability to use their lives to make your name famous. We command a blessing over their lives. And God, we command your provision to rest over their lives as you fill them with vision. Protect their innocence as they go into colleges, schools, the next places that they go, give them favor with teachers and with employers. Plant a vision in their heart of what it is that you have for them to live their lives, to make your name famous.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. And everybody said, amen. Now it's your turn to stand up. Can I pray for you? Good job, guys.
Go forth and do amazing things. Lord Jesus, I pray for our tribe today that's here today. I command a blessing over their lives. God, them with your peace. Fill them with a a a restful confidence that they can and will hear your voice for their life.
Give them great victory in all that they set their hands to this week. I command the blessing over them. In Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. Amen.
I love you guys so much. I want you to have a great week. We'll see you back right here at the saloon next week. Have a great week, and remember, you got this. Okay.
Topics
Discerning God'S VoiceHearing God'S VoiceHow God SpeaksPrayer And SilenceStill Small VoiceVoice Of The Enemy
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