main text read aloud: the 70 elders climb the mountain and eat a covenant meal with God
7 He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, “All that Yahweh has spoken will we do, and be obedient.”
8 Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Look, this is the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has made with you concerning all these words.”
9 Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up.
10 They saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was like a paved work of sapphire stone, like the skies for clearness.
11 He didn’t lay his hand on the nobles of the children of Israel. They saw God, and ate and drank.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the furnace, a fourth man appears in the fire
1 Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits, and its width six cubits. He set it up in the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon.
2 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king sent to gather together the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, to come to the dedication of the image which Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
3 Then the satraps, the deputies, and the governors, the judges, the treasurers, the counselors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 Then the herald cried aloud, “To you it is commanded, peoples, nations, and languages,
5 that whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king has set up.
6 Whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace the same hour.”
7 Therefore at that time, when all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up.
8 Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came near, and brought accusation against the Jews.
9 They answered Nebuchadnezzar the king, “O king, live for ever!
10 You, O king, have made a decree, that every man that hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, shall fall down and worship the golden image;
11 and whoever doesn’t fall down and worship shall be cast into the middle of a burning fiery furnace.
12 There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not respected you. They don’t serve your gods, and don’t worship the golden image which you have set up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and fury commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. Then these men were brought before the king.
14 Nebuchadnezzar answered them, “Is it on purpose, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you don’t serve my god, nor worship the golden image which I have set up?
15 Now if you are ready whenever you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music to fall down and worship the image which I have made, good; but if you don’t worship, you shall be cast the same hour into the middle of a burning fiery furnace. Who is that god that will deliver you out of my hands?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered the king, “Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.
17 If it happens, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace; and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
18 But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image which you have set up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the form of his appearance was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He spoke, and commanded that they should heat the furnace seven times more than it was usually heated.
20 He commanded certain mighty men who were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.
21 Then these men were bound in their pants, their tunics, and their mantles, and their other clothes, and were cast into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
22 Therefore because the king’s commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
23 These three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the middle of the burning fiery furnace.
24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste. He spoke and said to his counselors, “Didn’t we cast three men bound into the middle of the fire?” They answered the king, “True, O king.”
25 He answered, “Look, I see four men loose, walking in the middle of the fire, and they are unharmed. The appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace. He spoke and said, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the middle of the fire.
27 The satraps, the deputies, and the governors, and the king’s counselors, being gathered together, saw these men, that the fire had no power on their bodies. The hair of their head wasn’t singed. Their pants weren’t changed, the smell of fire wasn’t even on them.
28 Nebuchadnezzar spoke and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel, and delivered his servants who trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and have yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.
29 Therefore I make a decree, that every people, nation, and language, which speak anything evil against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill; because there is no other god who is able to deliver like this.”
30 Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.
Paul on his way to Rome is caught in a violent storm and receives an angelic visitation
1 When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band.
2 Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
3 The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself.
4 Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
5 When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board.
7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
8 With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
9 When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them,
10 and said to them, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
11 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.
12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.
13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore.
14 But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euroclydon.
15 When the ship was caught, and couldn’t face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.
16 Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat.
17 After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.
18 As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.
19 On the third day, they threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands.
20 When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
21 When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, “Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss.
22 Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23 For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
24 saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
25 Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.
26 But we must run aground on a certain island.”
27 But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.
28 They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.
29 Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight.
30 As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.”
32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.
33 While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing.
34 Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.”
35 When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat.
36 Then they all cheered up, and they also took food.
37 In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship.
38 When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
39 When it was day, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it.
40 Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
41 But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
42 The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.
43 But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land;
44 and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Brian walked Tribe fam through Exodus 24:7-11, the moment Moses, Aaron, and the seventy elders climbed Mount Sinai and ate a covenant meal in the presence of God. The central idea was that God places invitations to encounter him inside seasons of disruption and discomfort, not just in the easy, familiar moments of life.
What was said
The passage describes the seventy elders hiking up to a high basin on the mountain and sitting down to eat and drink in the presence of God. Brian showed video footage from a trip to Jabal Al-Lawz in Saudi Arabia, pointing out a large upper plateau that fits the biblical description of where that meal likely took place. The physical reality of the hike, roughly the vertical gain of two Snow Kings, was worth sitting with. These were not men who just strolled up a gentle path. They had to prepare food, carry it, and make a serious climb before any of the encounter happened.
Brian framed the whole Mount Sinai sequence as a courtship and wedding. God brings Israel to the mountain, presents a covenant, the people say they will obey, and then representatives of the whole nation are invited up to share a meal, the way a wedding always ends with a feast. The blood Moses sprinkled over the people in verse eight was the sealing of that covenant, and the meal on the mountain was its celebration.
From there Brian brought in Psalm 23:5, "You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil, and my cup overflows with blessing." He said most people want the feast, the anointing, and the overflowing cup, and those things are real promises. But the verse does not say the feast comes when everything is comfortable. It says it comes in the presence of enemies. The meal on the mountain and the meal in Psalm 23 share the same structure: the good thing arrives inside something hard.
Brian said Christian maturity is largely about becoming comfortable being uncomfortable, not in a grim or defeatist way, but because the pattern in Scripture is consistent. He worked through three examples quickly: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego finding a fourth man in the furnace; Peter stepping out of the boat onto the water in the middle of a storm on the Sea of Galilee; and Paul receiving an angelic visitation while the ship was being torn apart in a Mediterranean storm on the way to Rome. In each case the encounter with God was inseparable from the disruption that surrounded it.
He closed with a personal story from the previous week. Brian had been emceeing a conference in Nashville called BlurryCon and, when a speaker offered to pray for people after a session, Brian skipped lunch and prayed for whoever was in line. A few days later one of the conference hosts forwarded him an email from a woman named Olivia Missler, who wrote that she had been miraculously healed of a chronic health issue she had carried for a year and a half, and wanted to thank the people who had prayed over her. Brian's point was that the encounter did not happen in a church service with worship music and an altar call. It happened at a conference that mostly talks about giants and Nephilim, in the middle of an ordinary lunch break.
The bottom line Brian kept returning to was this: look for the invitation in the midst of disruption. Whatever is currently interrupting your normal life, whether it is housing uncertainty, a relationship in flux, or something going on internally, God tends to place an invitation inside that moment rather than around it. The seventy elders did not encounter him on the valley floor where everything was already provided for. They encountered him after the climb.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
Read Exodus 24 on your own this week and notice the imagery of a courtship and wedding as you go through the story.
When something disrupts your routine or comfort this week, pause and ask whether God might be extending an invitation to encounter him in that moment.
Fill out the connect card in your seat if you are new or visiting, especially if you want to hear about young adults events this season.
If you need prayer for anything specific, find Brian after the service and ask him to pray with you.
Read Psalm 23 verse five slowly and sit with the idea that the feast God prepares for you may come in the middle of something hard, not after it is over.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Brian talked about how the story of Israel is our story, and that each of us is prone to worshipping a version of God shaped by our own convenience and desires. Where do you see that tendency showing up in your own life?
The 70 elders were invited to leave the comfort and familiarity of camp and climb an inconvenient, arduous mountain to meet with God. What has your version of that climb looked like, a situation where encountering God required real effort or discomfort on your part?
El sermón partió del relato de Éxodo 24, donde Moisés, Aarón y setenta ancianos subieron al monte Sinaí para comer un banquete de pacto en presencia de Dios. Pastor Brian usó videos que filmó en lo que podría ser el verdadero monte Sinaí, en Arabia Saudita, para ayudar a la congregación a imaginarse lo que fue ese ascenso: una caminata ardua, con comida preparada de antemano, bajo un sol de desierto, hacia un encuentro con el Dios que los había sacado de Egipto. La idea central fue que Dios invita a su pueblo a encontrarse con él no en la comodidad, sino en medio de la incomodidad y el esfuerzo.
Desde ahí, Pastor Brian conectó ese relato con el Salmo 23:5, donde Dios prepara un banquete "en presencia de los enemigos". El punto fue directo: todos queremos el banquete, la cabeza ungida y la copa desbordante, pero el texto dice claramente que ese banquete ocurre en medio de la adversidad, no antes de ella. Mencionó varios ejemplos bíblicos del mismo patrón: Sadrac, Mesac y Abednego en el horno, Pedro caminando sobre el agua, y Pablo en medio de una tormenta camino a Roma. También compartió una historia personal de una mujer que recibió sanidad mientras oraban por ella en una conferencia en Nashville, lejos de cualquier iglesia. El llamado final fue sencillo: cuando llegue la disrupción a tu vida, en lugar de hundirte en las circunstancias, busca la invitación que Dios pone dentro de ese momento difícil.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados:
Éxodo 24:7-11
Salmos 23:5
Daniel 3 (Sadrac, Mesac y Abednego)
Juan 16:33
Hechos 27 (Pablo en la tormenta)
Santiago 1 (considerarlo gozo cuando enfrentáis pruebas)
Read the full transcript9,069 words
Let's stand up together. Would you pray with me before we get started today? Welcome to our living room. So Lord, we come before you this morning. We acknowledge that your word says that wherever two or more are gathered, that you're there right in the midst of us.
So right now, we just take a minute. We we make ourselves aware that you are in this place and that where the presence of the Lord is, there's freedom and there's healing and all things are possible. So we just acknowledge today that you inhabit the praises of your people. That's what your word says. So right now we just acknowledge that you are here.
Come and
do what you wanna do
in this place. You see every heart. You see every life. You know even what led us up to this very moment, this unique moment. So hear our praises in this place as we declare that we deal not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and that's how we defeat it, is fixing our eyes on you, praising you.
We do that this morning. We tell you we love you.
Amen. Because this is how I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. Is how I fight my battles. With praise.
I fight my battles. This is how I fight my battles. We praise. It may look like it may look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you.
You believe that this morning? It look like I'm surrounded. I'm surrounded by you. Oh, yeah. It may look like I'm surrounded.
Lord, come and do what you wanna do today in this place. We surrender to you. We surrender to you. As the spirit was moving over the water, Come rest
on us. Come rest rest on us. Come down. Spirit, when you move, you made my heart bow. When you feel the room, you're here, and I know you're moving.
I'm here, and I know you feel me calm down. Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit,
come rest on us. You're all we want. Holy
Oh, yeah. You're all we want. One more time. Holy Spirit, holy Spirit, come. Rest on us.
You're all we want. Oh, yeah. You're all we want. Oh, you're the only voice.
You. We thank you that that you are living and active and that you speak to us today by your spirit. Let us be so much more aware of your presence all around us. Every day. Every day.
Let us have eyes to see what you're speaking and doing all around us. Sing this. Let us become more aware of your presence. Yes, Lord.
Let us become more aware of your presence. Oh, we need you. Oh, we need your presence, Lord.
You know, it says in the word that better is one day in the presence of the Lord than a thousand elsewhere. And so Lord, we just thank you for that today. That when we get into your presence, when we fix our eyes on you, and we experience your presence by your spirit. There's no place we would rather be. Lord, we just say to you right now, you know us better than we know ourselves, That we You knew us before we were even formed in our mother's womb, Your Word says.
And so, Lord, search our hearts right now. Search our lives. If it's true, if You really do know everything about us. If there would be anything in us that would keep us from entering into your presence today, would you draw it to our minds, and we would be quick to ask you to forgive us today? That we would repent, which means to turn from our wicked ways.
And you know us so well. You know we can barely make it five minutes, but you're right there. Thank you that you've never left us, that you've never forsaken us. Even when we have not been faithful to you, you have been faithful to us.
Yes.
Sing I will build
and I will build my life upon your love.
That we would know your love.
We would know your love today.
What a
beautiful plan you have. Lord, we just tell you today, come speak to us. And for anyone in this room that has ears to hear today, that we would just be washed today in your great, great love for us, father. No matter where we find ourselves today, maybe this is all brand new or maybe we have pressed in and known you our whole lives. Lord, we just tell you today, we have a desire to know you more.
And that in your word it says that if we press in to know you, that you will draw close to us. So that's what we ask for today. For anyone in this room that has ears to hear, would you come and speak to us through your word, through the message that Brian's gonna bring, through what you did in Sinai and what you're still doing today. We tell you we love you. We thank you.
We thank you that you sent your son to show us an example of your great, great love in a way that we could understand and comprehend it. Because on our own, we can't do it. Thank you for making the ultimate sacrifice for us. And all we have to do is receive it. It seems too easy.
It seems too easy. So we thank you today. Come and continue to be in this worship service. That's what this is. It's a worship service.
We worship you with our voices. We worship you with giving honor to the word preached. And Lord, we just tell you thank you this morning. Thank you. Will you just say that to him?
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We tell you we love you in Jesus' name. Amen.
What great worshipers in this room. I start worship, I close my eyes and there's maybe 15 people. I worship, open my eyes and the room is full overflowing. Turn around, say good morning to someone, get a donut, fill up your coffee, and let's get into the word together.
That was really me. It was my guitar strap. You
were like
Yeah. It wasn't you.
I can't start. Okay. Oh, hi. Good morning. Alright.
How exciting. Very exciting. How's everybody doing this morning? Oh. Alright.
That was a very unenthusiastic great. But I won't ask you again, not to punish you. I'm not gonna ask you again. I'm just good morning. Is everybody doing alright?
Oh, did it. I did it anyways. I went ahead and asked you again anyways. Yes. We're doing great.
Wow. Thank you. Just take everybody, put them on your shoulders, and carry the team. Way to go. Speaking that is true.
Speaking of carrying the team, didn't we have a great job from Connor last week carrying the team? That was so good. So good as he talked about the golden calf altar at the base of Mount Sinai. And, Conor, I especially love how you challenged us to consider what is our image of God. Is it an accurate biblical image of God?
Anything other than a construct in our mind of God other than what the bible clearly says he is is an idol. We all think, oh my goodness. How could how could Israel fall into such foolishness by making a cow and worshiping it? But the reality is the story of Israel is our story, and that each and every one of us are susceptible and prone to worshiping a god in our image of convenience and gives us what we want. So thanks for bringing the heat last week.
Didn't he do great? This morning, we're gonna talk about Mount Sinai some more. Is that alright if we talk about it a little bit more? Okay. Alright.
Alright. Oh. Know I love get such a bad one. About this? How about not Leviticus, but Exodus?
Okay. Alright. So if you if you have a bible with you this morning, would you open your bibles to the book of Exodus and click on chapter 24. And while you're turning there, I just wanna let you know if you are new or visiting or haven't been here in a while, you found us. I'm so glad that you found us here at the TMC.
In your seat, there is a little connect card. Card. And with that connect card, if you would fill that out, we'd love to have a record of your visit. Also, if you, are a young adult, you're just landing here for the season, Welcome. You're a ninety day wonder.
So glad that you are here with us for the ski season. We have a vibrant young adults ministry, and so you can check a little box, and that will, we'll make sure, like I think the box says, like, let me know about young adult stuff. So we'll be sure to do that. Also, one other one other unique distinctive about our tribe fam besides being all squeezed into this cozy large living room, is when we get into God's word together, my desire is that we engage with each other as we engage with the text. And so I want this to be a conversation.
Instead of just a sage on the stage just talking, I want this to be a conversation that we have together. And so what that means is if you have a question or a comment or a connection and what I mean by connection is let's say that we're talking about a a verse and we're reading it, and that reminds you of there's hyperlink in your brain to to some other passage. Oh oh oh, that reminds me. Well, what's really cool is that's actually that's actually the lord whispering to your heart. And when you share those connections, it helps the rest of us learn and grow as well.
So together, we're all learning and growing. So can we do this together today, y'all?
Listen. Thank goodness for for Gretchen. Gretchen.
I know. And Nancy, and Nancy. And Nancy. So
loose. Gretchen's just louder than me. Always.
In a good way. So we also have a we also have a mic in the room because there are a lot of families that when they are traveling or they live out of town, like in the Carbondale area, and they get to be with us here in person today, that that when their people are traveling or out of town, they watch the livestream, and I want them to be able to hear your contribution as well. And so if you have a question, comment, or connection, if you just raise your hand, then Kat has the mic. We'll get the mic to you. And when you make your contribution into the mic, then our livestream family get to hear it.
Sound good?
Sound good.
Alright. Exodus chapter 24, and we're going to look at just a few verses together, verses seven through 11. And so, Kat, would you hand the mic to somebody that wouldn't mind reading those few verses? Oh, Joe is on it, and I'm gonna turn there myself. Oh, move some air.
Yes, please. That was like a spiritual.
I mean, he can't see.
Exodus 24, read seven through 11 for us.
Okay. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again, they all responded. We will do everything in the lord has commanded. We will obey.
Then Moses took the blood from the basins and spattered it all over the people declaring, look, this blood confirms the covenant the lord has made with you in giving you these instructions. Then Moses, Aaron, Nadab. Nadab. Abayhu. Abayhu.
And the 70 elders of Israel climbed up above climbed up the mountain. There they saw the god of Israel. Under his feet, they seemed to be there seemed to be a surface, a brilliant blue lapis lizoo blue Lazuli. As clear as the sky itself. And through these nobles of Israel glazed or grazed upon God.
He did not Gazed. Oh my gosh. He gazed.
You're doing great. You're doing great.
Gazed upon God. He did not destroy them. In fact, they ate a covenant meal eating and drinking in his presence. Wow. Okay.
One of the things that we like to do here at Tribe is to use our imagination. So the bible says, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind, and with all of your strength. Imagination is part of our mind. I think that historically, people in my spot right here, preachers want so desperately to for you to connect with the genuine and the authentic that either one of two things happened. Either there is a culture of discouragement of our imaginations or you don't rely on your own imagination, you rely on the imagination of the person up here to paint a bright vivid picture, and then maybe you get that same picture, maybe you don't.
At Tribe, we love to use our imaginations, our sanctified imagination, our god given imagination. And so I would love to hear from you. As you read these verses, seven through 11, there is an incredible story unfolding, and I would love to hear from you what picture comes into your mind's eye as these events unfold. What do you find yourself what picture do you develop in your mind's eye when you read these things? What details stand out to you?
Yeah. Lapis Lazuli. What in the world is Lapis Lazuli? A blue stone. So that so, like, what is that?
What does it look like? Where is it? Why did they see that? What is going on there? So curiosity is a part of a vibrant imagination and creativity.
What else? As you read the text, what other pictures comes into your mind? What do you think about? Yes. Oh look and here comes the mic.
I think about doing the laundry and getting the blood out of everybody's clothing. Okay. Okay. I love that. Verse eight, then Moses took the blood from the basins and spattered it over the people.
Alright.
So Bob's thinking about the practical.
Yeah. Yeah. Some laundry that needs to happen. What else what else do you see? Yeah.
Yeah. Corey.
It says in 10 that they saw the god of Israel. So there were 70 people that physically saw god, and god didn't destroy them. That seems pretty significant to me.
Yes. Incredible detail that's given to us here in the bible. They call it the theophany. That's a really churchy word to see god. Wow.
What else?
Well, after having seen some of your videos and pictures from when you were at possibly highly probable Mount Sinai, thinking about 70 people, like, hiking up that together. Like, that's a lot of people. And I'm just thinking about, like, hikes here. Mhmm. You know?
Like, imagine 70 people on the trail Mhmm. Going up. Mhmm.
Yes. Okay. Yes. Now yes.
And they, like, they have to make a feast, and so they
have a ton of stuff with them.
You gotta bring a picnic basket with you. Alright. So I I have a video. You wanna see a video? I have to be very careful about, like, these kind of things so that it doesn't turn into, like, dad's slideshow hour.
Because I don't want it to be that for you, but I do feel like this is valuable. So there is two videos, so would you play that first video? Yep, that one. Oh remember back before I got a haircut? Mixed reaction.
Because some because some still wanted it long. Yeah. Yeah. When's the last time you were at church and you could go up and grab the pastor by the back, which is what Nancy would do most weeks? Alright.
Thank you, Joe. Okay, guys. Check this out. Look behind me here. See a large plane out this way.
This is, I believe, where the nation of Israel camped at the base of Mount Sinai. Moses came up this path behind me, and let's look at this upper plateau together. And this is where, potentially potentially, Moses came with the 70 elders. These are some of the 70 elders you can see here. K.
There's one. But check this out, guys. Look. So there is an upper plateau here. Look at this basin.
Look at this basin. So according to the story, 70 elders climbed up Mount Sinai. They came to this basin here where they ate a covenant meal with the Lord. They ate and drank with him, and then Moses gets called on up to the summit. So look at this flat plateau basin here.
Isn't that just amazing? Yes. Yes. Super dry, super arid, very scrubby. If you're taking notes, at the top of your notes this morning, you can write the title of our conversation, Kneel on the Mountain.
That's going to be the title of our conversation this morning. Kneel on the Mountain. And to give you an idea of how far people are traveling, so you have a visual of the valley floor there. You could fit a million or so, give or take, out in that flat area. The invitation was for Moses to come up on the mountain.
Moses comes down from the mountain. He delivers the law, the covenant, the contract. The nation of Israel says we will do and obey everything it says. And if you look closely at the story of the time that Israel spends at Mount Sinai, there is some beautiful, beautiful imagery of that of a courtship and engagement and a wedding that happens in this. We could spend weeks walking through each of these, but I'll let you go back on your own, read this story over and over again, and put on the glasses of a wedding.
And how amazing is it that the creator of heaven and earth, the god of the universe, capital g, big g, god, Yahweh, engages with his creation, us, in such an intimate way that the only way that we can describe it is like that able We're not to going do atmospheric nonpersonal force out there. He is a person. He has personhood, and the attributes of God are such that he longs to be known. And the way that he chooses to reveal himself in the context of relationship is, oh, how can I describe it? I wanna be married to you.
Now he does not say, oh, marriage between a man and a woman. That's a good idea. I'll use that. He created marriage. And so when a husband and a wife get married, what they are doing is following the the pattern that god established that we see here on Mount Sinai unfold.
And so and so look for look for the imagery of Yahweh who can be known, wants to be known, must be respected with reverence and holiness because there is a way there is a right way to approach a relationship with the lord. You can't just go scampering up on the mountain, and you can read about this. God says there's a boundary, but at my timing and at my request, come up onto the mountain. So Moses has gone up onto the mountain. He has come back down from the mountain.
He reads it, and this is what we just read. All the people agree. It's like the bridegroom saying I do. And then to to to consummate in a way the marriage, there is an invitation to come up onto the mountain and enjoy a covenant meal together. Because what would a wedding be without food?
You gotta have food at a wedding. And so in a similar way, god says, as representatives representatives of all of Israel, the 70 elders come up on the mountain. And Gretchen had a great great insight. Like, as I read this, I think about I mean, that's a that's a long way. So you can see from the video I just showed you that that it was a bit of a haul.
And the best way that I can describe what's the vertical elevation gain of like Snow King? 15. Let's call it let's call it 15. Let's call it 15. So from the valley floor to the summit of Mount Sinai would be about two Snow Kings.
Okay? So from the valley floor to the summit of Snow King would be about halfway to the summit of Mount Sinai. Are you with me? Alright. So about, we'll just be really simple, about halfway is that large upper basin.
70 dudes hiking to the top of Snow King. And not just with, like, a a camelback, but, like, they got a the bible doesn't say who provided the food. Is god able to provide food and feed people? How do we know that? Where?
Where? Thousand people. Jesus feeds Manna. Jesus turning water into wine. So like so we have a biblical precedent.
We're not we're not we're not just making up wild imaginations, but our imagination is fed by understanding of truth in God's word. So we are not told who did all the cooking for 70 people for this wedding banquet, but maybe they brought food up on the mountain with him. The idea was that it was not spontaneous, but there was some forethought and some planning that went into this. And if the elders are bringing the food up on the mountain, then they gotta like cook and prepare. Let's be honest.
Who is doing the cooking and preparing? That's right. Their wives. I need to take I need to take this up on the mountain and they're cooking and they're wrapping it up and putting little baskets and sending it up the way with them. So think about this for a moment.
The the trek, the arduous trek that was involved in preparing the food and then getting up the mountain to the place. If you were let's just put ourselves in the shoes of the sandals, if you will, of one of those 70 elders. As you were trekking up the mountain, what thought might go through your head? Yeah. Why couldn't we have just done this down at the bottom of the mountain?
Like this is a this could be a pain. I have one more video to show you. So, the first video I show showed you was from like the top, the entrance of the basin. The next video that I show you, I've crossed the little basin that could easily fit that amount of people, and then I'm on my way towards the summit of Sinai. And so if you bring that volume up, Joe, and then you can see the basin and some of our other 70 elders right there.
And I was back in that little low spot. Is it going there it goes. Cool. Okay. So we just came from that little notch back behind the Lower Plains.
Just behind me right here is this upper basin where the bit the disc biblical narrative of the 70 elders coming up to this high plateau basin. And behind me here is up towards the summit. Nope. There we go. There we go.
That's good. That's up towards the summit. We're gonna continue on. Isn't this just amazing? This basin is so cool.
Look at that. Okay. So this gives you a little bit different perspective to be able to see the topography of the area. Now there have been since the exodus, since the time of the exodus, there have been a few locations suggested as the location of the real Mount Sinai. The other location that's in top contention contender for the location of Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula.
This is in the Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia. The other one is in the Sinai Peninsula, and it's known as Jabal Musa. This is known by locals as Jabal Al Lawz or the Mountain Of Moses. Jabal Musa in the Sinai Peninsula has no feature like this, an upper basin that you could have 70 people gathering. So that's one interesting thought that lends in my mind credence and more evidence that this is the actual real Mount Sinai.
But I want us to think about for just a moment the imagine that you are one of the 70 elders. You have just seen, witnessed the Red Sea crossing. You've traveled out into the wilderness and desert. You're camped with your with your wife, your immediate family, your extended family, all the way out to a tribe and then there are 12 tribes, could be up to a million people, all living out here in this plain. You are eating manna that is, the Bible says, fell like dew every morning that had to be harvested.
You are being miraculously taken care of by the lord. The lord comes down on Mount Sinai, thick cloud and smoke and fire and thunder and the blast of a shofar. Moses goes up. He comes down. He brings the wedding contract Israel signs by saying we will agree.
And as one of the 70 elders, you're thinking like, okay. Things are going well. This is great. Let Moses go up on the mountain and come down from the mountain. Up the mountain, come down from the mountain.
And then the invitation comes from the Lord by mouth of Moses saying, alright. The 70 elders, we're going up the mountain. For just a moment, put yourself in the shoes of one of those 70 elders. I gotta go up there? Maybe some of you hike Snow King regularly.
But even if you hike Snow King regularly, the reason why you hike it is because it's not a walk in the park. It's a lot of effort and work. It's inconvenient. If it were convenient and easy, everybody would be hiking Snow King. Now it's Jackson, and I know relatively speaking, everybody hikes Snow King, but come on.
It's a lot of work to get up there, especially if you're having to bring food, whether you bring lawn chairs, or you're you're you're having a meal. You there's there's a lot that needs to happen in order to have a meal on this upper plateau, this upper basin. It's out of the way. It's inconvenient. Yes, Nancy?
Okay. Alright. Here it comes. Here it comes. Here it comes.
It's gonna be
It's It's fish.
Okay. You get an invitation, and you're going to meet the lord.
Okay.
The one that has done all these miracles. And there's no description of what they say they saw.
A little bit. Not describing him
Oh, yeah. Than what he's standing on. I mean, don't you think if you went up there and you met the lord, you would come back going, I mean, this is what he looked like? So
according to I like what you're because you're using your imagination.
Fact, I'm I'm I don't you know, you don't think about what it's gonna take to get there. You've been invited to be in the presence of the lord. You know? I mean, are you gonna look those as obstacles and, you know, I've got sandals on that's sitting in good time.
You're gonna be setting the pace. You're gonna be setting the pace like, Moses, come on. Let's go. Yeah. Okay.
Okay. Alright. I like just doesn't seem to know. I like that perspective. So Jewish commentary outside of the biblical text that we have says that the 70 elders only saw the feet of god, that the rest of him was was shrouded.
No. Just his feet and his feet resting on this ground. Just hand it back.
Okay. Michelle's back and ready. Yay.
Yay. So happy to be here. So so happy. One thing I was thinking of, it says the 70 elders went up. Right?
He sprinkled the blood on. So but does that mean that there were women elders? Or was it more than 70 people? If it was the elders and their wives. That means there was a lot of people.
So the the the story when Moses picks elders, especially after he Jethro says, you're wearing yourself out. Like, pick men. So he does say he does say men to handle these smaller cases and then bring only the most difficult to me. Even though Jewish culture runs through the mom, a matriarchy, it's clearly a patriarchal driven society. And so I think it would be safe to say that the men were the 70 elders, although maybe they had could you imagine Lanisha not going up and helping serve and prep and and clean up?
And so so That's a great point. So that that that's a great point. So let me come back to what Gretchen said, and I'm going to read this from my notes. In the same way that God invited the 70 elders to a meal on the mountain, God does the same for us today, but maybe not in the way that you would think. So I wanna show you this.
Let's look at, another verse in the book of Psalms. Psalms 23. My my grandmother would quote all of Psalms 23 every day out loud as she would take me to school, and I would, I would ride in the cab of the pickup. My grandmother had a 1957 Chevy step side pickup with a three on the tree transmission, and I would stand next to her tucked behind her shoulder, and the seat belt was her elbow. And every morning, she would quote all of Psalms 23 from, like, the New King James version.
And so anytime I read Psalms 23, it's just special because it reminds me of my boo. And, she is in heaven and you'll get to meet her someday and you'll be like, ah, thank you boo for
For anything good.
Anything good in your in your in her grandson. She would do this thing where I would mess with the knobs on the on the console, the front of the truck. That was actually like the heater in the vent, but the truck didn't have a radio. And so I would, like, mess with the knobs, and she would pretend to sing and then change the radio station and sing. So here's August in Texas, and, like, I would have the heat blasted, but she'd be singing away.
So Psalms 23 verse five. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil, and my cup overflows with blessing. What a beautiful promise that is written to Israel but for us today. You prepare a feast for me.
So when I was reading the story in Exodus and as I was going through the basin on Jabal Alaaz, I was thinking about this verse. You prepare a feast for me. And here's here's what I want you to put in your heart. God invites us into encounter sometimes in the midst of chaos. Life was good down at the base of the mountain.
They're being provided for. It's convenient. It's relatively flat. All of the 70 elders, their needs were being taken care of. And then almost out of nowhere, there's this invitation to hike up the mountain to leave the comfort and convenience of their camp and their tent and everything that is familiar everything that is familiar.
And if there's nothing else that you hear today, here would be the the bottom line of what I feel like the lord would have for you today, that I want you to look for the invitation in the midst of disruption. Look for the invitation in the midst of disruption. The 70 elders, their lives were disrupted. Is this not what Gretchen was just just saying? This is what I love about the collaborative effort of the format of our services like this, is we get contributions and there's a really cool holy spirit thread of what he's doing.
Go back to Psalms 23 verse five, and then, I wanna I wanna highlight this first part. You prepare a feast for me. How many of you would like the Lord to prepare a feast for you? Yes. Yes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Look at this last part. You honor me by anointing my head with oil, and my cup overflows with blessing.
Who wants their cup to overflow with blessings? Yay. What am I leaving out? In the presence of my enemies. This is something that you need to understand about the nature and character of the lord.
We all want the meal on the mountain. We all want to see his feet. We all wanna be able to come back and tell stories of what Matt Krabowski? Lapis Lazuli. We all want the Lapis Lazuli.
But who would be willing to endure the hike? The arduous hike and climb up the mountain. We all want the feast prepared for us. We want our heads anointed with oil, is the favor of God that rests on us so that anything we set our hand to, it's blessed and it prospers. We all want our cup, cup, especially our bank account cup overflowing with blessing.
But who among this is a rhetorical question just for your consideration, but who among us would be willing to endure fear, difficulty, the opposition of having those things in the midst and in the context of the presence of our enemies. At Tribe, I want you to grow in maturity. Maturity. Now every parent loves a little baby. They coo and you can kiss them and they smell still like heaven, I think.
Right? But when that baby is 13 years old and still drooling and expects to be fed and is messing their diaper like we got a problem. So god loves you in immaturity right where you are today, now, in this moment, But his desire is for you to grow in maturity. Immaturity says, oh, prepare a feast for me. Hallelujah.
Oh, anoint my head. Oh, my cup overflows with blessing.
Woo hoo hoo.
And that's great in in maturity. The invitation and if you know anything about my flavor at Tribe is I want you to grow towards maturity. And growing towards maturity says, alright. I understand that the cup overflowing with blessing and the feast before me very well may come in the midst of something that is uncomfortable for me, in the midst of something that I don't like, in the midst of something I didn't ask for, in the midst of opposition, in the midst of hardship, in the midst of difficulty, so that instead of looking at just the superficial circumstances of, oh, is awful and terrible, we think of this as an opportunity to encounter the Lord and walk on pavement of I want you to look for the invitation in the midst of disruption. Today, maybe some of you find yourself in a season of disruption, Uncertainty of your housing for the fall.
Uncertainty of your jobs. Uncertainty of your relationship status, your your situationship, or whatever you call it. Maybe you find yourself in a disruption of mental or emotional instability. In that disruption, God will always place an invitation to encounter him. And I want to show you this in more places than than just what we read.
We'll we'll race through these. I'll give you three and then I'd love to hear if you think of others. How about in Daniel chapter three with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego? Was it not a disruption to have them bound hand and foot and thrown into a blazing furnace? I would say that would count as a disruption.
Not cool. But what happened in the fire? There was a fourth man in the fire. We all want Jesus to show up, but how many of us would be willing to be bound hand and foot and and thrown into a perilous situation where in all likelihood, we will lose our life? In fact, how many lives did it cost to throw them in there?
The the the lives of what? At least two of the dudes shoving them in there. There's a great sermon about the fourth man in the fire. Also a great song. How about how about, in the New Testament, there's this incredible story of Jesus doing ministry with his leadership team, 12 disciples, and then he tells them, get in the boat, cross back on the other side.
I'll see you after a while. They cross they're crossing the Sea Of Galilee, the Sea Of Galilee, and that body of water is notorious for storms whipping up out of nowhere. They cross blue sky. All of a sudden, storm comes rolling in. The wind and the waves are threatening to swamp the boat, and then one of them looks out over the bow of the boat and sees a figure walking on the water.
They lose their minds. It's a spirit. It's a specter. It's a ghost. And then one of them says, I could be Jesus.
We all want the encounter of Jesus, but very few of us have ears to hear the invitation of Jesus when he says, come out of the boat and walk on the water with me.
It has been my experience anyway in life and my observation that this is the norm, not the exception. And so, there's periods in life of rest, and yes, there's times where you should fill your tank so you can come from a place of overflowing. But I think that we would, as believers, level up in maturity, the more comfortable we are being uncomfortable. And sometimes the only thing that'll make you draw near to God and keep you away from sin is suffering. And so it's have a choice in that place where you're, like, on your knees, on your face before the Lord, choosing him instead of the easy road, which is coping, which is substance, you know, whatever.
Like, you can go you can spiral. So to me, not that you not that we're Debbie Downers downers and we're like, yeah. Life is gonna just gonna be hard. Wah wah. You know?
But, again, we go to John sixteen thirty three. Jesus himself says, there will be trouble in this life, but take heart. I've overcome the world. So I think just to mature as a Christian and what Paul talks about when he talks about going from milk to meat, expect don't expect trouble like Debbie Downer, but just be comfortable being uncomfortable because you are anchored in the word, because you are anchored in the Lord. We're I'm always having feasts in the presence of my enemies.
Like, it's nice when I'm not. You know what I mean? And so just being comfortable being uncomfortable because of God, not because of our strength, not because we get stronger, not because we can pull ourselves up with our bootstraps, but because God and God alone is the one who keeps us anchored in all of life's disruption, disruptions, because it's pretty constant. Pretty constant. Been my experience.
It's pretty constant. The greater the the greater the the greater the disruption, the greater the opportunity for encounter. Bethany, did you have something? And then we're gonna and then we're gonna land the plane here. You're getting your comment in just before we land the plane.
Bethany so if Bethany ever raises her hand, just know that I'm, like, about to close it because that's when you like to make your contribution. But I but I love it and I appreciate it because you've been thinking and you're considering, and so I look forward contributions.
Yeah. So I was just thinking, like, as we are looking to, like, seek the ability to do this, I'm thinking about in verse seven of Exodus 24 when they the people say, we will do everything the Lord has said, we will obey. Like, when we first read it, I noticed, like, they say it twice. Like, they say basically the same thing twice. Like, we will do everything the Lord has said, we will obey.
So it's like, when things are said twice, like, that's important. And just like thinking about the posture with which we approach life in situations that would allow us to take this invitation, that it starts with this posture of obedience and surrender. And so, like, when we are approaching God and life with that posture, like, I feel that's an essential component of being able to access, like, this invitation and being open to taking that invitation.
I do love that. Peter had the context of relationship with Jesus that there was some amount of trust there that when when Peter said, lord, if that's you, bid me to step out of the boat and come to you. And in the Texas translation, Jesus said, y'all come. And and that con the the context of trust and obedience came out of time spent in relationship. That's a really good key component.
How about the example last example, and then I wanna show you one more thing up here. In acts chapter 27, Paul is on his way to stand trial in Rome. And what's really cool once again about the Bible is that it is geographically accurate. When you read arrested and he's on his way to stand trial in Rome, he runs into a a really violent storm out on the Mediterranean Sea, and they're being blown and tossed. They haven't eaten.
They're trying all of these different things. They've even passed ropes underneath the ship to try to keep it together from being torn apart. And then in in the midst of that, Paul has an angelic visitation. Now I don't know most of you are probably really good traditional Protestant Christians that don't seek angelic visit visitations. Traditional But how cool would it be if an angel of God visited you?
I'm ready. I can get blurry. And so an angel appears to Paul and gives him a prophetic word. I mean, who wouldn't want that? But how many of us would say, I'll skip the storm at sea?
And so I just wanted to, and I'm sure that you could come up with a bunch of other examples of in the midst of disruption that there is an invitation to encounter the Lord in a way that we would not be able to grab a hold of if it weren't within the context of that disruption. Remember what the book of James says, consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds. This is an invitation into maturity. And so we would think that encountering the Lord would most often happen within the context of, like like like, a church like this maybe. But I want to share with you one last example of of something that happened to me last week, a story of a person coming up for prayer, receiving prayer for for a specific thing, and them encountering the Lord and actually being healed.
And it didn't happen at church. You'll never guess where this happened. It was in Tennessee. It was in Nashville, Tennessee. And, last week while while Connor was preaching, I was taking part.
I was emceeing a a conference called BlurryCon. And if you're familiar with blurry creatures, okay. Cool. If you're not, check them out and use discernment. Right?
Be wise. Be wise. Eat the meat. Spit out the bones. So I was at BlurryCon last week, and I was a emcee, and part of the time, I was a character.
So the the the theme of the entire podcast, it's two guys, Nate and Luke, and they love the eighties. So it's kind of eighties theme. They're always bouncing back and forth between the eighties stuff. And so this year's conference was themed after the movie Goonies, which was which was really cool. And, as the emcee, I was also sometimes like a character.
I was like a pirate. So pastor, pirate, Brian. And, after one of the speakers, they dismissed for lunch, but the speaker said something unusual for a blurry con conference. I mean, they talk about, you know, kind of they talk about all kinds of things. But, when this guy got done, he's like, hey.
If anybody, like like, would like prayer, I'll I'll stick around after this session and and pray for you. The venue held, almost a thousand people, and the session got done. I dismissed everyone to lunch, and I was really surprised. There was a line of almost a 100 people wanting prayer, and it was the speaker, and he had, like, a couple of, like, little buddies with him to help him pray. And I was like, oh, I could go to lunch.
Or man, I didn't come here to be a pirate. Came here to, like, love on people. And and so I was like, I'll skip lunch, and I'll I'll pray for people. And I prayed for a bunch of people and, like, okay. Cool.
Then I found some lunch, and then we went on. A few days later, I got a text from one of the hosts of the podcast. His name was Luke Rogers, and he says, like, you'll never believe this really cool email that I got from after the conference. And I wanna put the email up here, And it's from this woman, Olivia Missler. And if you can read it, great.
If not, I'll read it for you. I was miraculously healed by Jesus at your BlurryCon conference this weekend, And I wanted to get in touch with the people that prayed over me to say thank you. I was healed of a chronic health issue that has affected me the past year and a half, visibly healed. Unreal. If you could put me in touch with pirate MC Brian, and there was also a husband and wife that prayed over me, I wanted to let you know how cool they are.
Love you guys. Thanks for changing my life. So how cool is that? And this is not an email, and I know that you're not clapping, like, for me or about me. This is about Jesus showing up in in an unlikely midst of disruption, you would think that for a testimony like this to happen, you need to have it be in church, and you need the worship team, and you need the lights down low, and you need a compelling altar call, and you need, you know, all of the bells and whistles.
This had this did not happen at church. This happened at a conference where they like to talk about, like, giants and Nephilim and Sasquatch. And so if something like this can happen to this woman, would you put that bottom line back up? Today, I wanna leave you with this idea of look for the invitation in the midst of disruption. Disruption.
So perhaps today you find yourself in a situation of disruption. Your status quo, your homeostasis is being interrupted with something is going on with you. Instead of wallowing in the midst of your circumstances, today, my pastor's heart wants to try to lift your chin out of your circumstances to look up the mountain for an encounter with him. Let's make a little bit of space for that right now. Holy Spirit, will you just come and speak to us?
We invite your presence, Holy Spirit. You are supreme. You are the beginning. You are the end. You are big g god, and all other little g gods must bow before your supremacy.
Wonderful, precious spirit of God, would you move in and among your people today? And with just the few moments that we have left, would you just talk to him from your heart?
If you if you know the lord, he's never not faithful. He's never not faithful. I was having my own moment back there, so I'll try to recalibrate it again. When we come to tribe every week, we worship him in so many ways, and church is just a place where we get together as people. Right?
It is definitely should not be the only Jesus you have all week. We call it, like, the biggest slice of the pie, the Christian pie. It's just when we can get together and fellowship as a family. Right? But every week when we're together, we worship him through song, through the honoring of his word, through our conversation, and we also honor him by bringing our tithe and our offering.
And it's it's a thing that we do for the local church, but it's multipurpose. First and foremost, it is to say, god, it's all yours anyway, and this is an act of surrender. We give a portion of our hard earned finances. Sometimes it feels really hard, but we do it by faith because we trust you, God, is what we say. Lord, it's all yours.
We surrender surrender a a portion portion of of this. This. Do what you want with it. And then secondly, it does the work of the local ministry. That's the practical piece.
You know, when we go to Wind River, when we fill their food pantry, when we love on people at the mission, it takes money, other stuff too, time, talent, and treasure, we say, but that's what it does when we bring our tithes. So we're gonna pray together and bring our tithe and above and beyond that, our offering to him today. Whether you do it now or another time before I pray, just practically speaking, if you give by cash or check, we have a black lock box downstairs you can give or right at the exit right up here. There's a little tribe box you can give. On our website, tribejh.com.
There's a giving link, and then more most practical on your smartphone, you can see on the screen, you just text a number to (833) 369-7847. Type the word give at the dollar sign and the amount you wanna give. And you just pray over that as you do. So let's pray as a tribe family. Heavenly father, thank you so much for who you are and your faithfulness.
You are so faithful to us in everything you do. It might not look how we expect or want, but, man, we trust your sovereignty. Just meaning your ways are higher, your thoughts are higher than ours, and we just trust that. You have proven like this song that we just sang says. You have proven that again and again and again.
You've never not proven it. You're a 100% on your shots. We thank you for that. Lord, as we bring our money that we've earned, blood, sweat, and tears hard for it, Lord, we just say we surrender to you. This is an act that keeps us calibrated with your heart.
We say, father, it is yours. Thank you that every penny that is brought to tribe and every local church here in the valley will just go to do the work of the ministry, to love on people, not with a secret agenda, but just to truly love on them the way that Jesus does and would if he was here. And so we thank you that we get to be your hands and your feet and your mouthpiece. Just an honor to be in this family. We love you and trust you in Jesus name.
Amen. Announcements is the refrigerator. Take a peek on your way out. Yes. Thank you, Vanna White.
We have some serving opportunities. We have a prayer group. You can always sign up constantly until Jesus returns for Sunday goodies like the donuts because that's what we do and Tuesday night meals for young adults and so you can connect with one of us after service. Like, what does that mean? You can just provide a meal for the young adults.
Anything else? Let's talk about it while we're up here. Yeah.
I don't know. What do
you wanna talk about? Yeah.
Let's well, you know, let's start a podcast right now. Pastor Brian, would you come?
Before we actually do. As
we dismiss, if there's anything that you need prayer for, I'd I'd be happy to pray for you. And so just come find me after service. Thanks for being here today. Would that be alright if I prayed for you before you get out of here today? Okay.
Stand up.
Next
week, our tribe family celebrates pecky day. So if you don't know what pecky day is, it's a great tribe family tradition. So make sure to be here at either nine or eleven. Let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for being good to us.
Thank you so much that you never ever ever ever let us walk through a situation where we would be surrounded by our enemies without also providing an opportunity for us to be seated at a banquet table with you. Thank you for your goodness. I command a blessing over each and every person here. Give us a great week, Lord. And for those of us that are still hunting, help us to get the brown down and fill our freezers.
We love you too, Jesus. 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.
