Turn the Cat Around Week 1 - Turn and Live
February 20, 2023 · Turn the Cat Around
Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
-
Psalm 34:1-8 read aloud during worship as a blessing to the congregation
1 I will bless Yahweh at all times. His praise will always be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall boast in Yahweh. The humble shall hear of it, and be glad.
3 Oh magnify Yahweh with me. Let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought Yahweh, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
5 They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.
6 This poor man cried, and Yahweh heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
8 Oh taste and see that Yahweh is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Ezekiel 18:23-32
main preaching text for the series, on God calling Israel to repent and turn from wickedness
23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked?” says the Lord Yahweh; “and not rather that he should return from his way, and live?
24 “But when the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, should he live? None of his righteous deeds that he has done will be remembered. In his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not equal.’ Hear now, house of Israel: Is my way not equal? Aren’t your ways unequal?
26 When the righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, and dies therein; in his iniquity that he has done he shall die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he will save his soul alive.
28 Because he considers, and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live. He shall not die.
29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ House of Israel, aren’t my ways fair? Aren’t your ways unfair?
30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Return, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity will not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, in which you have transgressed; and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit: for why will you die, house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him who dies,” says the Lord Yahweh. “Therefore turn yourselves, and live!
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
John 4:23-24
quoted during worship discussion about true worshippers worshipping in spirit and truth
23 But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Hebrews 12:1
read during offering time about stripping off every weight and sin that trips us up
1 Therefore let us also, seeing we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Hebrews 12:7-10
read during offering time about God disciplining his children as a good father
7 It is for discipline that you endure. God deals with you as with children, for what son is there whom his father doesn’t discipline?
8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have been made partakers, then are you illegitimate, and not children.
9 Furthermore, we had the fathers of our flesh to chasten us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Hebrews 12:11
read during offering time about discipline producing a peaceful harvest of right living
11 All chastening seems for the present to be not joyous but grievous; yet afterward it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been exercised thereby.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
John 16:33
briefly cited to note that Jesus said hard times would come
33 I have told you these things, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world.”
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Brian opened this service by sharing what is happening at Asbury College in Kentucky, where a chapel service turned into an ongoing time of prayer, worship, and repentance that people are calling a revival. That conversation led into a new sermon series called "Turn the Cat Around," drawn from Ezekiel 18, which pressed the question of what it looks like to stop asking God to conform to us and start conforming to him. The series title comes from a phrase a pastor in Tulsa used to say: if the truth pets your fur the wrong way, turn the cat around.
What was said
Before getting into the text, Brian spent time on Asbury. He was not dismissing it or overselling it. His honest position was that he wants to see what happens in two weeks, not because he is skeptical but because the length or the ending of something does not necessarily determine whether it was genuine. What struck him most, from someone he described as boots on the ground, was that students simply sought the Lord without any expectation of what would follow, and the Lord showed up and did what he does when his presence fills a room.
That led to a question Brian sat with out loud: how do you position a church to be on a collision course with a sovereign move of God? He said there is a tension to manage here, not a problem to solve. One ditch is thinking revival is entirely up to us if we check enough boxes. The other ditch is a hands-off attitude that says God will do what he will do and leaves it there. He pointed out that in the Gospels, Jesus was walking on the water intending to pass the disciples by, and it was their response that brought him into the boat.
Brian then introduced the series text, Ezekiel 18, where the prophet is speaking to Israel. Israel was complaining that God was not being fair. They wanted God to bless them on their terms, in the direction they were already facing. God's answer, as Brian read it, was essentially: I am not the one who needs to change. He tied this to what he called the integrity of God, the idea that God has never acted contrary to his own character, never made a promise he forgot, never shown favoritism the way the gods of surrounding nations did. That consistency, Brian said, is not stubbornness. It is the thing that makes him trustworthy.
The phrase "turn the cat around" came from a pastor Brian and Lissa sat under in Tulsa, who used it as a throwaway line when he was saying something that might rub people the wrong way. The point is that God's word does not change to suit us. If it is uncomfortable, the movement has to come from our side. Brian said the Lord had whispered something to him months ago that he is building this series around: in the days ahead, the leadership of Jesus will be less complicated but more costly. The culture will make it appear hard to know what God wants, but the actual truth will not be complicated. Taking a stand on it, though, will cost more than it used to.
He pulled out three reasons to turn the cat around. First, God does not change, which is not a threat but a comfort, because it removes all guesswork about what he requires. Second, God loves people too much to simply pet them the way they want to be petted, the same way a good parent does not give a child everything they demand. Third, and the one he spent the most time on, if you do not change, you begin forming an idol in your heart. He drew on John Bevere's book "Heart Ablaze" here, specifically the idea of a "manageable deity." If you stay at the foot of the mountain like Aaron did, your image of God shifts to fit you. If you go up the mountain like Moses did, you are the one who changes.
Brian closed with a direct invitation, asking people to sit with one question: where is there an area of my life where I want God to pet me the way I am already facing? He named it plainly as wickedness and rebellion, not as a harsh label but as what Ezekiel 18 calls it. The invitation was to repent of that specific thing, to cast it off, and he had people turn their chairs and kneel as a physical act of bringing that to the Lord. A prayer team was available after the service for anyone who needed help letting go of whatever that thing was.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Ask the Lord to show you one specific area where you are resisting him, and then spend a few quiet minutes actually listening for an answer.
- Write down whatever it is you are still reaching back toward from your past, and then physically set that paper aside as an act of letting it go.
- Sign up on the fridge at Tribe to join the Wind River VBS trip June 25 through 28.
- If you need help releasing something you named during the service, reach out to someone from the prayer team this week rather than waiting until next Sunday.
- Read Ezekiel 18:23-32 on your own and sit with the question God asks there: why would you choose to stay the way you are?
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 the revival at Asbury and described a tension between pursuing God earnestly and recognizing that a genuine move of God cannot be manufactured or forced. Where do you find yourself in that tension, and what does it look like in your own life to stay hungry without trying to control the outcome?
- Renee shared that what sparked the Asbury revival seemed to start with someone standing up and confessing openly where they were falling short. Is there something about that kind of public honesty that feels uncomfortable to you, and what do you think holds people back from it?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
El domingo, el pastor Brian abrió una nueva serie llamada "Turn the Cat Around" (Dale la vuelta al gato). La idea viene de una frase que usaba un pastor en Tulsa: si la palabra de Dios te irrita, no esperes que Dios cambie, da vuelta al gato de tu corazón para que su mano te acaricie a favor del pelo. Brian compartió también que mientras la familia de Tribe servía la cena al equipo de búsqueda y rescate del condado de Teton, sintió que el Señor le decía que estaban cumpliendo una palabra profética anterior: liberar esperanza en el valle sirviendo a la comunidad.
El pasaje central fue Ezequiel 18:23-32, donde Dios le pregunta al pueblo de Israel si de verdad cree que él disfruta ver morir al malvado. Israel se quejaba de que el camino de Dios no era justo, y Dios respondía que sus caminos son los que son justos. Brian destacó que Dios no cambia, y que eso no es una limitación sino una fuente de consuelo: no hay que adivinar su carácter ni ganarse su favor con trucos. La invitación fue concreta: identificar qué área del corazón uno quiere que Dios bendiga tal como está, sin cambiar, y arrepentirse de esa resistencia.
La conversación también giró en torno al avivamiento que estaba ocurriendo en Asbury College en Kentucky, donde estudiantes se quedaron después de una capilla y comenzaron días de oración y adoración espontánea. Varios miembros de la congregación compartieron sus pensamientos. Brian habló de la tensión entre buscar activamente un mover de Dios y reconocer su soberanía, diciendo que esa tensión no es un problema a resolver sino algo a manejar con humildad y hambre genuina.
---
Pasajes bíblicos mencionados:
- Ezequiel 18:23-32
- Salmos 34:1-8
- Juan 4:23-24
- Hebreos (capítulo no especificado con claridad, sobre disciplina divina y correr la carrera)
- Juan 16:33 (mencionado brevemente)
Read the full transcript 10,385 words
Good morning. Good morning, Kimmy Kim. If you can and you have room, let's stand up for worship today. You might have to push your chair in. I know you can there's one spot in front of the refrigerator behind Christine to stand.
If you don't have space, it's okay. And then there's there's seats right here too. Fill in right here. And this our prayer this morning that he would come and awaken our souls, awaken to his presence today and what he wants to do. Amen?
To Holy Spirit, that's what we're asking this morning. That you would just come by your presence, come by your spirit, and just fill us. Fill us today up to overflowing where we can't contain you. We do not want to. Holy Spirit, come, have your way in this place because when your presence is here, there's freedom, there's healing.
So we just ask for your presence today. Come and move and do what you wanna do. We give you permission today. We just say this, yes, spirit come fill this place. Yes, spirit come fill this Just cry out for him.
Don't let those just be words. Let's open Jesus and cry of your heart As we sing this bridge again, just yes, spirit, come and fill this place. Come, come. Just make that the cry of your heart today. Just earnestly seek him.
Just close your eyes, do some business with him. And we just cry out as a united worship song today. A cry from our hearts as our spirits just cry out. We desperately need you holy spirit. We need your presence afresh today.
Come and fill those dry places. Come and fill those sick places, those weary places today, those doubting places. Come and just fill us up today. We admit we're needy, we're hungry, we're thirsty today for you, for you. Come, spirit, Maybe as we're singing, the Lord's put in something on your heart to share.
Just for our livestream people, we have a microphone. And if the Lord's put something on your heart to share today, it might not be for you. Might It be for someone else in this room. Gretchen has that microphone. It's it's just for our livestream people and just take a minute and just ask the Lord, would you have me share something today?
Do you have something for me to share today? Maybe it's about his goodness, maybe it's repentance. Just ask him to be still before him for a moment. Yes, Do you feel his presence in this place today? He's here.
He's here.
I'm a slide right here. So I saw a picture of, like a a bouncer, not like a Tigger bouncer, but like a a doorman, a security guard. Right? And so I wanna I wanna pray about that. Lord Jesus, would you dispatch angels right now throughout this building that would act as a bouncer, security guards, that they would check the ID of every spirit that would try to come into this building and into this room and into this service.
That anyone not on your preapproved guest list, any spirit not on the guest list would be bounced out of this place. Spirit of rejection has to go. Spirit of of an orphan spirit has to go. A a foul spirit, an unclean spirit, a spirit of perversion, it has to go. Spirit of doubt, spirit of fear, it has to go.
Your ID's being pulled and you're being turned around. You're trespassing. And that you would allow the sevenfold spirit of God to fill this place. The spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of power, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of the fear of the Lord. And all of these would be wrapped, clothed in the zeal of the Lord.
There would be that we would be a people marked by being zealous for you, for you, not satisfied with counterfeit, not satisfied with compromise, that we would be people who would recognize and relinquish control of our lives, our baggage, our false ideas and images of you, that you would give us a hunger for the real, the authentic, and the genuine. Oh, God, we love you.
Thank
you, father. Thank you, Jesus, for opening up the gates of heaven. Thank you for what you have just released as pastor Brian was was praying as he was speaking. We agree with you, father. We agree with you, Jesus.
We agree with you, holy spirit. And we remind ourselves that Jesus said that we died with him. We rose with him. We are co heirs with him in heaven. We sat with him in heaven.
And I sense that the Holy Spirit is speaking to us today to when we pray, when we are with the Lord, that we are in heaven looking down on earth as opposed to being on the earth, praying up to heaven. We are there. We are there. There. Jesus is right beside us.
He will never leave us. He'll never forsake us. That's the way it is. That's the truth. So holy spirit, help us.
Help us from this point forward to transform, to change. There'll be a renewing our mind that when we're praying, we're praying from heaven down to earth. Thank you, Lord.
I was just enjoying a Psalm of David here, Psalm 34, and I thought that this is maybe could could bless others. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
Sing that again. Yes, you are. You are. Declare that over your physical body, over your relationships. Oh, you are good to me all the time.
Yes, you are. Yes, you are. Never gonna let you're never gonna let me I just give this picture in my mind of the lord just pulling. He's got his hand forward and he's pulling pulling you into life, pulling you into trust, really. But this person in the picture, it's like when a kid, you know, like leaves their toy on the floor and the mom's like, come on, we gotta go.
But they're going like that. And I just feel like whatever that thing is that is holding you back to think you wanna stay or focus on that past is like, the Lord's like, oh, let it go. Let it go. What are you holding on to? That thing is the very thing that's keeping you from fully surrendering to him.
Maybe it's like what you thought would be, what seemingly didn't work out. Whatever it is, the Lord's just like, leave it there in the past where it belongs and lets you and I go forward. I was thinking that clip from Lion King. I think it's Rafiki hit someone on the head with his stick and he goes, what was that for? He goes, it does not matter.
It's in the past. But I just always think of that. You know, the Lord's just like, it's in the past. You can't do anything about it. Let's move forward.
So Lord, we ask that you would take our hand, show each and every one of us who that is for, who that picture is for, what we're holding on to. It just could be unanswered questions of why. Why? And he's saying just leave it there. Leave it there.
Leave it in the past. I'll deal deal with that in time. I'll deal with that in time. So Jesus, we surrender to you. We surrender our plans.
Everything up until this moment, Lord, we just lay it at the foot of the cross. It. Do it. Brings us life, what brings us joy, the things we need to learn, the discipline we need. You know it all.
You're a good, good father. We surrender to you. Sing this all to Jesus. Holy Spirit, right now I just pray for a spirit of revelation for hearts in this room that they cannot save themselves. We all have to come to that realization that in our own strength, the wages of sin are death.
We are all guilty that you shed blood on the cross, Lord, to be our savior. But we need to recognize that we cannot save ourselves. The need for a savior, send your spirit of revelation right now to hearts. Those that are lost, those that are without you, Spirit of revelation. Let them surrender to you today.
It's a nice surrender all. Lord, we ask that you would continue to speak to our hearts today as we get into your word. I just keep hearing that line, spirit of revelation. Spirit of revelation touch our hearts today. Even to know anything new comes by a spirit of revelation from you.
We couldn't earn it. We don't deserve it. But yet you come and you meet us and you reveal things to our hearts. Where there's a lack of faith today, we pray by a spirit of revelation. Illuminate that thread all through our lives, mom.
Illuminate that thread of where you've been and how good you've been to us, how you were protecting us, how you were guiding us even when we didn't know you were there. We long to surrender all to you today. Let that not just be words, but let that be the cry of our spirit and our heart today. And then allow you to come in and show us show us those areas that we need to surrender. And let us be quick to just grab your hand and let go of the past.
Just close your eyes and just we're gonna just stay here just one more minute. Just don't feel like we should just move on quite yet. We'd search our hearts in this room today. Thank you for your presence. Thank you that you always show up.
Thank you that you always show up Even when we drop the ball, we just tell you we need you every moment of every second of every day. Be in our hearts. Be in our words. Be in our thoughts. I tell you we love you, Jesus.
Everybody said, amen. Well, let's just stay in this sort of posture of worship. If you wanna just find your seat and fill up your coffee and get out your bible, we'll transition again into his word today. He's got something special for us today. Amen.
Okay. If you have a Bible with you this morning, let's turn to Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel 18. It's in the Old Testament. And while you're turning there, two things before we get into the message this morning.
How many of you have seen in the news this past week of what's going on at Asbury College in Kentucky. Yeah. So by show of hands, how many of you know what's going on over there? Alright. So they had a chapel service at their college, and when chapel was done, students stayed.
And there has been lots of prayer and worship led by no one that any of us would know their names. In fact, it's it's not even really being led by any one person or worship leader or anything. Just lots of prayer, worship going on, prayer for one another, prayer for the sick, prayer for deliverance, lots of worship. And it is interesting. People are calling it a revival, and I don't disagree that it's a revival.
But I'd like to see just me personally, I'd like to I'd like to see what happens two weeks from now. It could be not that the length of the moment is what defines or determines what could be considered a revival. And I'm not skeptic. I would just like to see where does where's this going? What plays out in two weeks?
It very well could just taper off and quietly in the same way that it began, seemingly out of nowhere? Great. And how it ends doesn't even necessarily determine if it was a genuine move of God or not for me because and the reason why I'm sharing this is a lot of people have been sending Lisa and I text messages and videos. It's great. It's wonderful.
It's awesome. They're asking, like like, what do you think about this? My answer is, I think it's great. Let's let's see what happens. I'm not skeptical.
I'm not reserved. I'm not poo pooing it at all, but I'm I just let's just see what happens. Does that answer, just on my opinion, satisfy any of you? And I'd love to hear your thoughts. Let's just have a moment of conversation about this.
What are your thoughts? Gretchen has the mic.
The pictures we saw had lines of people. They said they were all the way around the block and people were coming from all nations. So it is a national a nationwide, worldwide event. I mean, Brazil, all nations have were present.
There are multiple chapels on that college campus and they're all being filled.
And they even have people outside leading with I saw a banjo and she was leading But people it's not only that campus. There are other universities that are doing the same thing is happening.
I heard I think it was Jeff Henderson. He's a pastor that works under the banner of FAI, Frontier Alliance International who we trust greatly. And he's from there. In fact his house is in the backyard of the campus. And so I was really interested to hear what he was saying was happening and what was going on and he said it's beautiful.
He said that one of the most beautiful things and don't take nobody pick up an offense when I say this but like typically like Methodists they're not, you know, that's not like a thing you hear come out of a yeah a Methodist church like all night worship and people getting healed. So what Jeff was saying was really beautiful why it's so authentic is the people are just seeking the Lord and then the Lord's doing what he wants to do not because there was some expectation even that this is what happens when you do this. You know that they just said Lord come and then he came and is doing what he longs to do when his presence shows up. These things just happen healing and bondages broken and so I just thought that was really cool hearing from him boots on the ground. And he's there praying for the leadership every day because he's got such a pastoral heart because he's like the no one can get in out of the town.
Like, they're the like, facilities is a humongous issue. Like, what's happening? And kinda like that scene in The Chosen, you know, where they they fled to see Jesus and they're not sure what to do with all these people in the tents, you know? And they're like, figure it out because they need Jesus.
I love that. He we like to think of Jesus as like a nice a nice guy. And yes, he was a nice guy, But he's also the single most disruptive figure in the history of all of humanity. He is disruptive. He's disruptive to to the common.
He is disruptive to the the stagnant. He is disruptive to religion. He's disruptive to our normal patterns and ways of thinking and acting and behaving. He's so disruptive. We can either allow him to be disruptive in our lives and in our our thought processes and in the formation of our relationship with God, which we would our understanding, which we would call theology.
We can allow him to be disruptive. Or we can be offended. Renee?
I made up my mind not to talk today, but my heart is like was like, my heart is racing so hard, I know it's the Lord. So I went to school in Wimmore at Asbury College, and and at that time, I had bright, flaming red hair and nose piercings, and I wore big, fat pants and baggy clothes and whatever, and I was different. And I didn't look like everybody else. And I think it's so ironic that I shared the whole Barbie thing last week because that's the whole point. You know, we he comes in a way that we don't expect him to come.
We he comes in a way that we don't expect him to look like. It doesn't I mean, even Wilmore itself is just this podunk middle of nowhere town where I thought I was gonna get freaking I oh, sorry. I was gonna get jumped by, like, some rednecks with kegs in the back and, you know, shotguns. Like, that is Wilmore, Kentucky. And it's kinda like Nazareth?
Nazareth? Can anything good come from Nazareth? Right? Whoo. Y'all, look out because you might not think that you've got it all together, but will use that and come through you.
And that's ultimately my encouragement. Like, all the whole thing started with a hunger.
Yeah.
And if you hunger and thirst for righteousness, you will be filled. That's what he promises to
us. Mhmm.
And we can have a revival here. We just gotta want it bad enough. And that's what I just want you to encourage you guys. Like, seek seek him and find him. You know, you just gotta seek with all your heart.
And he'll he'll be found by you.
Is it possible for what's happening there to happen here in Jackson Hole in this city Yes. Or in this church? A 100%. Yeah. Yeah.
That's good. Should we be pursuing it? Now I did see I did see a wag of a head no, and I really respect the the no head wag. I don't wanna I don't wanna call you out, but I really appreciate your honesty because I'm not sure where the where that's coming from, but I respect that because in a way, revival is such a special and sacred thing that who are we to even ask for it? This this is not my position.
My position is in agreement with you that we should be hungry for. We should ask for a touch, a move of God. What I want to draw attention to, and then we're gonna move on if you don't have anything else to say, is that there's such a significant component of the sovereignty of God that we cannot manipulate him into or manufacture something. He's sovereign. What does that mean?
That means that he gonna do what he wants to do, when he wants to do it, how he wants to do it. And That's true. That's an amen sneeze. How do we, not that we need to answer this, but how do we position our hearts and position our tribe family to be on a collision course with his sovereign will and plan for touching this community of believers and this city? Again, might not be a question for us to answer and to talk about, But how can we get that there here?
I have to be very careful about like social media that I consume because I have like one of the biggest FOMO bones of anybody. Fear of missing out, know. And when I see my friends skiing and I'm not, I'm like, oh. Or like a big storm happens and you know they're just like, and I'm like not skiing. It's like I just want it so bad.
And so there's this holy envy that's stirred within me that I believe is of the Lord. Mhmm. I want that kind of encounter. I wanna touch. I want you to disrupt my life.
I want you to disrupt the life of this church and the church in Jackson Hole. So how do we position ourselves corporately, individually for a sovereign move of Jesus. In Mark, very interesting thing happens. Remember, they're on one side of the lake. Jesus says, alright.
Y'all load up and go across to the other side of the lake. Right? And they're rowing and it's nighttime and there was a big wind blowing, and then Jesus decides to cross the lake on foot. And there's a very interesting sentence in the bible that says Jesus intended to what? On by.
Yeah. Pass on by. He wasn't walking to intercept the boat. He was walking on by, and the disciples saw it, and they freaked out. But if if a sovereign move of God that had nothing to do with our desire for him, with our piety, with us beating our breasts, telling him how much we deserve revival or how much we want it.
If in the sovereign heart of God, he was moving along to in his heart to touch the city of Jackson and tribe just happened to position itself position itself for that intersection. Wouldn't that be great?
The guy who gave like the message, I think he was a younger guy, that kind of like was the start of it, know, was he said he gave a message. He said, it honestly wasn't that good. And he goes, I actually ran out of time and I didn't get to what he called the good part. And he goes, it wasn't like, you know, we all think of that and we think, you know, you picture like upper room and their worship just sounds insane and every other's five part harmony and the musicians are so skilled. And he, just like Renee said last week, like sometimes he uses the foolish to confound the wise.
And what he did though afterwards was he said, what sparked it was he said, If anybody wants to stay after and get prayer, let's start with repentance. That's what he said. And a few people stayed behind the service and repented of sin and prayed for one another. And I think that's the key. I was like, I'll use that.
To
that point, I don't know if you guys heard, but I heard that kind of what sparked it was someone confessing. Someone saying, just getting up and on that repentance note saying this was this is an issue of mine. This is where I'm blowing it. God help.
I think what I'm I think where I'm at, and that you hear my words as I'm thinking them, is and what I wanna communicate is there is a tension to manage between our part and the Lord's sovereignty. There's a tension to manage as opposed to a problem to solve. What's the problem? Revival hasn't happened in Jackson Hole. How do we solve it?
We cry out. We confess. We pray. We fast. We we schedule twenty four hour worship sets here.
Ain't nothing wrong with any of those things. But if we approach revival as a problem to solve, we can we can wind up in one of two ditches. Either it's us, and it's all up to us. God is like waiting. Okay.
You've been good enough. You've wanted it enough. Okay. You've done you've you've checked all the boxes. Now I'll do it.
The other ditch is that we abdicate all responsibility for revival, and we have a a hands off, laissez faire approach. Well, he gonna do what he gonna do. We'll just keep our nose down and we'll keep doing this. Either one of those two are a ditch if you if you approach revival from a problem to solve. Not that revival's a problem, but you know what I mean?
But there's this tension to manage, and that's I think where I've been this week. Managing that tension between, oh, how I want him to come and disrupt your life and your life and your life, and our life, and this church's life, and that church's life, the Valley Of Jackson Hole with his sovereignty. We have biblical precedent of him doing interjecting himself on the scene of normal human events in history that people weren't really looking for. The first one that comes to my mind is remember, John the Baptist's dad. He goes in on the the the day of atonement as the high priest on duty to go in and minister before the Lord, and he meets an angel.
And it was you from the text, it appeared as though he and his wife had been praying for a child. But from the text, you it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that he hadn't prayed that way in a long time. And it was just God's sovereign touch. Now is the appointed time. And he stepped into the events in John the Baptist's family's life.
We see this a lot of times in the bible. How about the nation of Israel itself? Were they awesome? Did they have a good pedigree? Were they deserving of it?
Did they cry out and say, want to be a special people. No. He sovereignly picked them. So let's just get real comfortable with the uncomfortability of the tension to manage. Let's be hungry for it, anticipatory of it.
Let's read into it. Let's learn about it. I'd love to like do a forensic study to see what led up to that. Were there a group of, like like, this guy, Eric Nash, who was an intercessor for maybe Charles Finney. He would just go in before Charles Finney would would do an event.
He would he would rent an apartment near the venue, and for two weeks, he would just fast and pray and pray and, like, soften the ground. Then Charles Finney would show I believe it's Charles Finney. Just somebody look up Eric Nash, the intercessor. But don't just touch him, but look at him for me. Eric Nash, the intercessor.
Who was he an intercessor for? But but what was going on before this chapel service made the news?
Just the scripture that's coming to mind is out of John chapter four starting in verse 23. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the father in spirit and truth. For the father is seeking such to worship him. God is spirit and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. And I think that what proceeds is to to with sincerity of heart be seeking to minister to God through our worship in spirit and truth.
Yes. You got you got Charles Finney right. Just was Daniel Fish. Daniel Nash. Okay.
But I got the Charles Finney right. Let's, let's pray, Lord. What you did there, would you do here?
Let's pray right now.
Yeah. Liz, you had the idea and the mic. Do you wanna pray or would anybody else wanna pray? And more than one of you can pray. And again, it will not be the eloquency of our prayer or the
Lord Jesus, come and set our hearts on fire. Amen.
There. We asked. We asked. I said there were two things. Here's the second thing.
Several months ago, there was a prophetic word. What does that even mean? A word that was from the Lord that was put on somebody's heart that came out of their mouth. So none of us heard the audible voice of the Lord, although he does do that. But a prophetic word is he will drop something on somebody's heart, and then he will tell that person, I'd like you to share that with the family.
We call that in churchy world a prophetic word. So there was a prophetic word that came forward, and in that word, part of it was that God intended for tribe to release hope to this valley through different ways. Do y'all some of y'all remember that if you were here that Sunday? Okay. Well, just this past week, we had signed up to serve dinner to the Teton County search and rescue team.
They have monthly meetings and 50 of their team come together. They eat a meal. They do, like like, a couple of things, and then they split up into groups for individual training. And, our tribe fam was fortunate enough to be able to serve our community and and make them a meal, and we made them a great meal. While we were serving that meal, I was standing there heckling people that were coming through the dessert line because that was my area.
The Lord just whispered to my heart and said, you are fulfilling that word that was spoken As you are serving this the SAR team, you are releasing hope. Whether it be through a cheesecake dessert that was really tasty, or a main dish, or a side dish that you guys brought or were prepared, you were fulfilling that word of the Lord. And when we're faithful to fulfill that word of the Lord, he's like, oh, I can trust you with more and more and more. So good job tribe family for releasing hope in the community by feeding members of our search and rescue team. Everybody say, yay, Jesus.
Yay, Jesus. Amen. Ezekiel chapter 18. We're starting a series, a new series called turn the cat around. And if that is if that is new to you, I'll explain where this came from.
Turn the cat around. There was a pastor of ours down in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he always said it as almost like a little throwaway phrase. He never emphasized it, but he said, if this pets your fur the wrong way, the words that he was saying, challenging people from God's word, then turn your cat around. And if you've been around cats, I've never been a cat guy. But Lissa got two cats to try to lure Selah.
She's gone at college, but to try to lure her, like, home more. It worked. It worked. We gave you these two little kittens, and you gotta take care of them and be around. And so yeah.
Whatever it takes to get your kids to come back home. So we had these two cats. I've never been a cat guy, but they're kinda growing on me. And and it is really true. Like like, cats don't like to be petted the wrong way.
Cat. Is that true?
Cats don't like to be petted the wrong way. So there were things, and here's what here's what he meant. Here's what he meant. God's word and God's truth, it doesn't change. So you better.
If what God could be challenging you on is offensive to you, doesn't make you feel good, is not what is popular in culture, and it pets you the wrong way, he's not going to change. The very best thing that you can do is turn the cat of your heart or your thinking or your belief system around so that his hand will pet you with the grain of your fur resulting in
purrs. Your fur was designed to be pet that way. It doesn't even feel good to pet a thronger.
Doesn't even feel good. I feel like the Lord put this series of conversations that we're gonna have on my heart as he whispered this to me, and this was many months ago. He said, in the days ahead, the leadership of Jesus will be less complicated, but more costly. In the days ahead, the leadership of Jesus will be less complicated, but it will be more costly. What does he mean by that?
Well, we're gonna take several weeks of conversations to unpack and discuss just that. He's not in the days ahead, he's not gonna ask anything like like heroic or monumental or or tough to like decipher or or like, oh, I've been able to like like piece together these glints and hints and shadows and I've come up with this new truth that like is is really hard. No. The culture is moving in such a way that it will have the appearance of being very challenging to take a stand or to or to discern what God's will is. It will appear that way.
It's going to be less complicated. However, grabbing a hold of that, living that, taking a stand on that will be more costly. So that's what we're gonna that's where we're gonna be in our series of conversations and again I want this to be a conversation. I wanna hear just like you have been doing. Questions, comments, connections.
Let's dive into this together. I told you to turn to Ezekiel chapter 18, and I would like somebody to please read or either all of it or you can read a few verses and pass the mic on to somebody else to read a few more verses. But let's read Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 23 through 31. This is going to be a a large passage that we're gonna focus on just two specific parts, but this will give us a little bit of context. Thank you, Monique.
Great to see you. We love you so much.
Good to see you too. Okay. Verse 23, do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he shall which he has done shall not be remembered because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed because of them he shall die.
Yet you say the way of the Lord is not fair. Hear now, O house of Israel. Is it not my way which is fair and your ways which are not fair?
You okay?
Get it up.
When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Yet the house of Israel says, the way of the Lord is not fair. O house of Israel, is it not my ways which are fair and your ways which are not fair?
Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel. Everyone according to his ways says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions so that iniquity will will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, oh house of Israel?
For I have no pleasure in the death of the one who dies, says the Lord God. Therefore, turn and live.
That's the title of this morning's conversation, turn and live. It's okay if you're a little head scratchy, but for how many of you you can see that principle of turn the cat around in what we just read? For how many of you like, okay, I can see it. It's right here. The prophet Ezekiel was speaking to the nation of Israel because Israel wanted their God to pet them a certain way.
You're our God. We want you to love us and bless us in what we're doing, in what we're thinking, in how we're we're? How we are living. You bless us in what we're doing. God says, that's not how I roll.
Israel says, you're not being fair. Did you can you see that in the text? Israel's complaining. That's not fair. That's not what we want.
That's not how society operates. That's not where we're going as a culture. That's not who we have grown to become as our national identity. Israel wanted who to change?
God.
God. And what does God say? How does he respond? How would you say God responds? You don't need the mic just tell me.
How does God respond to what Israel wants?
I change not.
I change not. Now is he being stubborn, bigoted, narrow minded, close minded, Inflexible, rigid. Heard any of those terms in today's culture? The leadership of Jesus in the days ahead will become increasingly costly. Let's focus on two verses.
We'll put them up here on the screen. Verse 23 or three verses. 23, 31, and 32. Here's what the Lord says. Do you think I like to see wicked people die?
This is such a beautiful verse for people perhaps that you've rubbed elbows with that's like, I don't know about this God of yours. How could a good God send people to hell? How could a good God let bad things happen to good people?
It's a great question.
It's a great question, but it is oftentimes it's it's an attempt to use that question as a stick to beat Christians with, to reinforce their own agnosticism, and to stubbornly defy turning the cap of their heart around. Well I'm not gonna serve a God that. Listen to the compassion of God. Do you think I enjoy this? It's a rhetorical question because the answer is clearly and obviously when you look at the whole council of scripture, it screams a clear answer to this question.
No you don't. You don't take any pleasure or delight in in in seeing the wicked perish in their stupidity. Of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. I want them to turn the cat of their heart around because my hand only is gonna pet one way.
Let me ask you this, why should we as a people who follow the God of the Bible be excited about how God only pets one way? Does that question make sense? Uh-oh. Here comes the mic. To
me that's comforting because then you don't ever have to be in question like to me that secures his faithfulness and his unchanging nature. Like, thank God you only pet in one way. I don't have to guess or get up and wonder what kind of mood you're in or It's like I know exactly which way to use this metaphor. Like, that we pet. So if it's uncomfortable, then I need to change but that's comforting because it's not it takes out the guesswork.
Yes. Bullseye. Any any anything else? Why should we as people of the book, people who follow Jesus in this book, why should it be exciting to us that God only pets one way? Yes.
You are right, but I wanna give any of you an opportunity to elaborate.
There's there's no shortcuts. There's one way. There's one way. It's a one way street, and there's no shortcuts, and it's equal for everybody. It's the same.
Yeah. Oh, man. It's a sin. Yes.
Yeah. I remember when I yes. Amen. I remember when I first, like, surrendered my heart to Jesus. Right before that, I remember Brian had asked me.
We were just cruising along in the car listening to the Beastie Boys, he turns the radio off and he goes, do you think you're going to heaven? And I was like, Rude. Like, here we are having this, like, fun time, but he and I I remember, like, what bothered me so bad, and this is in relation to this scripture, is what came out of my mouth was this moving scale, you know, of like, I said, well, I don't know. I mean, I think if at the end of my life, you put all my stuff on a scale and my I don't think I said it as eloquently, but, like, if all my good stuff I did weighs more than the bad stuff I did. And even as it was coming out of my mouth, was like, this is garbage.
Like, who wants to serve a God that's like, well, let's just sit back and you don't even know what the gauge is of good and bad. Like, but let's just, you know, and I I it came out of my mouth and I even thought, I don't wouldn't even wanna serve a God that if that was how he did it, you know? And so, yes, thank the Lord that there's one way.
It's good.
And he lets us know it clearly. That is defined. It's defined.
So there are there are when we try to describe the God of the Bible, there are what's called communicable attributes and incommunicable attributes. Incommunicable attributes are those attributes of God that we can't even wrap our little puny brains around. The infinitude of God. He has no beginning. He has no end.
And we're finite like, what do I don't even But there are certain attributes of God that are communicable that that can be known and that he is revealed to us. One of them being, well it would be all of those would fit under the categories of the character of God. The character of God he is always true to himself. He has never ever once made a new year's resolution and then broken it. He has never forgotten anything that he said.
He has never acted in a way that is contrary to who he is. He only pets one way. Now this this these beautiful attributes of God, it's called integrity. The integrity of God, that's what Amanda was touching on, is unlike really all the other gods that would even try to throw their hat in the ring for asking for devotion and affection, time and attention from their followers of us people. The trick is most of us don't have much experience with other gods.
But we can read about them in history books. What gods am I thinking of? Baal, also the pantheon of Greek gods. We just elevated human character traits to like this divine like status, but they were capricious. You could upset them.
You could curry their favor. They could do they could show favoritism like I'll do it for you but not for you. I'll pet you this way and if you're really nice I'll pet you this way. That is not how the God of the Bible rolls. Right.
Right. Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? Of course not. I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live. Put all your rebellion behind you and find for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.
Yeah. I mean, yeah. Okay. It makes sense for those people that are wicked and rebellious. But the question is, is there not wickedness and rebellion in your own heart today, this morning?
That wickedness and rebellion is identified when you encounter the truth of God in either in his word or by his spirit or in this moment and you're like, that's literally you being petted the wrong way. Let's land the plane with this. Three reasons why you need to turn the cat around. Number one, we've hammered this point pretty well already. God doesn't change.
He doesn't change. This one's super important. Oh yes yes yes.
I just have a little story about last Sunday. We were sitting up here and I felt the Lord ask me to kneel and I said, oh God. Please no. And my husband comes up and kneels, and he says, if you won't, somebody else will.
And
then this morning again, it was like the second chance. Neil, I did not say no. I did it.
I saw you.
Out of his obedience, I pet the cat the right way.
That's great.
Three reasons you need to turn the cap of your heart around. Number one, God's not gonna change. But I will change that keynote next week. It just looks so good on my screen, but it's a bit of a fail out here. What do mean?
Yeah. Yeah. The contrast is not so great. I'll fix it. Number two, he loves you too much just to pet you the way you wanted you want to be petted.
Mhmm. He loves you too much. How many of you as a parent have ever denied your child something that they really, really, really wanted because you knew better for them? Is that not the definition of being a good parent? Is sometimes denying your children, and it's tough.
The Bible says that God is a good father who knows how to give good gifts to his children. If you are sitting next to one of your parents this morning or on the livestream, give them a little pat on the knee, especially if you're a husband and say thank you for being if you're a dad, thank you for being a good parent to me and not always giving me everything I always wanted because they know best.
Go ahead Carly we'll watch you. And
then number three, this one is tricky. If you don't change, you're creating the mold or you're casting the mold of an idol to be set up in your life. How many honest question you can respond. When you see that last one, how many of you are like, I'm I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. I mean somebody needs to be brave and raise their hand because I am gonna answer it.
Okay. There we go. Good. Okay. Good.
If you don't change, you're casting the mold of an idol. There's a great book called Heart Ablaze by John Bavir. It's in our bookstore. You can buy this. But John Bavir says there there's a whole chapter called A Manageable Deity.
I'm not gonna read you the whole chapter. He goes on to unpack and explain this. But he makes this statement. If you and it's in reference to Israel being at the base of Mount Sinai. Okay?
He says this, if you go to the mountain you change. If you stay at the foot of the mountain as Aaron did, God's image in you changes. If you go up the mountain, here's the idea. If you go up the mountain, you encounter the real, the authentic, the genuine God as he reveals himself directly to you. You change.
Peter encountered Jesus in the boat after the miracle of pulling up all those fish. And he goes, oh, lord, like, I'm not worthy. Lord, step out of my boat or let me step out of the boat. Remember? He's he was teaching and then he told Peter, hey, Peter, let's go fishing.
Oh, Peter was like, Lord, we've been fishing. He didn't say Lord. He goes, dude, we've been fishing all night, haven't caught a thing. I'm the fisherman, you're the preacher. I kinda know what I'm talking about.
Jesus goes, come on Pete. Let's just go try. So in that moment of surrender, Peter turned the cat of his heart around. Okay. Fine.
Go out on the water. He saw the miracle of all of the fish being pulled in off the boat. Essentially, he went up on the mountain. He saw the miraculous and was like, oh, I'm not worthy. Peter changed in that moment.
If you go up on the mountain like Moses did, you'll change. If you stay at the foot, Aaron came back down off the mountain. He didn't stay up there. God's image in you changes. Your idea, your impression of God.
Meaning, you begin to to to have a distorted view of God because you start living in such a way that you want God to pet you in the way that you're facing instead of being changed by him. We form an idol in our hearts that will pet us the way that we wanna be petted. That's very dangerous.
Just a quick comment getting back to Peter.
Yeah.
So the the this just dawned on me when and you said the word surrender. It's like he didn't get it. It's like he didn't understand what Jesus was gonna do. In fact, he was thinking, hey. Then he might have been thinking this is a waste of time, but he goes, okay.
Surrender. It's a key.
It's a key. Remember, he ain't gonna change. You can fall on the rock and be broken or that rock can fall on you and you'll be squashed.
Now,
let's see if what we've talked about this morning can make that 18 inch drop from our thinker where we can conceptualize, intellectualize, interesting, challenging, oh, good, down to our knower. Oh, Lord. You wanna hold it or do you wanna share it?
I think it fits here.
Okay.
Since you just brought up Peter, Verse 31 starts with in the NLT, put away put all your rebellion behind you, and I looked up in the blue letter bible, and it says to throw, cast, throw away, cast off, shed, cast down. And Peter was a fisherman. I thought think that's so cool. And I think a large part of this comes from trust and that we don't wanna turn our cat around because we don't trust God because we don't know him enough. So Lord, help us know you better.
We wanna trust you more. Help us to trust you more. We know you love us. Help us to receive that love.
Help us. Here's the specific invitation this morning to ask the Lord what area of my heart am I being petted the wrong way that I would want God to pet me the way that I wanna be? Lord, is there anything, like the Bible says, there any wickedness, any rebellion in my heart towards you that I need to turn my cat around so you can ask him, number one. Number two, oh, you might already know. Today's invitation is to let go of that, to cast it off, to throw it away.
Repent. The Lord doesn't want to see you get all your fur rubbed off because he loves you. He just wants you to turn your cat around. So with, nobody looking around, we don't really have a stage here in this venue where I can invite you to stand up from your seat and come down to the front where we've created an altar where you can meet with the Lord. So what we'll do is we'll turn our own chairs into an altar, a place where you can meet with the Lord.
So right where you're sitting, as you ask the Lord and he points something out and you want to cast that away, let's turn our chairs into a place where we can meet with the Lord. And so the invitation of this, if there's something that you need to repent of, just turn around in your seat, get down on your knees, and pray on your chair. You know what I'm saying? Alright. There'll be room for everybody.
Yeah. They can do it there too. Figure it out. Jesus. Father, forgive us of our sins, our trespasses, our rebellion, our wickedness.
Forgive us forever saying, you're not being fair. Why won't you let me? And fill in the blank. Father, forgive us for manipulating your clear word in scripture to justify our mindset or our attitude or our lifestyle. Show us.
Forgive us for taking advantage of your forbearance, your patience, your mercy. Help us. Help us. Help us. Help us.
Oh, Lord, we ask you help us. Help us. Like your word says, to put our rebellion behind us. Find a new heart and a new spirit. Yes.
Like your word says, I counsel you to buy gold, gold that's been refined in the finer's fire. Salve for your eyes so that you can see clearly. We're coming to you asking you. Oh, help us. We pray these things in Jesus' Amen.
When we dismiss from service here in a moment, Amanda's gonna share with us offering and an an offering and announcements. But when we dismiss service here, if there's anything that you need prayer for, the members of our prayer team, I'm gonna ask Lee and Colleen if they would stick around to help pray. Kim and Joe, if they Kim and Joe, yes, if they would stay for just a moment, if there's anything you need prayer for, maybe you need some help, like, letting go of that thing that in that picture that Lissa saw earlier in worship, like you're just reaching for it and you're like, I just need some help letting that go. You don't even have to name it because you know and the Holy Spirit knows. If you need if you are in need of healing in your body, we wanna pray for those things.
If you are knee in need of healing of your heart or your emotions, we wanna pray for those things as well. And so after service, we'll just turn the VIP room into a little prayer room, and they won't, like, pray, like, like, for a long time, but they'll make sure that each person that needs prayer gets prayed for. Okay? And hard transition to Amanda.
So we we love to worship the Lord in as many ways as we can. And like you've heard us say before, it should not just be Sunday morning. This should just be a teeny tiny sliver of your time with the Lord when we get together corporately as a tribe family. And I was just sitting there thinking as we worship Him in another way, is bringing our tithe and giving of our offering, which is above and beyond to Him. It's just a way we practice that surrender muscle.
And I was sitting there thinking, gosh, if you go from the couch to running a marathon, that's hard. Whether you're athletic or not, that's hard. If you run a right, David? That would be super hard. If you practice a little bit, it'd be a little bit easier.
But if you train for that marathon, it might not be a breeze like nothing, but man, it'll be better because your muscles are like, I've done this before. I've worked for this. I've trained for this. And I think as we study God's word, as we open our heart to what Brian has for us every week, as we bring our tithe and our offering, that's like practicing for that marathon. We're exercising that surrender muscle.
So when you've heard us say, like, times ahead, whatever it is, whether it's globally or something personally in your in your life, when tough times come, they might still be tough. Jesus said they would in John sixteen thirty three, but you will have that surrender and that obedience muscle trained. So you're like, ah, ah, this is hard. Someone hold my hand, but I can do it because Jesus is with me, and I've been practicing this. So you're not just crushed.
And I think before we pray, I wanna read this to you. It seems like a good good thing of what we were talking about today and bringing our tithe and offering. And in Hebrews, says, talking about God's discipline, it says, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. That's what you're gonna go to the VIP room and pray away today. Let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.
And then a few verses later, he says, as you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Whoever heard of a child who's never been disciplined by his father? If God does not discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you're illegitimate and not really his kid at all. Since we respect our earthly fathers who discipline us, shouldn't we even more submit to the discipline of our heavenly father, of our spirits, our lives forever? For our earthly fathers disciplined us a few years doing the best they knew how, bless their hearts.
But God disciplines us the way he disciplines is always good for us so that we can share in his holiness. The last thing is this, no discipline is enjoyable while it's happening. When you get up off that couch to do your first run, that is not enjoyable. It's painful. But afterward, the Bible says, there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.
So heavenly father, as we bring our tithe and our offering to you today and as we let the word that we heard spoken today find a resting place in our hearts, not just our mind. Lord, let us just accept that discipline as a good thing from you. Thank you for the opportunity we have when we give a portion of our finances to practice that surrender muscle, that trust muscle, that I love you and I trust you even if this is hard muscle. Thank you for the opportunity we have weekly to do that. And we just pray practically speaking, Lord, that this money that comes in today and any rhythm that we have will just go to bring you glory and to bring more people into your kingdom.
That's what we're doing as the local church. So we thank you in advance for what's to come. In Jesus' name, we all say, amen. Here at Tribe, we have, we don't pass buckets or do anything like that, but you can give online, tribejh.com. If you have cash or check, there's a little black box downstairs right outside the front door.
Or the easiest way is just to open up a new text on your phone to what number, friends? 84321. That was funny. 84321, and you just text the amount. That's just the practical housekeeping stuff.
Man, let's practice that surrender muscle. And I challenge you, whether it's whether you don't have a rhythm or a practice of bringing your tithe and offering to him, start there. Do that. It's a great way. Giving money away seems counterintuitive to what the world would say.
But, man, the Lord does something supernatural when you do it out of obedience. So, that's that. The only thing I'm gonna tell you for announcements, don't pencil it in, pin it in this summer, June twenty fifth through twenty eighth, just commit to it. And when camps and stuff come up, say, no, I'm going to help VBS at Wind River. And we're gonna go take get on the tri bus, which is half the fun.
We all it's like It's most of the fun.
Let's go. Of the fun.
The rest is a lot
of work.
Kids are getting saved and stuff, that bus ride always picture us like the the Muppets moving right along is how I picture when we load up on that drive bus. While the holy spirit's still here, so June twenty fifth through twenty eighth, Wind River and VBS, I want you to sign up for that because it'll bless those sweet little kids' hearts. Also, tribe mountain adventures is something that we are launching. If you are like, what's a tribe mountain adventure? I want one.
First of all, you can speak to pastor Brian right after service. He's gonna head that up, it's just kind of this first launch, soft launch we would call, just an introduction to the backcountry. So if you're like, am I a good enough skier for that? Just find Brian afterwards and talk to him and we want you to sign up for that on the fridge.
He'll make you do a fitness test today.
Right now before
you leave.
Just kidding. Alright. Will you please do another heart switch with me?
It's dangerous when both Amanda and I have microphones. But
it's great. We love it. Stand up. Could I pray for you? Lord Jesus, I command a blessing over each and every member of our tribe fam here.
Lord, I ask that you would whisper deep to their heart any area of their life where they need to turn their cat around. And I'm starting with me. Lord, show me. Help me. Help me.
Help me. Help me. And that as we press in, that more and more areas of our life would come under conformity of your nature and character that we would step into what the Bible calls the blessed life. I pray that over each and every member of our tribe family here today. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God.
And everybody said Amen. Amen. I love y'all so much. I want you to have a great week. We got a big snowstorm coming, which means lots of shoveling, lots of skiing.
Stay safe out there. And if there's anything you need prayer for, head that way. I love you. Have a great weekend, remember, you got this.
Share this message
Every word on these came out of the message. Download one and post it anywhere.
