The Power of Rain Over Ruin

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our Tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Welcome to Tribe's podcast. Hey, we just wanna say thank you for making this message a part of your week. Our prayer is that these messages will inspire you to make the name of Jesus famous in your life and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. If you're ever in Jackson Hole, we'd love for you to visit our tribe fam in person. To learn more about us, you can find us online or at Facebook by searching tribejh.com.

Pastor Brian, are you kidding me? Like, let's give him a round of applause for all the great messages he gives week after week. So he will be coming up. But like he was saying earlier is we don't just wanna get used to being in the same rhythm over and over and over again. So we're doing offering announcements right now.

So as we transition out of musical worship, we're gonna transition into a time of giving. And I couldn't help but think of when I grew up playing baseball, one of my coaches before every pitch, he would have us say out loud ball and we would be forced to get on our toes as the pitcher was winding up. And it was this was just because like especially in baseball, those of you that watch or play it know how easy it is to like check out because you're like, oh, yeah, here's another pitch. No way he's hitting it and the chances of it coming my way are even smaller. So especially if you're in the outfield, you're like picking daisies like when you're playing little t ball or whatever.

And I really wanna encourage us to do that at church and to kinda have that heart posture of every time we come in here whether it's worship, whether it's time of giving or Brian's given the word is I want you to like have that same mindset of like, okay, like, I'm engaged. I'm ready for this pitch that's coming down the pipe and I want to respond if the lord's going to be doing something. So, if you guys don't mind bowing your heads with me as we pray over the tithe and above and beyond that offering, that would be great. Lord, we we just give it all to you. Whether we're coming in here with heavy hearts or it's the best day of our lives, Lord.

We just, we come before you and sit at your feet with ears ready and eyes to see what you're doing. Lord, we just, we give you our hearts and our lives and our finances, Lord. Use us during this time. It's in your name we pray. Everyone said, amen.

We, yeah. Ways to give really quick are we have a box back there next to the saloon door. You can put cash or check-in there. Our website, there's a little gift tab up there as well as my favorite way to give is through my smartphone. You can just open up a text at eight four three two one and type in a dollar amount and go ahead and it's as easy as texting a friend.

We also have, I think, I don't know if this was last week or over the last month, but we've had five new first time givers to try. So we can do a round of applause for that. It is like so so cool. And that's exactly what I'm talking about is is those people that are they're being ready and attentive to what the Lord is doing in their hearts. And so I'd really encourage you guys to have that posture here today.

A couple announcements, mainly revolve around Easter. You might have seen on your seats, we have all these awesome Easter cards. Ella, if you wanna wave that around for us, that'd be great. And also by the door where Phil is, Phil, can you show us some of the bigger flyers that we have over there? We have some really big pieces of paper that look awesome.

Those are for your workplace or if you go somewhere and you see one of those big like kinda cork boards whether it's like cowboy coffee or wherever. I really encourage you guys grab one of those and put it up there. Like that's exactly what they're for is we gotta get the word out about Easter service and you never know kind of the seeds that are just planted. I know we have a couple people that are in here that saw whether it was a banner hanging at Albertsons or whatever that are here because they saw that, which is so cool. Phil's one of those people and look at him he's serving today.

So cool. Yeah. You as well. That is so cool. So so cool.

So that being said, for Easter, we are going to have a Good Friday service the Friday before March twenty ninth. You guys can go ahead and mark that down. It'll be worship and communion at the tribe ministry center. So if you only join us on Sundays, you might not have been to our other building. It's across from Whole Foods and that will be from seven to 08:30.

Then we also have a Google Doc that Liz is gonna be sending out for if you wanna bring food for Easter service. Last year, we had like bacon and stuff like that when we're out outside at the skating rink, which was pretty funny. But we are gonna be doing lunch immediately following service. So if you guys would love to contribute to that, we definitely need some help. Liz will be sending out a Google Doc.

The day before Easter on Saturday, we're gonna have setup and it's gonna be in the conference center in there. Correct? So at 10AM, we need tons of hands to just help move things and get things organized at 10AM, Saturday, March 30. And then immediately following that setup at noon, we're gonna be going for our annual family friendly Bradley Taggart hike, which is super fun. So if you have like little ones or your family, your friends, super cool and especially with how nice the weather's been out lately, It's gonna be really really pretty.

So, really encourage you guys to go ahead and come to that. With that. Yes and we'll also provide lunch in between those. So, we'd love to have your help serving and then some fun after and you'll also get fed. And with that being said, did I

miss anything? Zechariah chapter 10. Oh, let me tell you where we're where we're going next couple of weeks. So today, we're going to Zechariah and we're going to celebrate communion together. Next week, we are going to honor the feast of Passover and we'll talk more about that and we're like a week ahead of Passover because the following week, March 31, March 31 is Easters.

Right? And so we'll be celebrating resurrection of Jesus on that Sunday. But we want to we want to acknowledge and honor the very important family tradition that God has established long, long, long time ago called Passover. So, we're gonna do Passover a week earlier and then Easter and then see what the lord has for us after that. Sound good?

Sound good. Alright. Zechariah chapter 10 I'm going to read this verse to you and it's up on the screen if you want to follow along. The Bible says in verse one and two, ask the Lord for rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds and he will send showers of rain, so every field becomes a lush pasture. Household gods give worthless advice, fortune tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort.

So my people are wandering like lost sheep. And they are attacked because they have no shepherd. If you're taking notes this morning at the top of your notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation, The Power of Rain Over Ruin. That's what we're going to be discussing. And if you're brand new to Tribe, maybe you've heard that word and it's stuck in your ears, conversation, discuss, and I really want this to be less of a monologue and more of a dialogue.

I want to give you an opportunity to contribute to our journey today. If you have questions, comments, connections, if you wanna share a doodle from your iPad that the Holy Spirit is inspiring with you as you're maybe taking notes, then, you are welcome to do that but I would we would love to hear from you and the way that we do it is there is a mic in the room, and if you just put your hand up, we can hear you pretty well in the room. But for all of our families that are watching on the livestream, they get to be a part of the conversation and tune in and hear what you have to say. So with that in mind, if you have a question, a comment, or a connection, just raise your hand, we'll get the mic to you, and off we go. We're gonna talk about the rain today.

And if you have lived here in Jackson Hole for very long, you know that that we get this, we get we're right on the cusp of a fifth season that you probably don't experience where you're from. I know that you have summer, fall, winter, and spring, but between spring and summer, here in Jackson, we have a very unique season and it's called Mud. Mud season. You get mud season from the ground is still frozen and buried under all this snow, but as the sun climbs higher and higher and the temperatures get warmer and warmer, the snow begins to melt, but it doesn't really have a place to go because the ground hasn't thawed out, and so we get mud season. The skiing, depending on where you're going, is not so great.

The village is closing down, but you can't get out on the trails to hike or run or ride because they're so muddy. The river is blown out unless you like white water getting into the white water, and then then you're So it's like white water season. But soon coming, you guys, are the rains of spring here in Jackson. The rains of spring are coming, they help erode the snow, they help transition us, and we get Our spring showers bring April flowers, it's more like our May showers bring June flowers. We're a little behind everybody else, but it's one of my favorite times of the year as we transition.

I'm getting sick of skiing, my feet are begging for a break, and you get to we have a short board game season, kind of during mud season. And then you get to erupt into the outdoors for the summer. But the rains of spring are so important here in Jackson, and the rains of spring in this passage are also important. Ask the Lord for the rain in the spring, for he makes the storm clouds, and he will send showers of rain so that every field becomes a lush pasture. Today, the main focus of our conversation is going to be on the rain.

But before we talk about the rain, we need to talk about and have a little family talk about what verses are right after that. Because verse two, it almost seems like a record scratch that they might seem unrelated, but they are related. God is talking about asking the Lord for the rains of spring, and then he says that he's going to respond with rain. But then, verse two says, household gods give worthless advice. Fortune tellers predict only lies, and interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort.

So if you look at this passage, you see three really important things that the Lord addresses. And you can underline them in your bible or you can write like a little number one to each of these. Household gods, fortune tellers, and interpreters of dreams. And what I wanna do is I want to just address these for just a moment. I'll continue to use a skiing motif, if you will indulge me for just a moment.

I was an instructor out at the village for many years, and I was always jealous of the people that got to teach the upper level lessons, and the privates, because they were like on the upper mountain and ripping all around, and I was stuck down in a deep freeze like below the inversion level. But I really love teaching beginner lessons, because the learning curve is so steep. But you never know, like you'd get you'd get guys in their like Carhartt overalls coming out to ski for the very first time, like I kid you not, there were a few times when they had like wool socks for mittens, and I'm like, bless your heart, you made it here, I don't know where you came from, but you made it here, we're gonna ski. And every now and then, you would get people, and I don't fault them, because like if you're so unfamiliar with the equipment, I've had people with lessons where their right boot is on the left foot, and the left boot is on the right foot, and their ski buckles are like, and you're like, ah, can I help you with something? And we would get their feet out of those boots, put the left foot into the left boot, right foot into the right boot, and they were like, oh, that helps so much.

I was like, yep, yep. Now I bought you about three hours of skiing, but by the end of those three hours, your feet are still gonna hurt, but I got three hours of skiing like a margin for you. So today, as we address these couple of things just really quickly, I'm not faulting you, I'm not mad at you, I'm not shaming you, but inadvertently, or maybe in your past intentionally, you have messed around with some of these things, and today you're walking around with your left ski boot on your right foot, and your right ski boot on your left foot. I wanna help you get those boots off so that they're not fitting the wrong way. And I just wanna touch on these things, and this is not in the notes, but it's in my notes.

Household gods. Now, probably, growing up here in America, are you've never ever ever been to a house or lived in a house where there is a household god, a life size statue, or a shrine, or like a household god. Now, just quick survey, has anybody been to a house here in The United States that has had, and I'm not talking about like a Catholic thing, but like some other weird thing. Alright, a few of you had, but most of us haven't. So it's a little bit foreign to us, and so it's really easy for us to dismiss and say household gods, no, no, no, no, not me.

But here's something that's interesting about household gods, is there is some legitimacy to the influence that little g gods can have over a household, and over a family, and over individuals. I think many Christians would say, false gods not real, like statue that's completely lifeless and whatever, no power. They would be wrong. Don't make that mistake. There is some legitimate spiritual activity associated with, and that's why I'm using the word little g gods.

That when given a place of honor in somebody's home, is giving permission for them to influence the members of that home and anybody else that would come into that home. But you still might be thinking like, fine because I didn't grow up in a household like that, nor have I ever set foot in a household that had a little g god shrine to it. Alright. You might not have encountered that, however, every person's heart is like a home. And the question is, that you don't need to like answer and respond to out loud, but inside is, has there been a shrine or a place of honor set up in your heart for anything other than the big g god.

So this first one, household gods, is all about who or what you have given permission to influence you that is anything other than big g, God, the Holy Spirit. Oh, for me, for me, many years I had an ornately decorated shrine set up in my heart for the God of the mountains, and I would worship there. And the devotion and the affections of my heart and my attention and all my money and my time went, was devoted towards worshiping the God of the mountains. Now I can enjoy the mountains, but they do not hold the same power and sway like they once did. That idol or that shrine has been torn down.

But are there any gods that you worship that you have erected a shrine to in your heart. Maybe it's your intellect, maybe it's your material possessions, on and on and on. Is what I'm saying making sense? Okay. Fortune tellers.

Fortune tellers predict only lies. Now I would say that there are two broad categories of fortune telling. One is one category, and both of them are unsanctioned by the Lord. One category is just a charlatan, it's a gimmick. And either they're taking lucky guesses or somehow they've gotten it like it's a gimmick, it's a gimmick, and it's nothing more than a parlor trick, unsanctioned by the Lord.

The other type of fortune teller could reveal things to you that they would have no way of knowing other than some sort of supernatural means. And they have acquired that knowledge or information by supernatural means that are unsanctioned by the Lord. Maybe in college or with friends, you're on a road trip and you see a signed fortune teller and you're like, that's fun, let's just go do it, let's just do it for fun. And it might have been fun to you and for you, but they, that person, a medium, there's like a go between the supernatural realm and the confines of this earthly physical realm that we are a part of, a medium, a go between, is getting into the supernatural realm in an unauthorized, unsanctioned manner. It is polluted.

But in a really difficult time in my life, they said something that was very meaningful and helpful to me. Maybe. I mean, I'm not invalidating your potential positive experience, but I'm using all these qualifying words, because what you don't understand is engagement in that kind of activity comes with a hidden cost. So with the Lord, when we deal with him, he loves to put the signature page of the contract at the bottom or on top of the contract? On top.

All of the details of the contract, well, how are you gonna do this, and how is this gonna work out? He's like, do you see my signature on the contract? I've already signed it. I'm just waiting for you to trust me and partner with me. Now, the way that the enemy works is he puts the signature page at the bottom, but Gretchen helped me out with the episode from The Office when Dwight Schrute was trying to like trick people and like, there was like the page of everything, but then when you flip it and you sign it, but then what you're flipping it over, you're really signing something else.

Okay, I got it, I got it. That's what the enemy does. Here's all the benefits, and the great things, and it's gonna be awesome, and you can say goodbye to your long lost grandmother. Just sign here, but what you're assigning is not in any way related to what is promised. And the Lord is really clear here.

Household gods give worthless advice, there's no nutrition there. Me serving the god of the mountains was completely non nutritious and fruitless in my life. Fortune tellers predict only lies, meaning what they say is ultimately misleading. And maybe somebody in here, in their mind right now, are defending an experience or something that they had like, please listen to old PB here. Trust me when I say, if you had a positive or a fun experience, it's not over, because the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, there's a way that seems right to man, but it ends in what?

Death. Inadvertently, you have opened a door in your heart for the enemy to interact with you in a way that is not going to be beneficial for you, and will be at an opportunity of the enemy's choosing and not yours. It's quiet in here because I think maybe you're just taking it all in and you're considering, right? Okay. Interpreter of dreams, pronounce falsehood.

Okay. Now this one does require a little bit more of a scalpel work, and less of just like, what would be the opposite of a machete. Because in New Testament prophetic ministry, God still speaks to his children through dreams, and pictures, and visions, and there are times when it is a great idea to go to somebody who either has a knack, a gift, training, skill, experience in engaging in prophetic ministry through dream interpretation. And in those instances, if you have a dream and you're like, I need some help unpacking this dream, Engage with those people who you know of that that have good character, surrendered to the Lord, proven track record of accuracy, and you will hear something that they say in some shape, form or fashion. I would consider this, and they'll give you something to consider.

I've never been to a fortune teller, but when does a fortune teller say, you know, here's something I'm just gonna lay before you for Nope, that's not how they do it. They're like, brah, and they're like, try to like be definitive in what they say. Because a person who has experience in New Testament prophetic ministry knows that they ain't perfect. And if you are coming to them with a dream, they God didn't give that prophetic person the dream, they gave it to you for a reason. Ultimately, it's for you to unpack and to chew on and to consider and ask the Lord, and here's what's really cool about a person who is seasoned in prophetic ministry, ultimately they will always point you back to the Lord, right?

Instead of like, well, if you you come to me and pay me $2,000, I will then interpret your dream and tell you what to do, like that that's not their their they will always be pointing you back to the lord. Dreams How many of you have ever felt like you might have had a dream from the lord? Okay, just keep your hand up for just a second. Oh, I hear that hand. And then just look around the room.

Okay. Put your hand down. How many of you would say, I've I don't think I've ever had a dream from the Lord, but I would like to have a dream from the Lord. Raise your hand. Oh, that's kinda cool.

Okay. Alright. Put your hand up. And then we those of us who most recently had our hands up, let's agree together in prayer with those people that have their hands up, that the Lord would just speak to them in dreams. Lord, your word says that you are a good father who knows how to give good gifts.

And sometimes our waking conscious mind is distracted or too analytical, but there is a place of intimacy and sweetness and surrender when we fall asleep, that we ask two things. Number one, you would protect us from any bad guys, and number two, we are asking, Lord, that you would speak to us in dreams, in visions, in pictures, so that we would draw closer to you, so that we would gain more insight, and that we would be captivated by your beauty and your wisdom and your brilliance. We ask you in Jesus name, and everybody who had their hand up said, amen. So last last thing I'm gonna say about dreams. Interpreters of dreams pronounce falsehoods that give no comfort.

I was chewing on that phrase and chewing on that phrase, and there is no direct textual reference, but I feel like the holy spirit whispered to my heart, included in dreams would be this idea of drug use. Drug use. Why? Because it says they pronounce falsehood and give no comfort. So when a person takes drugs, their sobriety is compromised, they have an altered state, and in that state what they think is, I feel great, I feel energetic, I feel mellow, whatever it is.

I see things, whatever it is. But there is just like, I'm really throwing Dwight Schrute under the bus today. But just like, he can handle it, alright.

Better Dwight than us.

He's a beet farmer, he can handle it. But just like Dwight Troop, so there's the clipboard, and there's all the great things, and that you sign at the bottom, but that gets flipped over, and what you've really signed is something completely different. When a person takes drugs, they're promised these things, altered state of conscious, relax, or be hypo, whatever it is. But the reality is, the truth is, you have just flung wide open the doors for demonic activity to engage with your life, And it may be during the trip, but here's part of that fine print of the contract, is that they then reserve the right, the bad guys, reserve the right to gain access to you at a time and place of their choosing. So when the trip's all done, the door is still open.

And for a person, let's say that they have whatever drug they're doing, and they feel really happy, is it authentic, genuine happiness? It's temporary. I would suggest to you that it's even false. Just like what the word says here. And ultimately, no comfort.

You may experience a temporary escape, but ultimately, do you have lasting, what God's word says here, comfort? Now I've heard people make a case that says, Elon Musk does drugs all the time. And look at him, he's great. His life is better. That's what they would say.

That's exactly what they would say, but he has not read the fine print of the contract that he signed. Same with Joe Rogan. Yes please, question. You wanna, here comes the mic.

So let's say you or somebody you know has done LSD or whatever and has opened those doors and now wants to close them. What like, how do you go about doing that?

Right where I was going. Ouija boards. Cards. Tarot cards. Who?

Ai Ai Ching. I don't know what that one is, but let's throw it in there. Did I say out loud dream catchers? Dream catchers. You You wanna add to the list?

Homosexual encounters, relationships? Ayahuasca and all other plant medicines, transcendental meditation, Kundalini yoga. And I've had the privilege of ministering to people who've gone through those things. And they've all testified of knowing that their parts of their being were left out on the astral plane. They didn't know how to get them back.

And I'll leave to you how you wanna handle ministering to people like that, but it's real. And I'm grateful for the warning that you're sounding because the things that we're talking about are pretty common in the church even.

And

so it's a real I just wanna I wanna confirm and I wanna acknowledge what you're sharing. And I because I've seen testimony of people who are not integrated and literally near creep being becoming insane because of what ends up happening as the result of having signed that contract. It

didn't So this is this is a beautiful contrast between the character of the Lord, oh, you fully know and he has completely disclosed the contract. You must lay your life down in order to receive my life. That dirty devil, he's like, we'll do a payment plan, don't worry about it. Needs to get deeper and deeper into debt to the enemy and he will collect on that. He will collect on that requiring your soul.

Yes? Here comes

But also, where would you go was your question. Sometimes it comes to you out of nowhere. That just like, you don't have to go anywhere. Sometimes it just comes to you.

Tell me more.

As in say you wanna just have a good day and you and you do some mushrooms or you do some LSD and you think, it's just gonna be a good day, it's a Saturday, the sun's out. It just is there too. You don't have to summon it, you don't have to, it comes to you and it takes over you too. That was your question was where do you go? Is that what you said?

Where do you

go So get so Jay's question is what do you do if you've accident intentionally or inadvertently signed that contract, opened that door? But I don't Your comment didn't necessarily address it and we're going to, but I wanna ask again for a little bit more clarification. Help me out. Me a little more or take another run at it, because I think what you're saying is valid or interesting.

Where do you go to get away from it?

How do you close the door?

Oh man, that's a fun one.

Is that what you are getting at?

Yeah. Okay. Yes. Sorry, I I interpreted his his statement wrong. Sorry.

Ah, okay okay, alright.

You go to close that door? Yes. Oh man, that's the only way. Yes. That's the only Physically where do you go?

Think. Because I heard like a Ouija board, stuff like that. I'm like, what? I didn't. Okay.

Everybody nod your head and go, oh. See, now we're now we're all on the same page.

But to her point, I would say, sometimes you don't need You're not even seeking it and it just shows up. And then how do you even get out of that entire environment is another part of your question. Which is right, the only way is up here but that's easier said than done sometimes.

Going off of what she just said is a good little opening about you could be like relaxing, chilling, loving the Lord, and living your life well, and then bam, like be attacked out of nowhere. And that's a little part of my story because my mother opened a ton of doors. And being just in the same household while you're living your life for the Lord and there's other people that could be in your household as a kid growing up, and they could have been acting in these different areas or practices of them allowing a door to be open even within the household can also provide an access towards you as well which is something you should just really be just mindful about if you have like a family member or you're just raised in a household where you're like, I don't want that but it was still there. Like always still be just prayed up and knowing that the Lord is your protector in those times.

So there's what Lanisha described in the church world we would talk about as a generational curse. Here's where that dirty devil likes to dig into the fine fine fine print that says, alright, so maybe you have not directly flung open a door with any one of these things that we've talked about, but your grandfather did, therefore I'm going to claim access to you.

I do not for one minute feel bad for Dwight, the beet farmer. May I offer another pop culture reference though since we're talking about drugs? Please. The blue pill and the red pill from the matrix being fake happiness and perception of reality versus the sobriety you mentioned.

Yeah. Yeah. Blue pill would would take you back into the matrix, right? Yeah. Red pill wakes you up.

I would like to go back to your comment over there about things popping up, and you're not expecting it. Just last fall experienced that. It's subtle, not too big, but I went on a retreat hoping to learn more about horses and which I did a little bit, but there was also a a woman there that was heavily into kind of Buddhism and all, you know, new age. And we would do yoga in the morning, and I don't do yoga, but I did it anyway because it was a group. And she was taking us off into the clouds and all that kind of stuff, and I I just was very uncomfortable.

So, I just turned what I what she was saying into my experience with god. I just tuned out everything and spoke to God, and went on and did the movements, but I replaced it. And I'm not gonna say that I've always done that, but I've gotten wiser.

Right. And for the record, ain't nothing wrong with stretching. Okay. Doors that may have been opened unintentionally, inadvertently, or directly. I'm going to name a thing and I want you to raise your hand if you know.

Visitors are like, pinch the baby, make it cry so you can like scoot out. What's that doctor? Yes, I'll be right there. The bible says, greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I have literally seen people under heavy chains of bondage and addiction for decades, that in a moment encounter with the Holy Spirit have been set free and doors be shut.

And so, if you remember, I said at the end of service today, we're getting there, we haven't even talked about the rain yet, we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna. At the end of at the end of service for ministry time, we're going to celebrate communion together. But if a door has been opened intentionally or inadvertently before you partake of communion today, why don't we take care of a little bit of business in prayer of confession and closing the door so that any access, any attempts at future access by the enemy, he will then be trespassing. If the door is open that you have opened, especially intentionally, if the enemy comes in and messes with you, he literally has a legal right to do it. She opened the door for me.

She didn't have to, but she did. Yeah, but you tricked her. Well, sorry. Then the enemy would say, you didn't read the Bible? I've been running that game since Genesis chapter three.

Shouldn't be surprised. They gave me access. But they're a Christian. Yeah, they knew better. They gave me access.

I have a legal authority to mess with them. So what we wanna do is revoke the legal authority, so that any attempt would either be not allowed, or you then have the grounds to say, you are now trespassing, the door, so to speak, has been closed, and you are no longer allowed to mess with me, my life, the sobriety of my mind, or my family's. Even if grandpa Earl did open that door. So here's what we'll do in a moment. There at the table, John and Kate and Renee and Matt, will you just wave your hand?

Okay. Lanisha who's sitting right here, when we go to communion, we're going to to have these five people that will be available to pray with you and close the door. And it's not gonna be long or weird because the Bible says that God has like so much greater authority and legal authority. Right? So let's say, let's say that as we go to communion, you're like, man, when I was in eighth grade, I did, I went to a sleepover and we did a Ouija board like I did in eighth grade at a sleepover, thinking it was just fun.

I inadvertently opened the door for the enemy to operate in my life. So, if I were in your shoes, I'm like, woah, and the holy spirit just brought that up to me, I'm like, I've like, I've never like had any I don't think I've ever had anything bad. Well, that just means that the enemy has kept the door open and he hasn't done much or anything with it yet. So if I were in your shoes and the Holy Spirit brought that up, before I come to communion, I would just slip back there, they'll spread out, and you just confess like, oh, in eighth grade, I see the Ouija board, I have a set of tarot cards. Get rid of those.

Whatever the Holy Spirit might put on your heart. And then they will pray with you. In Jesus name, let's close that door. I renounce any ties, curses, I know that you could say a whole bunch of words, but let's just keep it sweet and and powerful. Then off you go, you're good to go for communion if you are a Christian.

So how do you close a door? You close a door through the power of prayer, and you know that you identify and renounce whatever it is that the Holy Spirit may be laying on your heart, and then you can even say the words of I close that door in Jesus name. An enemy, any further attempts will be considered trespassing, and you know what we are legally allowed to do with trespassers here in Wyoming. You take care of them Wyoming style. Okay?

And then, we get to the rain. Look at the verse. We asked the lord for rain in the spring for he makes the storm clouds and he will send showers of rain, so every field becomes a lush pasture. That word rain is mentioned twice. Interestingly enough, there are two different Hebrew words that are used for the word rain.

The first word for the word rain, and in English, we only got one word for it, but the Hebrew has a lot of richness to it. The first word for the word rain that you see first mentioned is like what you would think of as rain, just rain. When the rains move through here, whether it's a light shower or a big rain, it's rain. So ask the Lord for the rain, and then it says, he will respond by giving rain. Well, that rain is a second type of rain because it's a different word, and that word is first introduced to us when the Bible is talking about the flood of Noah.

So here's the idea. We ask for the rain and out of the abundance of his goodness and love for us, and his exceedingly great beyond measure character and his flare for blowing our socks off. He's like, oh, you're asking for rain? And it's the kind of rain that Noah saw when the floods happened. Here's what this means, is that God in his goodness, we come to him like little orphan PD.

Please, a scrap of bread from the master's table. And he's like, waffles, pancakes, pizza. And when we know this about God's character, we can see how maybe the junk that we've opened up and we just say, oh Lord, I'll I'll I'll have to deal with these consequences the rest of my life, but I closed the door and I just kind of limp along. God's like, not only will we close the door, but I'm not gonna let you just limp on, I'm going to bring healing, I'm going to bring restoration, I'm going to, I'm going, and when I say restoration, all those years or those times that you've been plagued by this, or that you keep falling back into that trap, or you listen to the siren song falling back into that pattern, habit, or lifestyle, and you close the door, and you repent from that, and you turn the other way, I'm going to give you back the years that were lost while you were pursuing those things. And that is the power of reign over ruin in your life.

That is the goodness of God.

I'm just gonna reemphasize the I know that sometimes when we talk about spiritual, the supernatural world, people, Christians and Christians can get uncomfortable because they're like, oh, what's this? You know, they don't wanna accidentally open doors or something, but I just wanna reemphasize that the spiritual world is arguably more real than ours. I mean, that's from where God made our physical world was from the supernatural realm. And I know we have books and stuff, biblical books that help us with that. But every I just okay.

So this is what I'm thinking. The devil is not a creator. He can only So as we come today to the table of communion,

we will will enter into this next type or kind of worship. And the invitation for you, if you are a believer in Jesus as the leader of your life, to come and celebrate this meal together with us. And if you are not a believer in Jesus, you can invite Jesus into your heart. And the contract, the signature page is right on top, and all he's asking for is leadership and control of your whole life. But he states that up front.

I've got I've got leadership for you in every single area of your life. How well have you done being the leader of your own life up until this point? Some of you, like, missing teeth, banged up, patches of hair missing. You're like, oh, pretty good. Okay, man.

Maybe some of you have invited Jesus into your heart, made him the leader of your life. But through our conversation today, you're like, oh my goodness. I didn't even realize that I had done that. How many of you ever feel ashamed or embarrassed about taking your car in for an oil change? You oh, you do because it was so overdue or okay.

For the rest of us, we're like, okay, I gotta I gotta go get an oil change. The the the the oil changing guy, the mechanic, the mechanic never goes, bringing your car in. You need the oil change, What have you been doing? Driving it around? Alright.

Bring it in, I guess. Like, no. No. No. No oil no oil mechanic, like, makes you feel bad for bringing your car in to get the oil change.

They're like, drive it on in. Let's go. Let's get it taken care of. That is how the people in the back feel about praying with you and how you should feel about getting doors closed in your life. Right now, I bind any attempt at the enemy to bring shame on anyone that the holy spirit would convict them about something that they need to go back and get taken care of and have a door closed.

No shame. Okay? The bible records that on the night that Jesus was betrayed, he met with his disciples in the upper room. And during the meal, the bible says that he took bread, he blessed it, and then he broke it. He gave it to his disciples and said, take and eat.

This is my body, which is given for you. Walking around with a curse or an open door that Jesus legally paid for the closing and the locking of that door is the best exchange you could ever make in your life. Through the power of the holy spirit, that door can be closed in your life, and communion is symbolic of that. The bible records that during the meal, Jesus took another cup, and it's the cup of a marriage proposal. And he said to his disciples, take and drink, for this cup represents my life's blood, which is poured out for you.

And then he said, I'll not drink again of this fruit of the vine until I drink it with you anew in my coming kingdom. His kingdom arrives in your heart the moment you get saved, and the arrival of his kingdom is consummated and finds its ultimate fulfillment when he will return to this ball of dirt called earth with eyes that burn like fire, the bible describes his hair white as wool, riding on a white horse, coming on the clouds for all eyes to see. Lord, I ask that here in the sweetness of this moment that you would perform a miracle, that you would take these simple common elements, and you would transform them into a sacrament, which is simply a means of grace where we can touch you by faith, so that when we partake of this meal, we would step into a beautiful divine mystery of encountering your presence, and that you would release the rain, r a I n, over our life, and that it would overpower the ruin that we may have experienced in our past so that we may reign in victory, r e I g n, with you in victory in Jesus.

Amen. Our communion is open to anyone who calls on the name of the Lord to be saved. And at tribe, here's how we partake of communion. In just a moment, I'm gonna grab the plate here, and I will stand front and center. I'm gonna invite Justin to serve communion with me, and he will stand over here with the cup.

And you can come forward, and I will place the bread in your hand. It's an opportunity for me, a different way for me to get to serve you. And then you step to your right, and you take the bread, and you dip it into the cup, and then you can work your way back to your seat. If there's something that you need prayer for and you need to make it right with the Lord, we'll start from the back to the front. It just flows better that way.

But if you need to slip out of your seat and and go to the back, and it doesn't have to be a big thing, just like name bullet point list. And and you say, I wanna close the door on those things. And they will pray with you, and then you jump right in line for communion. Does that make sense? There is no shame.

There is no shame. The enemy would love to keep you in bondage in slavery, because he knows that there will this will be a powerful transaction. He likes keeping that access. Bible says, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. I think I've said all of my work.

I'm gonna pray for you, and we'll dismiss. You need to check your notes for that, Brian. You'd be surprised. But before I pray for you before I pray for you, just couple quick things. Number one, there are two things in your seat.

One of them is a connect card. If you would like to fill out a prayer request, we would love to have a record of your visit. If you're brand new to tribe and or you're looking to get connected with us at tribe. If you fill that out, we'll add you to our text blast that we send out, and it's not overwhelming. We just let you know of important things that are coming up, number one.

Number two, please, when the Google Doc comes out about signing up for a dish

This afternoon, you'll

get it. This afternoon, please take advantage of that, and let's let's pack this house on Sunday. We're gonna be meeting in the conference room. We'll invite the entire community Easter Sunday. So let's let's give them a good message to fear that feed their souls, and let's give them some good food to feed their bellies.

So please sign up for that. Even if you're like, I'll bring ice. Great.

He's married to someone who can't cook. So

Your ice is amazing. He Oh my gosh. Literally, that's fine. Your ice is amazing.

My ice is amazing. Incredible.

So cold, crispy, shatters in your mouth. Brian, let us go. The last thing is this. There is an invite in your seat. Would you please take that invite, pray over it, and ask the Lord, who would you have me bring to Easter service?

Just reach in your seat and pull it out real quick.

Last Easter, we had 11 people give their lives to the lord for the first time.

Which is awesome. Thank you. On the back is a map. Thank you. So do you have the invite right here on the back is a map so they know how to find us.

And instead of saying, do you have any plans for Easter that, like, that lets them off the hook really easy. I think we're gonna go on the river. We're gonna do whatever. Ask, where are you going for Easter service? And all your little lusty lost friends will be like, and then.

And then you hit them with this. Would you come with me to Easter? We'll feed you. Okay. So please take this.

Take advantage of it. We have more. If you need more, like, take a little stack. Now I'm ready to pray for you. Okay?

Would you hold your hands in such a way as if you were receiving a present? Lord Jesus, we ask for your reign exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we could think, hope, or ask for. Why? Because you are a good God who loves to go over the top. We ask you for the rain in our life.

If that's healing, if that's if that's in terms of provision, if that's in terms of clarity of direction for the future, would you release the rain of your goodness in the lives of the people that are gathered here today and all of our families that are watching the livestream. And Jesus, we renounce the ruin that has tried to take root in our lives. We close the door to those things right now in Jesus name and by the power of the blood that gives us authority to even say that. Dirty devil, I serve you warning that you are trespassing on precious blood bought soil of the most high God, the king of kings and lord of lords, and you will have him to deal with if you persist in trying to regain ground that has been taken back by these children here today. Lord, we command a blessing over each and every person in this room.

We thank you for your goodness. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God. And everybody said, amen. I love you so very much. Get out there.

Get some great spring skiing in. If there's anything that you still need prayer for, members of the prayer team are back there with you. Have a great week, and remember, you got this.