Scripture referenced
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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1 John 3:1-3 central passage read aloud by Zoe, anchoring the whole conversation on identity as children of God
1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it is not yet revealed what we will be. But we know that, when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse
Matthew 21:44
fall on the rock and be broken, otherwise the rock will fall on you and crush you
44 He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it will fall, it will scatter him as dust.”
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Habakkuk 3:3-6
read aloud as a prophetic picture of Christ returning in power, splendor, and judgment
3 God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth.
4 His splendor is like the sunrise. Rays shine from his hand, where his power is hidden.
5 Plague went before him, and pestilence followed his feet.
6 He stood, and shook the earth. He looked, and made the nations tremble. The ancient mountains were crumbled. The age-old hills collapsed. His ways are eternal.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Isaiah 49:16
your name is written on the palm of his hand
16 Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. your walls are continually before me.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Revelation 1
referenced for John falling as dead when he saw the glorified Jesus, and descriptors of Christ like eyes of fire and hair like wool
1 This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things which must happen soon, which he sent and made known by his angel to his servant, John,
2 who testified to God’s word, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, about everything that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it, for the time is at hand.
4 John, to the seven assemblies that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from God, who is and who was and who is to come; and from the seven Spirits who are before his throne;
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood;
6 and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. All the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
9 I John, your brother and partner with you in the oppression, Kingdom, and perseverance in Christ Jesus, was on the isle that is called Patmos because of God’s Word and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like a trumpet
11 saying, “What you see, write in a book and send to the seven assemblies: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
12 I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Having turned, I saw seven golden lamp stands.
13 And among the lamp stands was one like a son of man, clothed with a robe reaching down to his feet, and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 His head and his hair were white as white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire.
15 His feet were like burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace. His voice was like the voice of many waters.
16 He had seven stars in his right hand. Out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He laid his right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid. I am the first and the last,
18 and the Living one. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. Amen. I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
19 Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will happen hereafter;
20 the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven assemblies. The seven lamp stands are seven assemblies.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
On July 21, Brian Hunter preached from 1 John 3:1-3, using a running Toy Story illustration to ask a simple question: if you lifted the sole of your boot, whose name would be written there? The conversation moved between scripture, congregation voices, and a charge to reject the names the world and the enemy try to paint over what God has already written.
What was said
Brian opened by grounding the whole conversation in identity. He pointed to the first word of the passage, "see" or "behold" depending on your translation, and noted that the Greek behind it carries a meaning of joyful, confident expectation. The idea is not just to glance at something but to consider it, to let it become part of you. With that in mind, he asked the room to really look at what the verse is claiming: that the Father has lavished love on us and called us his children, and that is what we are.
Several people in the room added to that. One noted that the verse seems almost insistent, as if God is saying do not doubt this. Another pointed out that the world cannot recognize us as God's children for the same reason the passage gives: they do not know him. Joy connected that to a pattern she sees in human behavior, where people speak identities over others that serve their own comfort rather than seeing through God's eyes.
Brian then spent time on verse two and the "already and not yet" tension that runs through scripture. He used the example that we have been saved, are being saved, and will someday be saved, all the same Greek word, sozo, throughout. Applied to this passage, we are already God's children, and yet what we will fully be has not been made known. What is certain is that when Christ appears, we will be like him.
That led into a longer exchange about what it means to see him as he really is. Brian described it in terms of a diamond with many facets, each cut catching the light differently. In our current state we can only perceive so many of those facets. With glorified bodies, he said, we will be able to turn the diamond and for all of eternity encounter a new aspect of who Jesus is. Amanda drew a connection to Revelation, where John, Jesus' closest friend, fell as though dead when he saw the glorified Christ. The room reflected on how that same limitless revealing of God might be what the angels mean when they cry holy, holy, holy without end.
Brian pressed on the implications of that. He read from Habakkuk 3, a passage he described as a poetic picture of Christ returning through the desert toward Jerusalem, with brilliant splendor, rays of light, the earth shaking, nations trembling. He asked whether there is room in people's understanding of Jesus for those verses, and warned that refusing to be conformed into his image does not leave your image of Jesus unchanged. By default, he said, you reshape Jesus to look more like you.
The Toy Story illustration carried the close of the message. In the first film, Andy's name is written in marker on the sole of every toy that belongs to him. Woody's name is on the bottom of his cowboy boot. Brian said that God does not write his name on our boot until we surrender ourselves into his hands. Then and only then do we belong to him. In the second film, the collector paints over Andy's name on Woody's boot, and for a time Woody loses his way, believing he is just a collector's item on a shelf, before rubbing off the fresh paint and finding the name still underneath. Brian asked people to think honestly about what names the world, or they themselves, might have written on the sole of their own heart, and to let those be rubbed away.
He closed the body of the message by connecting it to Isaiah 49:16, noting that while God writes his name on the sole of our boot, he has also written our name on the palm of his hand. He then moved through the room and laid his hand on the sole of each person's shoe as a physical reminder of whom they belong to.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
- Pull up Isaiah 49:16 this week and sit with the truth that God has written your name on the palm of his hand.
- When a lie about your identity bubbles up, take a moment to repent of it out loud and ask God to speak your true identity over you instead.
- Find the song 'I Was Made For More' on Spotify and let it run in the background as a way to keep this conversation going past Sunday.
- Come to the prayer night on July 23 from 6 to 7 pm right here at Tribe and pray alongside others for specific things the church is carrying right now.
- Look at the serving opportunities posted on the fridge as you leave and pick one date to show up, whether that is a meal at Wind River or serving at the Good Samaritan Mission down the road.
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 tension of 'already and not yet' in how we understand our identity as children of God. Where do you find yourself right now: more living in the 'already' of who God says you are, or more stuck in the 'not yet'?
- Joy pointed out that the world tries to speak identity over us in ways that serve its own purposes rather than reflecting how God sees us. What names or labels has the world, or other people, tried to write on the sole of your boot, and how have those stuck with you?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Resumen en español
El mensaje resumido, en español.
El pastor Brian Hunter tomó como punto de partida 1 Juan 3:1-3 para hablar de la identidad que Dios nos da como sus hijos. La idea central fue sencilla pero poderosa: cuando entregamos nuestra vida a Dios, él escribe su nombre en nosotros, y nada de lo que el mundo o el enemigo digan puede borrar esa marca. Brian usó la película Toy Story para ilustrarlo: así como Andy escribía su nombre en los zapatos de sus juguetes para marcar a quién pertenecían, Dios hace lo mismo con quienes le pertenecen. Y al mismo tiempo, él tiene nuestro nombre escrito en la palma de su mano.
La congregación participó activamente en la conversación. Se habló del significado de la palabra "ver" en el texto griego, que incluye la idea de recibir con esperanza y confianza. También se exploró la tensión bíblica entre el "ya" y el "todavía no": ya somos hijos de Dios, pero aún no conocemos completamente lo que seremos cuando Cristo aparezca. Brian describió los atributos de Jesús como las facetas de un diamante, infinitas y siempre nuevas, que iremos descubriendo por toda la eternidad.
Brian también advirtió que si nos negamos a ser transformados a la imagen de Cristo, terminamos rediseñando a Jesús a nuestra propia imagen, convirtiéndonos en nuestro propio dios. Citó el pasaje de Habacuc 3 para mostrar la majestad y el poder del Señor cuando regrese, e invitó a la congregación a ampliar su comprensión de quién es Jesús más allá de lo cómodo o conocido. El mensaje cerró con Brian pasando por cada persona y poniendo su mano en la suela de su zapato, como recordatorio físico de a quién pertenecen.
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Pasajes bíblicos usados
- 1 Juan 3:1-3
- Isaías 49:16
- Mateo 21:44
- Habacuc 3:3-6
Read the full transcript 8,183 words
Stand together. Lord, we thank you for who we are today. Thank you for who you who we are in you today. Let's just praise him for who we are today.
Yes. Am.
Lord, we just praise you. We thank you for how you made us today, God. We just come before you today. We just ask you to speak to us. Today, we just remind ourselves who we belong to today.
And we belong to you. We're gonna teach you a new song this morning. You might know it. It's really easy. It sounds kind of hemmy, and it's real easy to pick up.
The chorus goes like this. We're just gonna speak this over ourselves this morning.
Is running my way. I know I am yours. I was made for more. You got it.
Let's sing the verse. Just remind yourself this morning. Let the lord remind you of who you are this morning. Yes, Jesus. Come speak to us.
Love us so
much.
Let's sing that first verse.
Because he is jealous for me. He loves like a hurricane. For me. Know how you how you love us. Oh, how you love us.
Yeah. Loves
me. You believe that this morning? Writing all your mistakes. Let's just sing that one more time.
Wasn't made to be tending a grave. I was called by
Let's just stay in this place of worship for just one more minute. And when you sing that, maybe there's some things that bubble up in your mind. Maybe there's doubts. Maybe there's, like, the enemies trying to, like, yeah, but yeah, but you were made for more if only you hadn't dot dot dot. Bring up something in your shame because there's real freedom if we actually believe this chorus.
There's real freedom that can happen in your life and breakthrough if you actually sing this and let the holy spirit do a mighty work. And it's not because of what we could do, we can't earn it, we can't deserve it. But when we understand our identity, who we belong to, there ain't nothing. There ain't nothing that the enemy can do to hold us back. Because he's defeated.
He's already defeated. So whatever lies you may be believing in here today, I just feel really strongly as we sing that. There's that scripture that says, but they honored me with their words but their heart was far from me. And you may not be thinking you're doing that, but if you don't believe what you're actually singing about him, then that's what we're doing. We're we're singing I I was made for more, but then if we don't really believe it then we're not honoring him because we're made in his image and he has a plan for us.
Yeah. We mess up. We all do. Some of us this morning. And so, Lord, we just ask you right now as we sing this.
We're gonna sing this two more times, and then we're gonna move on to the next form of worship and getting into his word. But would you just hold your hands out and just say, Lord, speak my identity over me today. That I belong to you. That I know who I am because I know who you are. And you don't make mistakes.
And your arms are wide open this morning of forgiveness. So run to him as you're have your hands out and you're asking him to speak your identity. Repent of any lies that bubble up. Repent of any lies of what you've believed about yourself because of your past or what someone else has spoken over you. Let's just do some work right now to renew our minds, which is our job.
He gives us a brand new heart, but we have to renew our minds. I wasn't made.
I wasn't made to be way. I know I am yours. I was made for more. One more time, I wasn't made. I wasn't made to be not
name
It's I'm like Bob Dylan said, you gotta serve somebody. It may be the devil and it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody. And Lord, when we believe our identity is in you because of who you are, We serve you but when we walk away, Lord, we serve the world, we serve the lies of the enemy. So today, Lord, we purpose our hearts on your voice and your voice alone to say who we are. We tell you we love you.
I thank you for every single heart in this room. And everybody said, amen. Turn around and say good morning to someone.
Corey, do you
do you have anything
on that? Or should I be Do
you have a mute on there? Okay. Then I can
That was great. Don't resolve. My heart. Do you know? We all do.
Oh, would you grab that? Good morning. So great to see y'all. You know that we talk, many weeks about multiple forms of worship. We worship the lord through song.
We worship the lord through honoring the word that's preached. We worship the lord through our tithes and offerings. And one of the great benefits, for you one of the many benefits for you of going to a church where the worship leader is married to the senior pastor is that we get to talk and listen oftentimes like, hey. What are you preaching on this week? And I'm like, well, here's what I feel like the Lord put on my heart.
Here's what I'm kind of stewing on what I'm cooking up. And then Lys begins to craft the the worship set around what we're talking about. And so, Lys, I don't know. You maybe you picked up on it, but through the song selection, Lissa was preaching every bit as much as I'm about to. And so, Liz, just give us a little weave together.
Tell us a little bit about the artistry behind your selection of the worship set this morning. Oh. Putting in fresh batteries.
I knew this is gonna happen. We love you.
You're so good. You're so good. Well, when you when you told me what you were speaking on, I was just like, oh, yeah. Our identity. Like, Lord, what do you wanna speak to us?
What songs like, review for us. What songs did you pick?
Who You Say I Am. Yep. I'm Chosen and Not Forsaken. I Am Who You Say I Am. I Know Who I Am because I know who you are.
I was made for more.
Yes.
And How You Love Us.
So yeah. That's so good.
So As a recap, in case anyone wasn't just here for the past.
Remember remember that one time when we worshiped the lord through a song just a few moments ago?
Mem remember that, guys?
Welcome to Tribe. I'm Brian. This is my wife, Lissa. In your seat, there's a connect card. If you are new or visiting us this morning, we'd love to have a record of your visit.
You can fill that out. There's a little wooden box that you can put it in or just leave it in your seat. Also, there there's a lot on that card. If you would like to receive Tribe's text blast, we send out a text blast from time to time about what's going on, what we're up to, things that you can be involved with, you can fill out that with your contact in there. Also, on the back, you can write a prayer request.
On Monday, when we meet as a staff, we pray over each and every one of these prayer requests. We take them seriously, and we consider it an honor to partner with you in celebrating or lifting up whatever it is that you're going through. And so please avail yourself to those few lines on the back for a prayer request. With that in mind, if you have your bible this morning, would you please turn to the book of first John? Now those of you who brought your electronic Bibles, it's so easy.
The rest of us with our acoustic Bibles, it's a little tricky. Don't be afraid to go to the table of contents. Hang a hard right. If you hit the book of Revelation, just back it off a few chapters. And then if you hit first Peter, go back to the right, and you're like, what's there?
Don't worry. It's there. First John chapter three. And would somebody please read that? I really wanna ask Zoe to read it, but I'm not gonna put her on the spot.
I'm just so glad that she's, like, sitting with her family on the front road today, which I'm sure she loves. Oh, she oh. Alright. Mom, you huck her under the bus. I'll push her to the edge of the curb and you just right out there.
Thank you, Zoe. Verses one through three. You got this.
See what great love the father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves just as he is pure.
Wow. In those three verses, there is so much to unpack, but I'd like to check-in with you. And if you're new to Tribe, if you haven't been here in a while, things are different than the church or the church service that you have perhaps come from. And first of all, we're in a cozy little living room. If at any point during the service, you're thirsty, you can stand up, walk out of the aisle over to the refrigerator, and help yourself to a refreshing cold fizzy water.
When is the last time you ever got to do that at church? Another unique distinctive about our tribe fam is this venue and this setting lends itself to a conversation, and so I want us to have a conversation today. You're gonna get to hear from me, and I do want to hear from you. If you have a question, a connection, or a comment, all you need to do is raise your hand and Kat with mic in the in hand with fresh batteries will put that mic in your hand and I'd love to hear from you. The reason why we use the mic in the room is for all of our families that are traveling or are away.
They still get to tune in to the livestream and be a part of the conversation with us today. So that's why we have the mic. But this right here, as we've read these first three verses, I'd like to check-in with you and ask you a question. Sometimes I ask what details do you notice, but this time it's gonna require you to think a little bit more. Instead of what details do you notice, you're gonna you're required to notice details and then make connections to a bigger, broader picture.
What sort of themes do you pick up out of these verse? And there are multiple themes. We won't cover all of them, but what sort of themes do you see in these few passages, in these few verses? Just raise your hand. I'd love to hear from you, and Kat will get you the mic.
Oh, I love it that you're that you have your nose buried in your bible and you're looking.
This is a low hanging fruit, but I see identity.
Somebody had to.
Being part of a family, because it acknowledges being children of God. That word is very specific. So, yeah, identity and family and who who you belong to.
That is amazing. That's great. All the way up from the near skirts of Pinedale this morning.
We are human.
Yes. Yay. It's so good to see you live and in person.
What I see is him already convincing us. In my bible, it says, yes, we are with an exclamation saying, in other words, don't doubt. You are my kid.
Yo. I love that. Anything else? John, over there. I thought that since we're children of God, then God is our parent and our father.
So that was one of the identities that came out to me. Oh, so beautiful.
Yeah, I mean we see we see identity here, but also like I see an element of, like, mystery and becoming, like, on on who God is transforming us to be that we still don't yet know fully what that will look like, but that we have a God who is creating and transforming us as his children and nurturing us as we continue to grow. Like right here where it says, now we are children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we will be like him. So we know like where we're going, but still it's like so new and refreshing. Were like, okay, what what are we gonna look like down the road?
Yes.
I love that. And you're picking up on a theme that runs contiguous throughout the Bible, and it's this idea of already and not yet. There's this tension. So some verses, as we read them, there is an already aspect to them, and it's a 100% true. You can take it to the bank, and it is already.
And simultaneously, there's an aspect to not necessarily that there's more, but that there is more understanding of that already fact and true. And sometimes we try to read the bible and because just the way that we're wired as humans, we like things to be binary. It's either already or it's not yet. And the truth is thematically throughout the bible, it can be both simultaneously. For example, have we been saved?
If you've invited Jesus in your heart, made him the leader of your life. Yes. Are we being saved? Yes. Will we someday be saved?
Yes. Yes. Uh-oh. It's in the bible. Look for it.
That you you have been saved. You are being saved. And Jesus himself says, those who persevere to the end will someday be Saved. Saved. It's the same Greek word throughout all of those.
The Greek word is sozo, which means eternal life. It's where the name Zoe comes from. Second shout out if you're keeping track. If
means
you're taking notes, you can write the title of this morning's conversation at the top of your notes. His name on your boot. That's where we're going today. His name on your boot. Would you put up the the whole passage so we can see it all at once?
There it is. It's a it's a lot of words up there, but it's just three verses. And what I'd like to do is for us to double click on a few different aspects of this passage, and then we'll bring it all and tie a bow on things with what I believe the holy spirit wants to do in your hearts this morning. And on my drive in this morning, I was really thinking and praying about the conversation that we were gonna have today. And I feel like the holy spirit said that that for one person and maybe more that today will be a beautiful and a powerful encounter with the Lord that comes from a simple little childlike message.
So here's what I wanna draw your attention to. We're just gonna look at a at a few things. The first word here is see. And in your translate in your translation, it may be what's what's a what did yours start? Behold.
Behold. See. Alright. So that word see in the Greek is a really important word. We tend to, as we're reading a passage, especially when there's all of these words on the screen, we're like, oh, we gotta get to the good stuff.
God, children, expectation. But but every single word here is important, and we're gonna examine each and every no. No. No. We're just gonna look at a few of them.
The the first word that I wanna draw our attention to is that word see. I'm not gonna try to pronounce it for you in the Greek, but here is the meaning, the Greek understanding of that word see. It the it has with the meaning of the word this expectation of good. Hope in the Christian sense, joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation. So when it says to see, the idea is this.
It's twofold. Number one, like like, you see with your eyeballs, but then beyond seeing with our eyes, the verse intends for us to see with the eyes of our heart in order to consider, to digest, to make a part of you. See how very much our father loves us. Then here's what's interesting. Look at the towards the end of verse one, it says this, but the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are god's children.
Why do you think that is? What are your thoughts?
I think that, you can only know things of God with God's spirit. So, the people who are natural men or natural people, cannot perceive spiritual things. Like, they can't read my mind because they don't have my mind. I can't read. You can't read God's mind unless you have God's spirit or know God's spirit.
Oh, I like that. What else? Joy.
It seems like there's two different parties that are trying to speak identity over you. There's God and people. And so here, we see, like, the people who are speaking identity are they belong to this world. I think that just in my experience with humans, a lot of people are speaking the identity they want you to be over you, because it would serve them or it would, make them feel more comfortable about where they are or whatever the case may be, as opposed to seeing them, like Brian was saying, through God's eyes and seeing as the spirit has is leading.
I love that. There is a there is a we're gonna tie these couple of thoughts together. There is a low hanging fruit answer to the question that I asked. Why don't people recognize that we are God's children? And where did you get that?
Because they don't know him. They don't know him. But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know him. And that word know is they may know of him by religion. They may know of him by name.
Whether it's in our hearts or not, it's still at least stamped on our money for now in god we trust, but they don't know him. They've never stopped to consider him. They've never stopped to recognize or honor him, especially living in this town surrounded by his creation and the artistry of his handiwork abundantly evident. When you're floating the Snake River on your paddleboard and the weather is perfect and you don't have like like a upstream gale force wind blowing, but like there's actually no wind on the Snake River, and you're floating down in the sun, and the Eagles are playing like, what? It is miraculous.
So if they don't know him, then it would make sense that they might not recognize you as belonging to him. And to tie to make that connection to what Joy said is because they don't know him, they don't recognize that you are from him, what the world would try to do is give you a different name or a different label. That you are nothing more than a product of biology. Okay. I wanna draw our attention to, another place.
In verse two, it says this, but we do know that we will be like him for we will see him as he really is. Let's talk about our understanding of that passage. What do you think that passage means? And then what do you think the Holy Spirit is trying to get at who is the inspired author John is the inspired author behind the writings of the Holy Spirit? But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
Ah, okay. Amanda said our glorified bodies. That's certainly included, and if you're like glorified who? What? You you, just Google it.
Scriptural oh, yeah. Oh, maybe not. Maybe not. Type in bible verses related to. We just saved the whole church service.
We take our faith very seriously, but not ourselves. Amen?
I do think, you know, in the book of Revelation when John is speaking and John was his best friend and they snuggle in a very normal way, you know, in their time and all that, like, good buddies. And he fell Revelation says John fell to his face when he saw the glorified Jesus as if he were dead. Like, just not like, hey, man. You know? Like, it was not casual.
It was just, like, unbelievable. And that was John in his earth suit, like we call it, like the like we're in now, and he saw Jesus in his glorified body. So I think, among other things, this is our when Christ appears in verse in what we're talking about here, verse two, is our new glorified bodies, and we'll see him similar to what Brian said. Like, we have his spirit already, but there's something that's gonna be revealed when Jesus returns and our when we change. We will see him as if John probably wanted to when he was writing Revelation.
He just he couldn't because he was just laid out as a dead man, says the scripture, because what else do you do when you're in a holy presence? So I think that not that we won't revere him as holy in the slightest, we will, but I do think, like, our chemistry will be different, and we will see him that's what it means. We will see him like he is because we'll be in the same state. Oh. Not not equals, but, know, in the same new glorified state.
Keep the mic. What are some of those descriptors in the book of Revelation that John describes what he sees?
Oh, like his eyes are like fire. His hair is like wool. Yeah. His mouth is like a sword.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
And not only will we see him, as he is, but, again, that word see, to consider, to be able to accurately grab a hold of Texas translation, that we will know the fullness of his attributes. Imagine, picture a beautiful diamond and if that diamond were really enlarged so that you could hold it and it were the size of a basketball. There are many different cuts and facets of that diamond, and that's what makes a diamond so sparkly is the more facets It catches the light and bounces and refracts the light, and it it and it causes the beauty of the diamond to come out. In a similar way, the attributes and the faces of Jesus are so numerous that when we see him him at either when our blood pump stops working or he returns riding on the clouds, and we get a glorified body that has the capacity to behold him as he is, we will be able to turn the diamond around. And for all of eternity, we'll see a new facet and a new facet and a Words oh.
Fail us.
Please.
Something that's just so beautiful, what you said, like, eternity where the diamond is turned, we see a different facet of Jesus. That's why that's why I'm when you see in scripture that the angels always cry, holy, holy, holy and let's be honest, when you're like, okay. We're gonna say holy for eternity. That actually does not sound great. You know?
But I think it's because for all time, more of him is being revealed. Like, we cannot comprehend that in our finite minds. But it's like the diamond turns a little bit more of a rotation. Holy holy holy is the Lord, because you see something new. Yes.
The diamond turns again. Holy holy holy is like, how many facets are there? So I think that's Endless. The tie in. Endless.
It and we don't under we understand it intelligently, but, you know, we won't grasp a true hold of that until we're there, but that's so it won't be boring guys, don't worry. It'll be continually revealing who he is.
Thank you, Amanda.
So
as we at the as we get closer to his return and his glorious appearance, it's been in our bible all along, but I believe that the holy spirit will call to our memory, cause it to bubble up in our awareness, our conscious awareness of some of these attributes that we have seen all along in the bible and perhaps we have encountered in in reality in our relating and being in relationship with Jesus, some of these attributes as a as a a distant or a foggy image, but they will come into more vibrant focus if we belong to him so that as the day approaches of his return, For example, in the bible, right near that same passage that Amanda spoke about, John is caught up and he sees a picture in his mind's eye of of of things to come. And he says he's in a throne room, and there's a person sitting on the throne. He has a scroll, but no one in heaven and on earth or below the earth could be found who is worthy to open the scrolls. And John is just wrecked. He's devastated.
He's crying, and he's weeping. And then there's one who looked like a lamb that had been slain step forward who was worthy to take the scroll. Who was that? Jesus. And when he breaks the seals, calamity on planet Earth breaks out.
Is there room on your diamond of who you know Jesus to be? Have you seen that facet of him yet? Not the wrath facet, but his presence, his coming presence before him is controversy and calamity. Controversy controversy and calamity surrounded everywhere he went. It's been in the bible all along.
So so I just say that to illustrate the idea that we will see him as he truly is. We'll be given upgraded hardware in order to perceive it, our glorified bodies. You can look it up. Well, we will we will see him perhaps as John saw him, but then it says this, who's gonna change? Him or me?
Us. Did you know that if you refuse to be conformed into the image of Jesus, into his likeness, that by default, you change the image of Jesus so that he looks more like you. I don't know if I can. If you refuse to be conformed into his image and likeness and by the methods that he chooses, the way in which he leads you, which is always to the cross. If you refuse to go with him, if you refuse to be conformed into his image and likeness, then by default, you pervert and transform Jesus into your image and likeness.
And you always want to do what you want to do. And your flesh wants to give your flesh whatever it wants and has remarkable ways of justifying and rationalizing it. Then you become your own god. And you're, like Aaron said, I don't know. I just took all these blessings that the lord had given me, threw it into the fire, and out comes this calf.
Brink. Brink. Kate.
I was just thinking, as you were sharing even about, revelation and what John's seen and the chaos and, calamity and confusion that surrounds, the lord even when he walked on Earth in some realms. It's I feel like that's the not that's the not knowing that the world doesn't get because because they'll they'll accept that god is love. They'll accept that god is good if if you talk about that aspects of god, but the other facets of god that bring chaos and that bring can bring suffering, to the world. Like, that's not an aspect that that the world wants even wants to know about or understand. Yeah.
And, and I think that's a that's a hard place even as we as we speak to people, you know, about the lord and their questions. And, I guess, I know for me, that's that's always hard because I I get that Jesus is like everything about God is for our good and for his ultimate plan, but it's hard to explain that to
people. It's really good. And if you are so rigid, sedentary, dogmatic that you either can't or refuse to see, receive the revelation of these aspects, and I'm not talking about extra biblical new revelation. It's in here the whole time. Then like the Bible says, fall on the rock and be broken, be shattered, your paradigm of him.
God says, like, remember all these cool things I did? That was nothing. Behold, I'm gonna do something new. And if you refuse to fall on the rock and be broken, the Bible says that that rock will fall on you and you will be squashed flat as a bug. Okay.
Let's turn this is this is worth a a quick side quest. Habakkuk. Oh, you have to Google it. Fall on the rock and be broken. Otherwise, the rock will fall on you and squash you flat as a bug in a rug.
That's I I I think I nailed it. But but, Joy's gonna Google it right now and that's a good that's a good one to know. Matthew twenty one forty four. I love it. Yeah.
That that that that one's not quite available yet. Okay. Habit cook. Let me just show you this really quickly. Mhmm.
Chapter three. Wait. What? Wait. Wait.
Wait. Nope. There we go. There we go. There we we go.
There we we go. Habit kick three. I got it. I got it. Habit kick three verse three.
This is a prophetic, a future unfolding of what I would consider to be a picture of the presence, the when Jesus returns to Earth. He will march in procession to ransom Israeli refugees that have fled the city of Jerusalem to escape unprecedented persecution and to lead as the ground force commander the armies of Israel and saints with their glorified bodies for the retaking of the city of Jerusalem where he will then establish his throne to rule and reign forever. Everything I just said is all in your bible. But I believe that this is a a poetic description of his procession from the desert back to Jerusalem. Verse three verse three, I see god moving across the deserts from Edom.
The holy one coming from Mount Peran. His brilliant splendor fills the heavens, and the earth is filled with his praise. His coming is as brilliant as the sunshine. Rays of light flash from his hands where his awesome power is hidden. Are you kidding me?
We have to keep all like, yep. Jesus. Jesus. Praise the lord. Hallelujah.
Keep reading. Pestilence marches before him. Plagues follow close behind. When he stops, the earth shakes. When he looks, the nations tremble.
He shatters the everlasting mountains and levels the eternal hills. He is the eternal one. Is there room in your paradigm and understanding and relationship with Jesus to include those verses? If not, a mature Christian would say, Lord, will you help me to unpack these? Show reveal yourself to me in these.
Okay. So so we've talked a lot about this. That was a a quick little side quest. We we've talked a lot about the big macro theme in this passage of identity, identity, that we belong to the Lord. And as Joy pointed out, the world would love to give us their identity.
But the question really remains, if you were to pull up the sole of the boot of your heart, what name would be written on it? And if you have no clue what I'm talking about, all the way back in 1995, there was a Disney animated movie called Toy Story. How many of you were born after Toy Story came out? Wow. Yeah.
Yeah. Up that picture with a blank. That's it.
Yeah. So
in in the movie Toy Story in the movie Toy Story, there is it takes place, the majority of the movie takes place in a little boy's room named Andy. And all of the toys that belong to Andy, his mom has taken a Sharpie and written his Andy's name on the bottom of the boot of or somewhere as an identifying mark on all of the toys in the room. When Andy leaves the room, Andy's toys come alive, and they interact with each other, and they go on grand adventures. And the one of the main characters is a guy named Woody, and he's a cowboy. Right?
Like, you don't even have to have seen the movies to know about Woody the cowboy. Woody the cowboy is living his best life as kind of like the president of the toys, the leader of all of the toys. And then one day a new toy arrives. What's his name? Lightyear.
When my nephew was really young, he loved Toy Story, but he couldn't say to infinity and beyond. So he would say to what would he say?
To and Leon.
To Finley and Leon. And now that's stuck in your lexicon.
To other characters we know
the song. Yeah. Finley and Leon. To Finley and Leon.
We should write another sequel. And
so and so in that in the in the first toy story, Buzz Lightyear has an identity crisis because Buzz Lightyear is absolutely convinced that his little persona, his toy character is actually his identity. He actually believes that he is a space ranger, and he's trying to make connection with Star Command. And he ends up going to a a toy store. Right? Remember this?
And he's going through the toy store and he's going through all the aisles of all these toys, and then he sees the one aisle with all of the Buzz Light years. And Woody, this whole time, is trying to tell him, like like, you're not special. You're not you being a space ranger is not what makes you unique because there's lots of space rangers out there. Remember, and then Buzz Lightyear, he kinda like loses his way and he's like, oh, you know, life is pointless and there's nothing special about life. I'm just one in a million of these space rangers.
And then what does Woody do? He points him to the sole of his space ranger boot, And then Woody shows him the bottom of his cowboy boot. And he talks about you being what's important is who you belong to. And in the movie, it has Andy's name written on the boot. Similarly, if you were to look at the boot of your heart, what name is on the sole of the boot of your heart?
I mean, maybe. So as Joy poignantly pointed out that the world would try to write its name or give you a name on the bottom of your ministry long enough, and I have been a human my whole life, meaning I'm intimately acquainted with the human experience and the names that the world would try to put on the bottom of my boot. Maybe if you were to be really honest with yourself, either you've written in Sharpie yourself or the world has tried to or even worse, that dirty devil has tried to write the name on the bottom of your Buddha, not good enough. Failure. Broken damaged goods, disappointment.
Too much. Stuck. None of those things are what the lord says Joe, would you go back to that verse, all those words? See how very much the father loves us. For he calls us his children, and that is what we are.
Now to try to tie up all of my toy story metaphor. God created us, but he does not write his name on our boot until we surrender our own possession into his hands. Then and only then do we become his and he writes his name on the sole of our boot. Yahweh. Now going over this with Liz, she's like, why Yahweh?
That's his that's his proper name. If you were to look at his driver's license, it would say Yahweh. And I chose that instead of God. You know, Greta, when you're doing scenic raft tours and things, or maybe among the guides, the the idea or the topic of God, it may come up. It may come up, but that word God is so generic and so vast and so open to interpretation.
I was intentional in creating our conversation today by using this word. Do you belong not to God, but do you belong to Yahweh? If you have surrendered your life to him, his name is written on the sole of your boot, not nothing else. Now sometimes we suffer from temporary amnesia. Remember in Toy Story two where We love Toy Story.
You know, he's he's he's got the he's got the tear on his arm and his little stuffing's coming out, and he gets snagged by the collector, but then the the guy refurbishes his refurbishes him. Remember the q tip on the eyeball? Sews up his little arm and then picks up the heel of his boot and with fresh paint just marks over Andy. Then he goes into into, like, a collector's museum, and he meets what's the girl's name?
Jesse.
Jesse. And and Jesse is trying to tell him your highest purpose Jesse tries to tell Woody, your highest purpose is to be in this museum, the TV show and and bull's eye. And remember there there's that little plastic thing. There's like a little plastic boot, and you press the button and go and a snake pops out. There's a snake, and he's like, oh.
And so for a while for a while, he believes this identity that he's doesn't belong to anyone, but he is just this little collector's item sitting on a on a shelf. But then as the movie progresses, he comes back to his senses and he remembers who he belongs to and who is his true purpose. Remember? He takes his little cowboy hand and he rubs off that fresh paint and still under that fresh paint is Andy's name. Don't let the world try to paint over his name on your heart.
Just let him talk to you for a second. Hold on. He would write his name on the bottom of your foot. But did you know that he has an identifying mark on him as well? He has written your name on the palm of his hand.
You belong together. As we continue to sing, perhaps it's more important for me as your pastor or your pastor pastor today. But would you allow me to do something and just receive from the Lord that it'll be a little bit awkward because you're crammed in there tight? But I just wanna come by, and I wanna lay my hand on the sole of your shoe to remind you of whom to whom you belong. Holy Spirit, would this just be a cool moment between you and those that belong to you?
Sometimes it's hard to leave in and out of this attitude of worship, but I would ask that we just stay in it all week, you know. Jesus stuff doesn't have to happen on Sunday only from nine to 10:30. 10:10 thirty one back to worldly living. You know? That's not how it's supposed to be.
This song is on Spotify too. You can look it up and just soak in it all week if you want. And that scripture about our names being written on his hand is Isaiah forty nine sixteen. If you wanna look that up. But we've worshiped him today, and there's endless ways to worship him.
Right? That diamond turning? We've worshiped him singing this morning. We've honored him by reading his word and having our discussion and bringing to life perhaps principles that you've heard of or not. And we're gonna worship him again while we're together as a tribe family by bringing our tithe and our offering to him.
And we just finished a whole series on the tithe and what that means. And so we think of it as personal between you and the Lord. It's not not a cookie cutter answer. It's something it's an it's a way to say, Lord, it's all yours anyway. Between me and you, help me be disciplined and surrender a portion of my hard earned finances.
Not because, oh, Brian and Lisa need need our money. Not because if I don't give, tribal shut down. No. No. No.
No. The it's a heart posture. Lord, what would you have me give because you know that money can have a grip on me whether I have a little or a lot abundant or in the negatives. Right? Money has this weird can have this weird grip on us.
So this is just a way when we bring our tithe and our offering, yes, it goes to do the work of the local ministry. There's practical things that our tithe goes to. You know, the John three sixteen mission we'll talk about in a minute and helping people get hotel rooms who don't have I mean, there's endless things that tribe as a local church goes and does practically. It also keeps you in obedience to the Lord and then when you bring your tithe and offering, it's just keeping you calibrated. So as we pray together, whether you're giving now or another time, we'll pray together.
I have just a couple announcements and then we'll get out of here. But practically speaking, if you we don't pass buckets here, as you probably guessed because we're in the living room and we had a conversation and all of the things, it's not too standard. But there's two places to give if you have cash or check. The little box with our logo on it right there by the door, and then downstairs right outside the front door, there's a black lockbox. You can also give online anytime, try jh.com.
And then the easiest way, and you'll see this slide, is on your phone. And no longer do you type the fun little number, but take a screenshot or just we'll leave this up a minute, and you can put it in your phone like it's a friend. Tithe is it's like my family, and Tithe is in my favorites on my phone, like a quick access. Probably you guys are in there too, but like Tithe You are for sure. But I just put it in like a favorites and so it's really easy for me to access quickly.
And yep. So you'll have to type the word give, a dollar sign, and then the amount you wanna give. If you do it for the first time, it'll give you a little instruction, but that's the easiest way to give. Alright. Let's pray.
Whether you're giving now or another time, let's bow our heads as a tribe family while we're here and pray. Heavenly father, thank you so much for the opportunity that you give us to partner with you. There's so many ways that we can remain in you and stay calibrated, and tithing is a is a big one. It keeps us disciplined to listen to your voice. We thank you so much for just the way that you designed it.
No matter where you're giving, whatever church you go to, you design the local church to bring people to you, to bring hope to a lost and dying world through you, Jesus. And so I just pray right now that all the money, every single last penny that is brought into tribe will be stewarded well and go to exactly what you want it to go to. Thank you that we have leadership that listens and hears your voice. We thank you, Lord, for in advance for the people that will come to know you through the low local church tribe and across the world. Thank you for the way that you designed it.
Lord, I thank you for every person in this room and the family they represent, whether it's little or big. Father, thank you that you will just honor your precious children today as they give. Just speak to their heart in a way that only you can do, and you know exactly what each one of us need. We thank you for your voice that we listen to. The still small voice says the bible of the holy spirit.
In Jesus name, amen. Amen. As you leave today, take a look at the refrigerator. You'll see this here. These are some serving opportunities we have here at Tribe.
And a couple of them are the Good Samaritan Mission. We've all heard of that in town. We there's a new a new person running it that Brian and Lissa have known for twenty
five years?
I mean, was in the Lissa Hunter band.
This is true. In like in like 1998. The the Lissa Lissa Hunter band was before YouTube, so there's no proof.
Of my dreadlocks.
Anyhow, his name is Jeremy. He's he's wonderful and he's running the Good Samaritan mission. So they've kind of revamped some things. They had an open house the other day. Anyway, it's a local place where we can serve and give practically.
We go we're gonna go to Wind River. That's another way to give, but if you don't even wanna go the three hours, you know, right here, five minutes from this very location, we can serve. That's a homeless shelter and we're gonna serve a meal. So take a look and you can take a picture of that, whenever you pass by the fridge. It gives some dates and some times, and we'll also send out a text blast for you in order to do that.
We can all you can also serve for worship and ministry nights, and those are coming up. You can also always bring a meal for Tuesday night, sign up on the fridge, or to bring donuts and goodies and fruit for Sunday morning. Gosh, there's just endless ways that you opportunities. Can There's so many opportunities that we should just all take advantage of. One last thing, we've done there's gonna be four nights of prayer, three are already done, and then July 23 is the next one.
So right here in this room from six to seven, July 23, just come and pray. Lanisha leads that and she has specific things to pray for, but there's yes, you can pray anywhere and anytime, but there's something special about getting together even in this place, and she'll have specific things. Tribe's Next Home, praying for people, just current things going on. And so come if you can, July 23, right here in this room, six to seven. Stand to your feet if you would please.
Brian, would you pray us out?
And this prayer night is the last one that we have on the schedule for the summer. So if you can make it and you've wanted to make it, come this Wednesday.
Lord Jesus, let nothing ever ever write its name besides your name on our heart. God, I command a blessing over each and every person person here this morning. God, give us a great week. Help us to enjoy the beauty of your creation around here and use our lives to make your name famous. We pray these things in Jesus' name, the strong son of God.
And everybody said, I love you so very much. Have a great week, and remember, you got this.
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