The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Genesis 1Spirit of God hovering over the waters of the deep before creation
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good.
13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.”
21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good.
22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food.
30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
false prophets performing signs and miracles used to test whether Israel truly loves God
1 If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you, and he gives you a sign or a wonder,
2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, “Let us go after other gods” (which you have not known) “and let us serve them”;
3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet, or to that dreamer of dreams; for Yahweh your God is testing you, to know whether you love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
4 You shall walk after Yahweh your God, fear him, keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and you shall serve him, and cling to him.
5 That prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death, because he has spoken rebellion against Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to draw you aside out of the way which Yahweh your God commanded you to walk in. So you shall remove the evil from among you.
congregation member quoted it: test the spirits, every spirit acknowledging Jesus came in the flesh is from God
1 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,
3 and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
6 We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
8 He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.
9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
16 We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
17 In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him, because he first loved us.
20 If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21 This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.
people will follow their own desires and seek teachers who tell them what their itching ears want to hear
3 For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts;
4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.
building a house on rock versus level ground, Jesus uses 'when' not 'if' the floods come
47 Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, I will show you who he is like.
48 He is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock. When a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it was founded on the rock.
49 But he who hears, and doesn’t do, is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream broke, and immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
6 Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
those dominated by sinful nature think about sinful things, those walking in the spirit think about things that please the spirit
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
let the Holy Spirit guide your lives and you won't do what your sinful nature craves
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire.
congregation member referenced it in connection with self-seeking and the way of love
1 If I speak with the languages of men and of angels, but don’t have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing.
3 If I give away all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don’t have love, it profits me nothing.
4 Love is patient and is kind; love doesn’t envy. Love doesn’t brag, is not proud,
5 doesn’t behave itself inappropriately, doesn’t seek its own way, is not provoked, takes no account of evil;
6 doesn’t rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;
10 but when that which is complete has come, then that which is partial will be done away with.
11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child. Now that I have become a man, I have put away childish things.
12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, even as I was also fully known.
13 But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This was week two of the Walking in the Spirit series. Brian walked through why it even matters to walk in the spirit, making the case that it is not an advanced topic for serious Christians but a basic need for anyone who will face hard seasons. The conversation drew on a wide range of scripture and a lot of back-and-forth with the room.
What was said
Brian opened with a quick review of week one. Humans are made of three parts, spirit, soul, and body, and before a person is saved the soul runs the show. The soul is selfish by nature and will even do religious-looking things to satisfy itself. On judgment day, a Christian is not judged for salvation but for reward, and anything built out of the flesh, no matter how impressive it looks, burns like wood, hay, and stubble.
To illustrate why any of this matters, Brian used a mountain bike. On flat ground you can stay in one comfortable gear indefinitely and feel fine. But hills are coming, and the best time to downshift is before you hit the climb, not during it. Walking in the spirit is the downshift that makes the climb possible.
He then brought the room into Deuteronomy 13, reading the passage in two stages on purpose. The first part describes a prophet whose predicted signs actually come true, which Brian asked the room to sit with before reading on. The second part reveals that God can allow a genuine sign to occur through a false voice specifically to test whether his people love him more than they love the miracle. The room wrestled with the difference between a test and a temptation, and Brian drew the line this way: temptation leads toward punishment when we fall, but testing is aimed at revealing and then rewarding what is eternal in us. God does not bother testing the flesh because the flesh is just meant to die.
Matthew 24 and 1 John 4 came in together to make a connected point. Jesus warned that false prophets would multiply in the generation of his return, and Brian argued that a counterfeit only circulates because the genuine article exists. The presence of false prophets is not a reason to distrust the prophetic but a signal that the real thing is also increasing. The 1 John passage gave the room a practical test: any spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh is from God.
Brian then gave three rapid reasons why walking in the spirit matters. First, you cannot trust your flesh. Proverbs 14:12 says there is a way that seems right to a man but leads to death, and the flesh will pursue that way confidently. Second, you cannot please God with your flesh. Jesus says in John 6 that the flesh counts for nothing, and Hebrews 11 says without faith it is impossible to please God. Stacking the firewood when your father asked you to rake the leaves is still not what he asked, no matter how well you stacked it.
The third reason landed as the close. Walking in the spirit is the sweet spot, the place where there is no burnout and no retirement, because the life flowing through you is not yours to run dry. Brian read John 15 on the vine and the branches, pointing out that the word Jesus uses is "when" the floods come, not "if." A branch that remains in the vine produces fruit. A branch that does not is thrown aside. The reason it matters to walk in the spirit, Brian said, is simply this: it brings your Father great joy.
Touch points
Things you could actually do this week.
Before you jump into your week, ask the Holy Spirit to show you one area where you have been running on your own strength instead of walking in the spirit.
If you feel a tap from the Holy Spirit revisiting the tenderness of this morning, stop and listen instead of brushing past it.
Ask yourself honestly whether what you are building in your life right now is built on the foundation, or whether it is a clubhouse that will not survive the storm when it comes.
Join Brian and Lisa on the town square at 5 today to stand with the local Jewish community.
If you are not already in one, hop into the men's Bible study Monday at 6 or the women's Bible study Wednesday at 5:30, both with dinner included.
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 used the image of downshifting gears on a bike before a climb to describe why walking in the spirit matters even when life feels manageable. Where in your own life have you been caught in the wrong gear when a hard stretch hit?
Deuteronomy 13 describes signs and miracles occurring through someone who then leads people toward false gods, and Brian said God allows this as a test rather than a temptation. How do you personally go about discerning whether something that looks spiritually impressive is actually from the Lord?
El pastor Brian comenzó explicando por qué importa caminar en el Espíritu. Usó la imagen de un ciclista de montaña: en terreno plano cualquier marcha sirve, pero cuando llega una cuesta empinada, quien no ha aprendido a cambiar de marcha tiene que bajarse de la bici y empujar. Las dificultades de la vida llegan, dijo Brian, y la pregunta es si ya hemos desarrollado la capacidad espiritual para enfrentarlas sin colapsar.
La parte central del mensaje giró en torno a Deuteronomio 13, un texto que incomoda: Dios permite que aparezcan profetas falsos que hacen señales reales, precisamente para probar si amamos al Señor con todo el corazón o si seguimos las señales en lugar de seguirle a él. Brian distinguió entre tentación y prueba: Dios no tienta a nadie para que caiga, pero sí prueba aquello que tiene valor eterno, para revelarlo y recompensarlo. La congregación participó activamente con preguntas y reflexiones, incluyendo la conexión con 1 Juan 4 sobre probar los espíritus.
Brian cerró con tres razones concretas por las que es vital caminar en el Espíritu: no se puede confiar en la carne, la carne nunca puede agradar a Dios, y caminar en el Espíritu es el lugar donde el seguimiento de Jesús funciona de verdad, sin agotamiento real ni necesidad de retiro. Leyó Juan 15 sobre la vid y los pámpanos, y señaló que apartados de Cristo no podemos producir nada que dure o que reciba recompensa.
---
Pasajes bíblicos mencionados
Deuteronomio 13.1-5
Proverbios 14.12
Jeremías 17.9
Mateo 24.11-13
Juan 6.63
Juan 15.1-8
Romanos 8.5
Gálatas 5.16-17
Hebreos 11.6
2 Timoteo 4.3-4
1 Juan 4.1-3
Read the full transcript10,406 words
Let's stand together as our other friends arrive. Good job being on time. Just think about that this morning. Yes, Lord. We don't want these to just be words to a song.
Reveal to our hearts the truth in these words. It doesn't matter how much we've messed up, how far away we've walked, how distant we feel, Lord, right now. Your word sense that if we draw close to you, that you promise to draw close to us right now in this space. That you already know. You already know everything that's brought us to this place today.
Thank you that there is no height, no depth, no angel, no demon, nothing that can keep us from the love of God. Lord, we repent of our sin that would that would make us feel far from you. That's our part, but you've never stopped loving us. So draw to our hearts today where we need to repent this morning, remove sin, things that have separated us from you from feeling close to you so that we can worship you freely today. Run into your arms today
I'm looking at the lyrics to this song, and it starts with worthy of every song we could ever sing. Is that is that how you started this song? Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Yeah. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.
Worthy of every breath we can ever breathe. We live for you. I was struck with a a thought recently about I mean, you know, at Christmas time or around Father's Day, like, you see those, like, those little clickbait ads, like, like, the ultimate gift guide or what to get for the person that has everything. Well, what do you get for the lord who literally owns everything? And what possibly what possible gift could we bring him that he would even raise an eyebrow at?
In the book of Revelation, the author of the book of Revelation, John, he sees a glimpse and a picture of a scene that is playing out in heaven. And in heaven, there are 24 distinguished people in the kingdom. And it says that when they encounter Jesus, that they take off the crowns, their authority, their influence, all that they've achieved, and they lay it at the feet of Jesus. And then and then they sing a song. And as I read that, I just thought, the very best gift that we could bring to Jesus collectively as this unique gathering of people is our song, our praise, and our worship.
And that makes his heart smile. Oh. And when we think of bringing a gift of worship to the Lord, not only does it bless his heart, but it if you think of it that way, it does a really good job of getting you out of this rut, thinking that worship somehow, someway is about you. Whether you like the song or you don't like the song, it's not about you. Whether you have a good voice or a bad voice, it's not about you.
Whether you're having a great day and you feel in love with the Lord this morning or you don't, it's not about you. And everybody has this gift to bring. So could we maybe skimp on that a little bit? Jesus, you are worthy of every song that we could ever sing. Jesus, you are worthy of all of the praise that we could ever bring, and you're so worthy of every breath that we could ever breathe.
We live for you. Let's shift in our mind and think about bringing a present of our voice. As an offering and a gift to him this morning.
He's Let's sing that again and make it personal. Turn your heart to him. Turn your ears to him. Attune them to hear his voice today.
One one You are today to lay is all of that aside, the to say that that is not as important as what you are doing right now. You have to move. There's there's there are sections the name Jesus. Going of
holies.
You're He's calling to you to the holy of holies through this worship. It will change your next six days. If you will purpose to worship 100%, totally giving all, he is worth it.
Yes, he is. That's so good, Colleen. And our part, just like you said, we need to move ourselves into those places as the Holy Spirit woos us by removing distractions and giving him permission. What if we really met what if we really met the king of kings and the lord of lords and this became holy ground because the presence of god was so thick in this place that our sin couldn't stand, our addiction couldn't stand. Lord, we know that we experience you many times to the measure that we allow ourselves to experience you because you are ready to pour out.
So come pour out. Help us, Lord, to remove the distractions to enter truly into your presence today. What a bummer it would be to come to church and not meet with you, really meet with you. Ain't nobody got time for that. Ain't nobody got time for that.
There's too many mountains to climb to waste our time. So Lord, we invite you. Sing this. Come. We need you.
Oh, we need you. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Would you just confess your need for him to, And we went camping this weekend and we had a big old fire going and it was really windy so the wood was burning down really fast. We just kept adding fuel and adding fuel and adding fuel burning through all our wood.
And I think it was Caleb who said, hey, what's that in the Bible again about removing the ashes? Because we said, do we wanna have a fire tomorrow? Should we save some of this wood? What should we do? And we were talking about in Leviticus how it says that, you know, the priest would come and the first thing they do in the morning is remove the ashes of yesterday.
To ask the Lord to come fresh anew with new fire for us today. We're not meant to hold on to the yesterday, the good, the sin, the ugly, the praises, the valleys, the mountains, whatever it is. We're not men just like the man. It's just the nature and character of God. He wants us to seek him fresh.
It'd be like if on our wedding day, we made our vows to our spouse, and then we just turned around and walked away, we never actually spent time together. So today, I just feel like there's a really, really strong invitation from the Lord that if you'll remove the ashes of yesterday, everything, just all of it. Remove the ashes of yesterday. Don't hang on to something awesome that the Lord said. It's great.
Remember it. Write it down. But ask him for new today. It's like attention to manage. Lord, I know the promises that you have for me.
What do you have for me today? And build on those today fresh. So Lord, right now, I just pray over every heart in this room if they are feeling weary in here today. If they're feeling like a burned out fire today. Dry ashes that can just be blown away.
Lord, we ask that you would come as they bring the kindling of obedience, of honoring your word that's preached by allowing your spirit to move in this place, by bringing their worship to you today. Lord, you see it. You see it. You see it today. Meet each and every one of us because when we encounter you, we should leave here changed like any encounter with you.
So Lord, we lay down all our burdens to you again and again today. Come, bring a new fire today. We invite a spirit of revelation in this room. Maybe the scripture that we're gonna read today, times. We've studied a million times.
But Lord, your word is living and active and we expect today a fresh encounter with you through your word. We tell you we love you. Thank you for every heart in this room. Thank you that this is a unique gathering today like no other gathering that's ever happened with these hearts, these spirits today. Thank you that you're gonna do something fresh and new.
We tell you we love you in Jesus name. Amen. Turn around and say good morning. Greet somebody if they're new. Fill up your coffee and get out the word.
Alright. Alright. This as we get into the next part of worship this morning I'd like to I'd like to do something a little different Usually, what we do here at Tribe which although the location that we're meeting is a little bit different, church in a bar, more or less, the the pattern is the same. You know, we worship the lord with song. That's probably common at your church.
And we worship the lord through the preaching of the word. That's probably common at at at your church. And then maybe there's, like, an invitation or some ministry time, and, that may be a part of your normal church rhythm and routine. But this morning, I I wanna switch it up just a a little bit, not spend I wanna spend just enough time on this part, but there is there's a verse at the very beginning of your bible right after the table of contents. You get into Genesis chapter one, and it says that in the beginning, the earth was void.
It was shapeless and void. And the it talked about the waters of the deep. And then it says something very interesting. And the spirit of God was hovering over the waters of the deep. And that word in Hebrew, I don't know if you've ever looked it up.
I'm not gonna try to pronounce it, but it's really interesting to hover over. It says it means to be moved, affected with the feelings of tender love and to cherish. The spirit of God hovering over the world that he was about to create us and to inhabit. He hovered over the face of the deep. Psalms 91 talks about see the And And to we're the world.
Jerusalem. He says, And oh, and his heart is breaking with tender affection. Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how I've longed to gather you under my wings like a mother hen does her chicks. And so this morning, right on the tail end of worship here, I'd like us to position and posture ourselves to be hovered over by the tender love and mercy of God, the creator. What does that what does that look like?
I am you know I'm not God. I'm not Jesus. I am not the Holy Spirit. But what I just like to do for just a moment is move in and among you as you sit just with your eyes closed, allowing your father, the creator of the universe, to just hover over your heart. Yeah.
Just receive the tender love of the fire. So just close your eyes. Jesus, will you just come and hover over our hearts? The chaos waters. Over the chaos waters, your spirit hovered, and you brought order.
As we come under brooding of your holy spirit, can could we could we just encounter a tangible measure of your great love for us? Mhmm. Last week, we started a series of conversations, and I choose that word specifically conversations because if you are new to our tribe fam, number one, we're like the Olive Garden. So if you're here, you're family. Even if it's your very first Sunday.
If you're here, you're family. And another unique distinctive about this particular family, odd as it may be, is that I love for us to engage and interact with the word together. And that means corporately that I don't want this to be a monologue. I want this to be a dialogue. And so if you have questions, comments, or connections that you're making in your brain about what we are talking about, I want to hear from you and we have a mic that Kat has in the room.
All you need to do is raise your hand and then the mic will come to you. The reason why we use the mic is for our all of our families that watch on the livestream. People are traveling or going hither and thither about the earth. They get to be a part and stay engaged with what we're doing here in the saloon by hearing your voice that's picked up on the mic and then goes through the live stream and so, we are in a series of conversations that I'm calling walking in the spirit. This is gonna be week two of walking in the spirit, and what I'd like to do is just give you a quick recap and review, catch you up to speed on where we started in this conversation last week and the reason why we're having this series of conversations is I believe that that the lord wants to equip us with better understanding and broaden our skill set to walk in the spirit and to be to be people who organize their lives around the truth of the word of god.
So, we've talked already many times this spring about how we can see the world around us growing more and more complex and the the more complex this world gets, the more people will be looking for answers and for the truth. As hard as sometimes the truth may be to hear, whenever the human heart encounters the truth, even if they have been told their whole life contrary to it, there's something about the truth that resonates within the human heart. Even if they're not living in conformity to it or or disagree with it or don't like it, there's something about when the truth, when they, when a human heart encounters the truth, they cannot help but to resonate with it. But who will be the voice of truth? In this generation.
Who will be a light in a dark place that's not hid under a basket but set on the table to give room, to give light to the entire room. Those people who have invited Jesus into their heart made him the leader of their life and who are endeavoring, practicing, taking steps towards, getting better at, walking in the spirit. Are those people who will be qualified and who the lord will touch and highlight. To say, you are like a city on a hill. You are like the salt of the earth.
You are like a light that needs to be put under a stand, not hidden under your bed so that you can give light to the whole room around you. And the more we walk in the spirit, the brighter our light shines. Because it is reflecting his way, his truth, his nature, and his character instead of our flesh. As handsome as your flesh may be and as talented as it may appear, it is nothing compared to the spirit of the living god living in and moving through his creation. And so that's what we're talking about in this conversation.
And last week was an introduction. I talked about how humans are triune because we're made in the image of god in the same way that that god is co equal for father, son, and holy spirit that that he has made us in three parts that are not equal. That's how we're different than him. But would you put that that slide up there that that talks about our three parts? We have, we are a spirit.
We have a soul, and we live in an earth suit. And perhaps this is review for you. And if this is brand new, make sure you go back and listen to last week's conversation. And the words that I use to try to help describe the role and function of the body, the soul, and the spirit, I use the words like the master, the manager, and the mover. So, think about in maybe like a job site hierarchy or a corporate hierarchy or some like like in the workplace.
You have the master who receives his instructions from the owner. That would be the lord, okay? And I didn't include the lord because we're talking about our self. These three components make up the human self. The master who receives instructions from the lord and then you have the soul who's the manager.
So, the master is intended to give instructions to the manager and then the manager according to how he's uniquely designed and made with your personality, your likes, your interest, your proclivity, your personality, given your unique the way that you are uniquely created, you then instruct the mover which is your body to carry out the tasks of the master. Now, before a person gets saved, their spirit lies dormant. And it's unregenerate. And so who naturally steps up to take charge? The soul, the flesh, your mind, will, thoughts, emotions.
The manager acts as boss. But here's the problem with the manager. The manager is super duper selfish. It only wants to do what it wants to do. And it kind of makes sense because it doesn't have any instructions from the master.
I don't know. I'm just gonna do what I wanna do. The flesh loves and lives to please only itself and it will even do religious things in the name of fulfilling its ultimate selfish, fleshly desires. We we covered this ground last week. We also said and I'll say it many many times even though it may be hard or challenging for you to hear and maybe even potentially confusing your flesh in no way ever ever can please the lord.
In your flesh, doing religious or churchy or stuff that you think would please the lord if it's done out of your flesh, can never please the lord. And on judgement day, if you're a Christian, you won't be, you won't be judged if you're saved or not. That's already taken care of the moment you invite Jesus into your heart but you will be judged for reward and those things that have been done out of the spirit will be rewarded. The Bible says that they will be like gold and they will be refined and you will be rewarded according to that. Those things that which were done out of your flesh, even if they're good sounding, and and the world says that you're amazing and incredible, and you've got, like, letters attached to your name, and there your name is on buildings, and you've given away millions if done out of the motivation of your flesh, it will burn.
And Paul talks about that being those being works constructed out of wood, hay, and stubble. It will burn and you will lose, not your salvation, but you will lose reward. So, if you're thinking, oh, what have I built in my life in the name of the lord out of wood, hay, and straw, struggle? I almost said, struggle. Write that down.
If you are thinking, have I built anything out of wood, hay, or straw? What a beautiful question to ask yourself. Ask yourself that question now, hard, and often on this side of reward. Then we focused on two main verses. I'll put both of those verses up at once.
Romans eight five. Thank you. Man, I was having trouble last week and look, it's trying to trip me up again. Romans five eight, those who are dominated by the sinful nature, think about sinful things but those who are controlled or you could substitute walking in the spirit, think about things that please the spirit. Your flesh wants to only please one person and that is itself.
Exactly. Galatians five sixteen sixteen says this, so I say, let the holy spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. Listen, the sinful nature wants to do evil. That's all it ever wants to do all the time.
Now, in your mind, you might be thinking evil as like rob a bank or like something like really sinister. Evil is just anything that is contrary or in juxtaposition to the will of the lord. Oh my gosh. I'm having a moment because last week, boy, I really tripped us all up. Thank you.
Romans eight five. Well, I copied the slide from last week and I put it in there. So, that's what I get. Thank you, Jay. Yeah.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Verse 17 of Galatians.
Look at that. The sinful nature wants to do evil which is the opposite of what the spirit wants and the spirit gives us desires that are opposite of what the sinful nature desires. And then we answered this question. What does it mean to walk in the spirit? We'll put that up here on the screen.
The master or god's when god touches the human spirit and it comes alive again, think about lighting a wick on a candle, the wick was always there or the wick in a a lantern, the wick was already there but the spirit of god hovers over the human part and in a moment of contrition and repentance, a person invites Jesus into their heart. The flame is ignited. The spirit is in charge of the self. And it only carries out the wishes of the Lord. That was our definition for last week.
This week, we're going to tackle this second question that I'm posing for us. Why is it even important for us to walk in the spirit? That's what we're going to look at this this week and it's the title of this morning's conversation. Why is it important to walk in the spirit? And as we get into today's conversation, some of you may be thinking, I don't know that I really need this or it's that important to me.
I've been a Christian for a while and nobody's ever talked to me about walking in the spirit. I try to like read god's word and do what it says. I I I try to be a good person. Alarm should be going off in your head right now. Well, why do I even like, I've been I wrote this in my notes.
I've been doing just fine like I've been doing. Why do I need to, like, even try or attempt to walk in the spirit? And the picture that came into my mind's eye was a person riding like a mountain bike, you know, a a bike where you can change gears. And on the flats, you can be in that middle chain ring and in that middle gear and just cruise along for a long time. But what happens in the same gear that's comfortable for you to pedal in on the flats?
What happens when you get to an incline? The pedaling gets harder. You stand up on those pedals, veins are bulging in your neck and your and it gets hard to pedal, right? Well, really smart people invented ways that you can change the gears so that you can keep up the same RPMs but by shifting into a lower gear. It becomes easier to pedal up a steep hill.
You're with me. Right? How many of you have ever failed to downshift before a hill and you start trying to climb that hill in a hard gear? That's all of us. We're like, and then what do you gotta do?
You end up having to, like, hop off your bike and do the walk of shame up the hill while other people are pedaling. Or or worse, you're trying to downshift on that hill. And if anybody is like a like a a cyclist in the room, like, you can just hear the sound of grinding those gears of under load trying to drop gears, and it's like, and your drive train is like, I hate you. Best time to downshift before a climb is when? Before you get to the hard part.
Hello. In a similar way. In a similar way. When you say, I've been doing just fine the way I've been doing. That's great.
Fantastic. You found an easier gear to ride in in the flats. But I'm telling you, hills are coming. Hills are coming. Will you have the ability to downshift so that you can tackle that hill with the same cadence in RPMs.
That's what it means to walk in the spirit. Was that good? And every cyclist in the room said, alright. Alright. I'm going to read a passage to you.
You don't need to turn there yet but I'm going to read a passage to you as we get started in this morning's conversation of why is it even important? To downshift? I mean, why is it even important to walk in the spirit? See? My own analogy is working on me.
Alright, let me read something to you. Deuteronomy chapter 13, you don't necessarily need to turn there just yet. Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse one and I'm going to read it for you. Suppose there are, this is a hypothetical situation because it starts with the word suppose. Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future and they promise you signs or miracles.
And then the first part of verse two says this, and the predicted signs or miracles occur. Stop right there. Let's consider this for a moment. Let's say that somebody in a position of of influence or with the following or happens to have a mic or is on stage at a church. Says, When you see purple clouds in the sky during the daytime over The United States Of America, within three months, you can expect and then they make some sort of prophecy.
You'd be like, woah. Alright. See what happens. Maybe write it down. Check it out.
And then you're waiting. And then lo and behold, next week, across all of the major network channels, strange atmospheric phenomenon developing. Everybody goes outside, gets a creek in their neck, and the clouds in the sky are purple. What would you think about the person that made that prediction about that sign? They, what?
What? They were prophetic. You think that. Okay, okay. Promises you signs or miracles.
When the clouds turn purple, the banks will collapse, but everybody who's in this room is going to have a financial abundance that will that will equivalent be to their full year's salary. We have your attention now and the clouds turn purple. And three days after that, you get a tax refund and, you know, fill in the blank. And all of a sudden, you've got a year's worth of salary in your bank account. What would you think about the person that said those two things?
A profit. What else? You can shout it out, and I'll just repeat it. Or what would go through your mind about the person that said that?
Listen to what that said.
I would be listening to every single word they have to say. Yes. Yeah. Right. Right.
Right. Yeah. Right. What else might you think or say or about that bird? We're using our imaginations because remember the Bible started with the word suppose.
That's an invitation for us to use our imagination. What else might be going through your mind about those signs and those miracles coming true? How know that? Do They they really must have a a a close relationship with the lord. Right?
Like, wow. They heard that. Wow. Amazing. Nobody else is saying that.
Alright. You kind of you you see, can you picture accurately this the first part of this verse? Right? Okay. Now, let's turn in our Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 13.
I didn't want you to turn there yet because we're going to see how many of you remember that old radio program, Paul Harvey's the rest of the story? Oh, man. So good. I'm surprised so many hands went up. Makes me didn't feel not quite so old.
Deuteronomy chapter 13 and now what I'd like us to do is to continue reading. I'll start in verse one. Suppose there are prophets among you or those who dream dreams about the future and they promise you signs or miracles and the predicted signs or miracles occur. We've already done this as a thought exercise, but now let's keep reading. If they then say, come.
Let us worship other gods, gods you have not known before. Do not listen to them. Oh, and this is what is so key. The lord your god is testing you to see if you truly love him with all of your heart and soul. That's a bit of a head scratcher of a text, isn't it?
Okay. You can answer honestly. I forgot my question.
Can I answer? Yes. There will be false gods claiming to be the god. Absolutely. And that's how come we've gotta be very careful and research those things that are predicted for the future.
Yes. So good. I'm going to put a bookmark in your words because we're about to turn to to what you just said, and we're gonna see it here in the bible. But you're already racing ahead of me, which is great. How many of you I I thought of my question.
How many of you think that when you read that that that there will be prophets and people who dream dreams, who make proclamations, who predict signs, can perform miracles. But they are not authorized by the lord and god allows those things to test us. For how many of you that sounds a little bit out of character of who you know the lord to be? Raise your hand yes and it's okay if you raise your hand. Yeah.
Oh, I appreciate your honesty and vulnerability. Wait. The lord would do that? Now, let's be super clear. The Bible is very clear.
The lord does not tempt anyone nor can he be tempted. But each one when they are tempted, should where they, where'd the verse go? Yeah, what? What, Liz, help me. Yes.
Yes. In terms of the lord, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. There we go. But when they're tempted, no one should say, the lord is tempting me. For the lord doesn't tempt people nor can he be tempted but each one when they are tempted should resist the devil turn to the lord and the devil will flee from them.
So, the lord does not tempt us but he does test us and he does allow things that he can use as a test for us. Oh, okay. Okay. Test for me is is that you, Jesus. And if it's you feel it's right, it's right.
But if you don't feel it's right, you run from it. So when a person speaks in the name of god and says these signs and then performs these miracles, you don't just mindlessly, blindly accept that that person is of the lord but you ask the lord, is that of you, lord? What a mature thing to do. Because we don't walk by sight. What the person on the stage or the person with the podcast or the person with all the followers says and does.
We we say, okay, I see that. Alright. Alright. Could be something but then we ask Jesus. Okay.
Okay.
The first thing that I thought of was probably that the Pharisees were experiencing this exact same phenomena where they were like, oh, like, you're doing signs and wonders, and you're saying that you're God. Like, we're being tested, and we're gonna hold fast to the commandments with Jesus. Which oh. Like, they were probably holding on to this exact verse and being like, we're not gonna follow after you.
Oh, I love the twist that you're thinking.
And then the other thing kind of aside is I'm having a hard time distinguishing between being tested and tempted. I if I saw a prophet that said things that came to pass I would be very tempted to listen and to follow them. So I'm having a hard time being like, if the Lord's testing me, for me that feels like I'm being tempted to fall away from him.
Off the, I'm going to analyze my own words as they tumble out my mouth but testing has to do with reward and temptation has to do with with chastisement or punishment. So, if we fall to temptation, the lord will chastise us and be like, hey, you messed up, you blew it, let's try it again because there's no test that we can fail with the lord. We might need to take it again and again and and again but the lord doesn't tempt us to do wrong or evil. He would that is not in his character but he tests us in order to do two things. Number one, to reveal what is in our heart already but to show us.
And then number two, so that he may reward us when we pass the test. And we're about to read, you'll get you'll get the sense of the the reward in behind and flavoring this test as we continue reading. Would you send that mic to Janet? And then we're gonna read the rest part of this verse. That was a a a quick attempt at answering that question.
Does that help? Yeah. Love that question.
I think it's the the object of of our affection. God says to love us with all of our hearts and minds and souls. And we are not supposed to be seeking the signs and the wonders and the blessings. But to seek him first. So I think if we are really seeking just like Colleen said we ask Jesus.
We seek him first before we seek the signs and
the wonders and the miracles.
I love it. That's good. If we keep reading, obey his commands, listen to his voice. So, I think this is where the Pharisees would begin to to drop off and and remember I talked earlier about every human heart will always resonate with the truth. That they were encountering the truth when they heard Jesus speak.
And it chapped their hide. And cling to him. Verse five, the false prophets or visionaries who try to lead you astray must be put to death for they encourage rebellion against the lord, your god, who redeemed you from slavery and brought you out of the land of Egypt. Since they tried to lead you astray from the way of the lord, your god, commanded you to live. Imagine a pharisee wrestling with this passage in light of seeing Jesus and his disciples walk through the fields of grain breaking off the heads of wheat, rolling it, and tossing back some grain as a snack as they're walking through.
The Pharisees are like, blasphemy, you're working on the Sabbath. They're trying but they they just miss it because they're not walking in the spirit. You must put them to death. In this way, you will purge the evil from among you. Now, everyone who has in this room or listening the sound of my voice, who has a prophetic gifting, who has a prophetic ministry, who operates in the prophetic.
I understand that right now, you might be sitting on pins and needles like, ah, like like, don't scare people away from the prophetic. That's not what I'm doing. Okay. Matthew chapter 24. Let's go to your bookmark, and you can turn there.
Matthew chapter 24. And here it is up on your screen. In the generation of the return of the Lord, Whenever you hear Matthew chapter 24, I want a hyperlink to automatically go off in your brain. Uh-oh. We're talking about the return of Jesus.
Matthew chapter 24. Jesus says this, verse 11 through 13, many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Sin will be rampant everywhere. The love of many will grow cold but those who endure to the end will be saved. The only way that false prophets can proliferate in the generation of the lord's return is only if if it's like tears or weeds sown among a good crop.
We can expect to see an increase of the good, the healthy, balanced, prophetic ministry. We can expect to see an increase of the expression of the prophetic in the generation of the lord's return. Why? Because Jesus says, but there's also gonna be a lot of weeds that grow up. How many of you have ever seen a fake unicorn?
Now why does that strike you funny? Please, somebody give the mic, raise your hand, and take a stab at at why that that sentence is absurd. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah. Sarah. Here comes the mic. Because
unicorns don't exist.
Exactly. Whoops. Cover your ears, Autumn. Sorry. Because there's no such thing as a real unicorn.
There's no such thing as a real unicorn. Therefore, they're they're like like fake unicorns are are superfluous, irrelevant, unnecessary. So, the only reason that there would be false prophets is because that in the generation of the lord's return, we can expect and be eagerly looking for the voice of the real, genuine, authentic prophetic to rise up in the generation of the lord's return. Does does what I just say make sense? We should not be afraid of the voice of the prophetic voice in the church today.
The bible says that god never does anything without first revealing it to his prophets. Chris Bates and Caleb and we'll we'll we'll keep we'll keep moving.
Brian, I had some thoughts on the testing thing because I at first, I confounded testing and tempting, so thanks for delineating between those. But then I was wondering what what would he test in us? And so I I just did a quick Googles, and the bible verses that kept coming up, it was talking about only things that would be present in the kingdom, which I thought was really interesting. It talked about, you know, trials, tribulations, but love, faith, hope, and joy, which I thought was really interesting that the Lord wouldn't test anything that he doesn't wanna keep in us.
Wow. Let me see if I can say this a different way. The Holy Spirit will convict us of things in our flesh that need to be crucified and go ahead and die. The lord will test those things that are worth his time which are eternal. That he may need to show us either a deficit if we fail the test or reward us for that goal that has already been refined.
100%.
That'll preach. He doesn't even bother testing our flesh. He's like, let it die. Let it die. Let it shrivel up and die.
Caleb.
This was a scripture that came to mind that kinda correlates with the OT and the new T. Mhmm. You may be going there. Are you going to one John four? I won't spoil it if you are.
No. Go. Okay. So one John four says, dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Oh, yeah.
But test the spirits to see whether they are from god because many false prophets have gone out into the world, and he makes it really easy. This is how you can recognize the spirit of God. Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. But every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
I wonder if any of the pharisees ever stopped to say, lord, god, abba, what am I to do with this teacher, prophet from Nazareth? How many of those pharisees said, Lord, I submit myself to you. This guy's doing some crazy stuff, and his words are his words are like lightning, and his actions are like thunder. How many of them said, I don't know. I I I'm confused.
Is he the messiah? Only one, Nicodemus. Maybe Nicodemus. At the raising of Lazarus, it says that there were a a a lot more of the pharisees got saved. But how many?
Comparatively, relatively very few because they were so entrenched in their religious position that that placated their flesh. Do I have second Timothy? Okay, let me just read this. This is a good verse to write down. Second Timothy chapter four verse three and four.
And it says this, for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires. What does that sound like? Begins with an F. Flesh.
Flesh. They will follow their own desires. And will look for teachers, pastors, podcasts, who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. But they will reject the truth and chase after myths. A religious flesh, a religious spirit that comes from our flesh loves to thrive in an atmosphere of the real, the genuine, and authentic.
It loves to like be like super churchy. So that it can get what it wants, how it wants it. Jesus says this in Luke chapter six verse 47 through 49. I'll show you what it's like. When someone who comes to me, so this is in also in answer to the Pharisees.
When somebody comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It's like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the flood waters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. But anyone who hears and doesn't obey. Maybe these are like the Pharisees.
It's like a person who builds a house. They're still building a house but just on level ground without a foundation. What is that next word? When. What is is another word that could be used there that is not used?
Let's see how well your brain tracks with my brain.
If.
There it is. Yes. It does not say if. Because if implies or leaves room that it might not happen. And if the storm doesn't come and the floodwaters don't rise, then you don't need a house that has dug down deep and is built on the foundation.
You don't need it. It's called the clubhouse. And that's where children play games. But the word that's used is when. Underline that in your bible.
When the floods sweep down against that house, if it's just built on flat ground like a clubhouse, it will collapse into a heap of ruins just like trying to ride your bike up a steep hill without downshifting. This is what it means to walk in the spirit. You've gone deeper than the flesh. You have submitted and surrendered your flesh, and your spirit man is in charge. Yes, be.
And then, we're going to end with three reasons why it's important to walk in the spirit, and I'm gonna go rapid fire.
I think of a test versus attempt is when
A test versus attempt.
Yes.
Got it.
Yes. When Abraham went to sacrifice his son. God like was testing like, can I take you to new heights? Can I take to new you to new levels? Like, do you love the world more than you love me?
And I think of first Corinthians 13, the way of love. And what Jay was saying is, like, oh, I definitely, you know, follow that guy if, you know, that that stuff came to pass. I think, like, somebody said when we focus on the blessings rather than who God is. And how in one Corinthians, it's like it's not self seeking. So I just think, like, it's laying down yourself Yeah.
For what god's desire is. And just like what you were saying as far as you can do anything, but if it's not what god wants, it's out of, like, and it's out of his will. It's not what he desires, then it is evil. And so, like, how all of that is in vain. So I just think it just comes down to laying down yourself.
And it's like, god, I think or I wanna do this. This is what my will wants, but whatever you say goes. Yeah. So I think it it's about putting, you know,
the holy spirit. You you just touched on this just briefly. You and you partially quoted a verse of Jesus wrestling with his flesh. Jesus had flesh too. Lord, if it be possible, may this cup pass before me, the cup of suffering and the cup of the wrath of god being poured out on on to Jesus, his god's thoughts, attitudes towards sin, and all of its manifestations was about to be poured out on Jesus.
And he knew he had some idea of what was coming. His flesh said, is there any way we could do this? Maybe like a different way? But then you see him boss himself around. And his spirit man rises up and he says, nevertheless, lord, not my will, the will of my flesh, but your will be done.
Crucifixion of your flesh always precedes resurrection of your spirit man. Why is it important to walk in the spirit? Because you will never experience resurrection life in the spirit without first experiencing the crucifixion of your flesh. Thank you for helping me preach that be just now. I said three things.
Three reasons why it's important to walk in the spirit. You can't trust your flesh. Now, that would be a great mug, a slogan on a mug. Instead of like, follow your heart. The heart wants what the heart wants.
Yes, the heart wants what the heart wants and then it's gonna lead you into a ditch every single time. It sounds like great but it's just so full of you can't trust your flesh. Just write the address down. Proverbs fourteen twelve, there is a way that seems right to man, but it leads to what? Death.
Jeremiah seventeen nine says, the heart is wicked and deceitful above all else. Now I understand if you're like, wait, heart. I thought I gave my heart to Jesus, and I thought I got a new heart. Ah. We don't have time to parse out the the specific terminology that's used in the Old Testament to differentiate, like like, the heart and essence of a person and you getting a brand new heart.
I I just listen. When the Old Testament says the heart is wicked and deceitful above all else, all you need to know is that's my flesh. You yes, I will. Proverbs fourteen twelve and Jeremiah seventeen nine. Write this one down as well.
John 15 verse five. In the New Testament, Jesus says, apart from me, you can do nothing. Nothing that will endure, nothing that will last, nothing that's made out of gold. Nothing that you will receive reward for. Kai, I need you to go outside and rake the leaves.
You come back in, and I said, Kai, did you rake the leaves? He said, no. I stacked the firewood. It was all in a pile and I thought that would be better to do. What do I do as a dad?
It's a tough one. Son, I asked you to rake the leaves. Your reward will be based upon did you rake the leaves or not. That's tough. But Jesus says apart from me and my instructions in the leading of my holy spirit, you can do nothing.
It won't count for anything. Number two, you cannot please God with your flesh. You cannot please God with your flesh. Doesn't matter how much perfume you spray on it. Doesn't matter how many logs you stack if that's not what God has asked you to do.
Two verses, John six sixty three. You can write the address down. The spirit gives life. These are Jesus' words. Take it up with him if you don't like this.
John six sixty three, the spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. For those of you phariseical religious Christians, in the sound of my voice, this is so hard for you to hear. But I want you to hear this now so that you can repent and change. Walk in the spirit and don't lose or forfeit your reward.
Be challenged. The spirit gives life. The flesh counts for nothing. Hebrews 11 verse 16. Write that one down.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God. But dad, I stacked the wood so that you would be pleased with me. It's not what I asked you to do. I love you son, but that's not what I asked you to do. Like the pharisees.
I mean, how many examples are there? Where the pharisees were like like we we you Jesus says, you tithe on your mint and your dill, like like herbs. But you neglect taking care of, what does he say, like your parents? Right? Like like like, but lord, we've tithed on our mint and our dill.
And Jesus is like, oh my gosh. Where I didn't I didn't even ask you to tithe on your mint and bill. I want you to take care of your parents. You've missed it.
I just did that this morning too. Tithe on my mitten too.
You did? Well, bless your heart. Last one. Last one. Walking in the spirit is what I would call the sweet spot of following Jesus.
Did you know, especially for those of you who are in ministry, did you know that there is no such thing as burnout. If you're walking in the spirit and for those of you who are in ministry, that can be like, well, I'm real tired. You can be tired. Your life can feel like Paul being poured out as a drink offering, but there's no such thing as burnout because the lord will call you to seasons of rest. And he'll he'll he'll feed you with with with nourishment from ravens.
But then this brook will dry up, and we wanna get complacent and lackadaisical, and he'll be like, get up and go run forty days. There's no burnout when you walk in the spirit. And if you're feeling burnout, it could just be your earth suit that's tired and needs some recuperation. Understandable. But you also could be doing ministry out of your own strength.
If you and let's take out the word ministry and let's put in whatever vocation or occupation that the Lord has called you to. Oh, yeah. There's also no retirement. There's no need. Just up up off you go when you're done.
No retirement, no burnout in the spirit. Please show me that in the scriptures. You can be weary. You can your your batteries can run low, but the lord knows them. Bible says in the book of Proverbs that he sits on his throne in heaven and he looks down and he knows man.
He knows. Walking in the sweet spot of following Jesus, John 15. Let me just read this as we finish. Verses one through eight, Jesus is speaking and he says, I am the true grapevine and my father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit and he prunes those branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
Thank you.
You have already been pruned and purified by the message. So again, maybe the Pharisees. I I love your question. Like, you keep coming back. To me, this question keeps getting answered over and over and over.
You've already been purified by message. The the Pharisees never surrendered or positioned themselves to be pruned and purified by his message or very few did. That I have given you. Remain in me and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
Yes, I am the vine and you are the branch those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. No burnout, no retirement. But apart from me, you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Speaking of a loss of reward.
Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want and it will be granted. When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples and this brings great glory and I would insert joy to my father. Why is it important to walk in the spirit? Because it brings your father great joy.
Jesus, help us. Help us. Help us to walk in the spirit. Help us to grow in walking in the spirit. Is there an area of our heart or life today that we would have that condition of the pharisees where we're stubborn, recalcitrant, resistant?
We're we're defending and protecting our flesh. Lord, in the tenderness of this moment as you hover over our hearts, releasing a grace for us to come to you and say, Lord, is there an area of my heart that I'm not walking in the spirit that I've been holding onto and defending selfishly? Will you point that out to me? Listen. Listen.
Listen for his voice right now. Oh, just confess it. Bring it to the cross for crucifixion. Let it die. And ask Jesus for his life in that area.
Help me to walk according to your spirit in that area. Jesus. Now look at me. I'm I'm done praying for you in in this moment. But as you leave here today, the Holy Spirit may say, tap, tap, tap.
Hey. I wanna revisit the tenderness of the moment of your heart when you were at when we were gathered together earlier this morning. I wanna revisit that. Okay, Lord. And then he'll just speak to you, and he'll help you to walk in the spirit because he knows how important it is.
That's my prayer for you. I'm gonna I'm gonna invite Jay up to lead us in one more one more way that we can worship the lord through our tithes and our offerings. He's got just a few announcements for us and then, if it would be alright, I'll pray for you to dismiss you and then we'll get out of here. Okay? So, Jay, would you lead us in one more way of worshiping the lord?
I just wanted to take a quick moment to just say thank you and just praise god that we have two incredible pastors that will make room and fight the the religious spirit that can be in the church to just allow us to rest and dwell in the spirit whether it's through worship or through through the word where Brian just gives us that space to really become what we behold. John Mark Comer talks about in all the years of trying to be loving, he finally became more loving when he just dwelled on the love of the lord. Just looking at god as we become what we behold. If if if I behold the mountains and I'm always in there, that's what I'm gonna become more like, a spouse, a significant other, something in this world, a mentor, what we become, what we behold. So having that time just to just look and gaze upon Jesus and upon the father is so special as we walk in the spirit.
So if you don't mind, bowing your heads with me as I pray over our next form of worship and our giving, tithes, and offerings. Jesus, we just come before you with our flesh, with our bodies, and we just ask for open ears, open hearts, open minds to to hear you, Lord. To be obedient, make our bodies slaves to you, your kingdom, and what you're doing here in and through us, Lord. We give everything that we are to you. It's in your name that we pray.
Everybody said, amen. If you're new to Tribe, we don't pass that. We're to do We're text to 84321, type in a dollar amount, and give that way. If you're new here, you might have also seen a connect card that's on your seat. Really, really encourage you guys to fill that out if you wanna stay in tune with the vibe of tribe.
We send out text periodically about things that are going on whether that's men's bible studies that's happening tomorrow, Mondays at six if you wanna join us for that or women's bible study that is happening on Wednesdays at 05:30 and dinner is included for both of those things. If you haven't been apart yet, we still invite you guys to join and just hop in and pick up where we're at. And today, if you want on the square, there is a gathering of the Jews for Israel, and it's a great opportunity just to go out there and love on them and be a part of community and just help show them that they're not alone and that they're not forgotten. So did I miss anything? 05:00.
05:00 today on the square if you wanna be a part of that. PB, if you wanna come up and curse out. Thanks
for reminding us about Jews on the Square.
It's not what it's called, but but I love it.
05:00. Even if you perhaps could be curious about, like like, I'm not quite sure, like like, come down. I will be there.
Explain to us a little bit more what it
actually is. Okay. You. Me? You.
You. Me. You. Me. Me.
So I have a personal relationship with gentleman by the name of Rabbi Zelman, and he leads one of two Jewish religious communities here in the valley. And since October 7, we've all seen the increased scrutiny and persecution that has come over the country of Israel and of Jews around the world and here in The United States. Over a 400% rise in acts of antisemitism in this country alone that have been reported and across college campuses all around the the nation. And the bible is super clear. Israel is not perfect, but they are the firstborn of God's covenant blessing.
And the Bible is super clear. Those who bless and stand with Israel will be blessed. And as our older brother, even though they are not perfect, when we gather on the town square with them, we're not saying Israel is perfect and without fault because Israel, they're they're people just like us. But when we stand with those who the Lord has said, you are my firstborn, Israel. Not only as Jay says, does it speak volumes of support to them, especially from the Christian community here in in Jackson.
Just go and and and and show up and say, yeah, I'm from tribe of Christian church here, and watch the look of shock and and honor and gratitude that they will verbally express with their mouth and their face at you just being there on the town square. And the second reason is I forgot. So just go and check it out. I've taken up enough of your time. I usually remember all the things that I wanted to say after, and the Lord's like, good.
You just didn't need to say it. Stand up. Let me pray for you. Please join Lisa and I on the town square at at five today, and then on Wednesday and on Monday. Guys, this is your invitation from me to join us for that Bible study on Monday.
We'll feed you, alright? Hold your hands like this so that the spirit of the lord can just hover over you and you've got maximum receptors out. Holy spirit, we love you. Jesus, we love you. Thank you.
Thank you for being good to us. Thank you that you didn't just allow our flesh in the best way that it can try to figure out, walk according to a way that would please you. But you've put your holy spirit inside of us, and we can walk according to your spirit that you are well pleased with and is in perfect harmony with your will according to your good pleasure. Help us to walk according to your spirit. Impart on us why it is so vitally important that we walk according to the spirit.
Give us favor as we fly the search and rescue helicopter around the valley. Give us favor as we lead and nurture students here in this valley. Give us favor as we conduct and operate our business here in this valley. Give us favor among our peers wherever we're traveling from back home. We pray these things in Jesus name, the strong side of god and everybody said, amen.
I love you so very much. I want you to have a great week. If there's anything that you need prayer for, Lee and Colleen are gonna move their way to the back of the room. They would love to pray for you. I hope you have a great week.
