You Can't Say That About Women, Jesus

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

Another

day in paradise. Whether you live here or you're just passing through, it's great to see all these van lifers that are parked scattered around here. I don't know if you know this, but van lifers wake up wake up. You got a praying grandma that's like on their little road trip while they're trying to discover themselves and find their purpose and identity. Lord, if they won't get to church, would you just bring church to them?

So you got a praying grandma out there so you might as well wake up, come on over with your little camp chair. We got coffee here. So glad that you guys are here. We have this Sunday and next Sunday to be here at the park and take advantage of this glorious weather. And in fact, man, I I don't know.

Just feeling a little inspired here. Please feel free to, follow suit if you so like when the last time you got to do this in church? Oh, it just feels so good. Oh. I mean, hey.

Man, I mean, you kinda there we go. That's getting a little better. That's getting a little better. I mean, you won't you won't get to in a couple of weeks. Everybody knows what carpet feel alright.

There goes Hill. Alright. Good. Please. Just a minute.

Oh, yeah. Oh, man. That's better. That's better. I feel so grounded now.

Oh, let me put him back on.

I remember when Melissa used to leave worship barefoot.

Yes. Melissa leave worship. Come on, babe. Let the dogs breathe a little bit. Yeah.

There you go. They'll dry out real good. Can you imagine what the angels were doing? They're looking over God's shoulder as, like, during creation, and the angels were like, what are you doing there to that? I thought the earth was, like, rich.

The soil was rich and dark and full of nutrients. And God's like, no. No. No. They're gonna love this.

They'll roll on it. They'll sleep on it. They'll just sit a chair out and look at it and appreciate it. They'll play games on it. And someday, they'll invent this game called soccer, and it'll just be beautiful.

And Spikeville, you have a bible with you this morning, would you turn to Matthew chapter 15? And if you're brand new or if you haven't been here in a while, here's where we've been. I thought that being who I am and liking to take advantage of every opportunity that I can, why not use the few weeks that we're doing outdoor August and take advantage of our outdoor setting and venue and just step some toes to reveal some truth. And there's a verse in Proverbs that says that sometimes God will offend nope. This is not in Proverbs.

It's an axiom of the Lord. It's a principle that sometimes God will offend our minds to reveal our heart by way of getting our attention. And so we are taking advantage of this outdoor service to talk about a series of conversations that I'm calling Jesus would get canceled for that. And so we're looking at some things that Jesus said or did that if he were to say or do those things in today's culture, he would immediately get canceled for that. You're not being very sensitive.

You're not being very inclusive. You're not being culturally aware. Jesus, you would get canceled for that. And then we're looking at a little bit deeper of what he what he meant, what is getting what's behind what he's up to. And so if you remember the first week, we looked at Luke chapter nine where Jesus says, the way to find your life is by laying it down for him.

In our current culture, finding your own way and being on your own journey and having self expression and self fulfillment, Jesus would get canceled for saying that's not the way to really find your life. The way to really find your life is to lay your life down, grab a hold of my life and the life that I have to offer, and that's when you will find the optimal fulfillment and expression for your life. Jesus would get canceled for that. Then last week, we looked at John chapter 14, where Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus would get canceled for not being very inclusive.

In fact, that statement is very exclusive. He says, I am the way. I am the truth. He doesn't say I am an option for truth. He doesn't say, maybe add me to the truth that you are identifying and discovering and deciding to live your life by.

He makes a very exclusive statement by saying, I am the truth. He says, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. So Jesus would get canceled for not being very inclusive. But then as we looked a little bit deeper, you remember this from last week. Jesus is actually the most inclusive guy you could ever meet or talk to.

Jesus provided a way for us to have relationship with God and to have right relationship with him through what he already did. So Jesus is very inclusive. He doesn't say, well, you have to have this much money, or you have to have this kind of ethnicity. He doesn't say you have to be born in this location. That's one of the beautiful things about the gospel, and we see a picture of it in the book of Revelation.

That surrounding the throne, there's gonna be an amazing worship service. Maybe there'll be grass. Maybe we'll be barefoot. Probably. And he says that from every tribe, nation, language, and tongue, people will be gathered around the throne.

What's more inclusive than every single representative of their own unique distinctive culture that has embraced Jesus. And so that's what we talked about last week. This week, we're gonna look at another story and an instant where Jesus speaks, his words are recorded, and we'll just let him step on your toes today. Alright? So Matthew chapter 15, and we're gonna read verses 21 through 28.

And even though we're here in the park list, I thought I saw a mic. Okay. Would somebody be willing to read Matthew chapter 15 verses 21 through 28 for us? Just raise your hand and let it rip, and we'll get the oh, thank you, Nancy.

Sure. Here I am. Hang on. Matthew 15 what?

Let's read verses 21 through 28. Okay.

Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him crying out, Lord, son of David, have mercy on me. My daughter is demon possessed and suffering terribly. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him.

Send her away for she keeps crying out after us. He said, I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel. The woman came and knelt before him. Lord, help me, she said. He replied, it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.

Yes, it is, Lord, she said. Even the dogs eat from the crumbs that fall from their master's table. Then Jesus said

to her,

woman, you have great faith. Your request your request is granted. And her daughter was healed at that moment.

If you're taking notes this morning, you can write the title of the conversation that we're going to have. This is Jesus would get canceled for that week three. You can't say that about women, Jesus. I I was I don't I don't know what kind of reaction I was hoping from that title, but maybe a little something more than just complete silence. Jesus would get canceled for that week three.

You can't say that about women, Jesus. So let's look at this story at a surface level. If you remember, we were for several weeks, maybe a couple of months ago, we were talking about we were having a series of conversations titled work smarter and not harder. How many of you remember those conversations back at the TMC? And we were using a foundational scripture from first or second Kings that was talking about, oh, nobody cuts wood like the Sodonians.

And so here, many, many, many, many years and generations later, Sidon, the same region, comes back up, and Jesus himself has traveled from what we would think of today as modern day Israel. He's traveled up north along the coast into an area that today could be considered Southern Lebanon, and he was near Sidon and Tyre, T Y R E, not T I R E, Tyre. And while there, a woman comes, approaches him. Now in our day and age, we have people from all different cultures and all different backgrounds kind of coming together in this melting pot called America. And especially here in Jackson, I love how many j one visa young adults that come through and they work at Sidewinders and they do the cowboy coaster at Snow King, and they're here doing all kinds of things.

And so it's really fun. You don't have to go on a trip. You just the world comes to you here in Jackson. So for us, it's very common to have a different all different kinds of cultures and people mixing together. We have to have a Jewish mindset if we're going to get the most out of this story.

So number one, the fact that Jesus had traveled so far north, that's remarkable. Number two, it's interesting that even outside of Israel, his reputation had expanded and and grown. People were coming around him and pressing all around him. Maybe he was a spectacle. Maybe he was, like, this this oddity.

Like, who is this guy that's got a crowd? He had a following. And then among all of those people, this woman, Syrophoenician woman, a Canaanite woman, I think, was a translation that you read. So this woman was from the region that Jesus traveled to. So in essence, she was local.

Jesus was a foreigner. But for us reading this, she was an outsider. She was not a Jew. She was a Gentile woman. In fact, some of your translations may say that.

So she was a Gentile. And in the passage that we just read, she has this great need. She's calling out for him. Jesus ignores her. There is a parallel story.

The same story is told from a little bit different biographer's perspective in Mark. So you can go back and and look at that story. But the story that we read here in Matthew, he ignores her. His leadership team is telling her, go away. Don't bother Jesus.

And she calls out all the more. And then he says something incredibly offensive. Where's that really offensive statement? Somebody tell me. Either read it or tell me what verse it is.

He says something really offensive. What is it?

It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs.

Okay. What was Jesus calling that woman? A dog. Now, in today's culture, like, think about it right now. Let's say that Coulson wanted to give Greta a compliment.

Would he say, wow. You look like a dog. No. That yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I will remember you. That would be playing at your funeral in the next two seconds. Even in today's culture, not not too cool to to call somebody a dog. I mean, maybe if you see if you say d a w g, maybe then, maybe.

But for the most for everybody's saying that in their mind. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Dog. Yeah.

For the most part, even today, that word would be really offensive. And so Jesus calls this woman a dog. And here's where many, many, many people decide to hop off the Jesus train in that day and today. And really what they're doing is they're looking for a loophole to get out of having to be confronted by the truth that Jesus says and the truth that Jesus is. On a surface level, when he calls a woman a dog, is our people right to be offended?

Yes. Not cool and not true. That is really offensive. Even in that day and age, that culture is very different than our culture surrounding the surrounding Israel throughout The Middle East and even still today in certain parts, women were considered property. They didn't have their own personhood.

They weren't allowed to to own property. They weren't allowed to to vote. They weren't, allowed to participate in civic matters and affairs. And in fact, their testimony was only in a court of law, was only that of half of a man. Now within the nation of Israel, it was it was different.

But the whole surrounding region, to call a woman a dog while wrong and offensive regardless of the time, it perhaps would have been a little less offensive to people in that area. But as we read it today, like, Jesus, you can't say that. Canceled. On a surface level, Jesus ignores this woman. Jesus doesn't engage with her.

And then Jesus insults her. Now for those of you who've been following Jesus for any length of time, what comes up in your mind or heart? I think I need to dig a little deeper into this story. And if you don't know this about Jesus, it's one of the wonderful things about him is that he often hid and concealed what he was really up to behind things that were either unusual or out of the ordinary or surface level offensive. Why?

Because his strategy was this. I'm not looking to build an Instagram following where everything I say and do is politically correct. And and I'm gonna be like like a politician, say things or or perfectly curate my life so that everybody likes me. Jesus did not come to Earth for a popularity contest. Jesus came to fight and win a long standing cosmic battle.

Jesus wasn't playing no games when he came the first time to planet Earth. And he was for a particular type or demographic of person, and we'll discover that in a moment. The surface level, if we hear Jesus call a woman a dog, that doesn't fit with the Jesus that we know. How many of you sat in, like, old school Sunday school classes where the Sunday school teacher had the felt board and there was, the story of Noah and you put up the little ark with the giraffe peeking out, or you would pull up the the the story of the resurrection of Jesus, and there was, like, the little felt tomb that would go on there with the little circle that would, like, you could pull it away. Oh, there's no felt board Jesus story of him calling woman a dog.

I don't think that's I don't think that story I mean, I'm sure you could tell it with felt board characters, but like that's not in the the felt board character pack. So what is going on? If on the surface that woman was offended or that story sounds offensive that would get Jesus canceled today, we need to dig a little bit deeper. And when we dig a little bit deeper, we discover the beauty and the truth and the wonder of who Jesus is and what he was doing. So let's let's do that.

Let's dig a little bit deeper. Yes, ma'am. Yes. I'm so glad that you would interrupt me. Okay.

Please.

First of all, I think the woman was pretty bold and disagreeing with Jesus. Oh, yes. Said that even the dogs don't. She said, yes. It is, Lord.

But then is there anywhere in scripture that puts more emphasis on a man than a woman? Seems like it's all cultural based as to what the women could and couldn't do.

Say more about your question. I'm not quite following you.

People put so much emphasis well, like saying the women could not do this, could not do that. Was there anywhere in scripture that said a woman has to sit back and not be recognized to do anything?

Are you talking about in the life of Jesus?

But that was just in general, like, you know, you were saying the women couldn't vote. The women had to stay back here. The women were thought less of.

After we have the Bible in the form that we have, There have been lots of people throughout the ages and denominations that have used the words in this amazing book and taken them out of context and twisted them and perverted them to oppress and abuse women. And that's not right.

Because even Jesus, when they said your mother is here, and he's like, who is my mother? Mother? You know, and so much emphasis is putting on put on Mary. You know, but the Bible doesn't do that. I mean, yes, she was the mother of Jesus and obviously very important in our life.

But she wasn't lifted up to a position in his time.

Yes. At the end, towards the end of our conversation, we're going to look at what Jesus thought about and said to and how he actually related to women. On a surface level, we're looking at this story where he calls a woman a dog. Rude, offensive, inappropriate, regardless of culture or age because women are not dogs. But as we get a little bit deeper, we're going to see the beauty of what Jesus thought of and how he treated and dignified that woman and all women.

Does that help?

Don't feel like you have to answer that question, and I'll have her muzzle on short.

Cancel. Canceled. Yep. There's two. There's two.

Who else is gonna get it today? The bodies are stacking up. Yes.

My question would be, does this have anything to do with women, or is it just because she's a Gentile?

How about layers? So so yes and. Your favorite response. Your favorite response. Yes.

Yes. And. Yes. Because she's a woman and because she is a Gentile. I

think to answer what Nancy was saying is that culturally, yes. Like, we see all kinds of stories. Like, the the women can't go to the well at the same time as men. We see culturally those things. Yeah.

But he's gonna turn the corner. Right.

So we're looking at a little bit deeper level. I love the conversation. Come on. Here it comes. Somebody

asked the question, does this have anything to do with women? First thing that came to my mind, no. It has to do with faith.

Okay. Quit jumping. You guys are racing. Can I not craft something? I yeah.

Yeah. I need to get to it. They're starting to preach my message for me. Alright. Alright.

The answer to your question, that's a really good one. In our culture, you know, it's women work have fought really hard to have equality. And so, you know, they take offense when there's any indication whatsoever that they're not. But in the Bible, I mean, there were prophets that were Deborah, there was Ruth, right, there were people God lifted them up high and honored them just as equally as a man. And we can't forget that in Adam and Eve, know, Eve was the one that gave Adam the apple and then god said, you know, because of this, you know, you will rule over women.

You'll rule, right? Right? And so, as a result, we see that in virtually every culture for millennia that that has actually been the case which is kind of a, you know, obviously a truth based on that prophecy so so so long ago. So it's not God, you know, playing favorites here. It's it's kind of all written out in the Bible, and we always muddled it up with our own culture and our own thoughts.

I love I love the hyperlink in your brain from this story in Matthew all the way back to the pronouncement of the curse. Great hyperlink. So here's where the story gets a little bit deeper. He had ignored her. He had dismissed her.

He had diminished her. But look at verse 22. She had been she says this. Verse 22. Jesus gave her no reply, not even a word.

Then his disciples urged him to send her away, tell her to go away, they they said. She is bothering us with all of her begging. But the disciples didn't catch this. But Jesus heard this. I believe that Jesus heard this and was like, okay.

So this is what the disciples heard. But then in verse 21, it says this. This is a quote from her. Have mercy on me, oh, Lord, son of David. Now for us, we just read these words and we go through it's really easy to just kinda, like, lump this whole thing together as part of our daily bible reading plan, and we know that Jesus is the son of David, the Messiah.

However, how distinct and unique is it that number one, a Gentile three things. Number one, a Gentile would make a profession. Number two, that it was a woman. And then number three, incredibly significant is what she said. She said this, a woman lived there, oh, son of David.

Essentially, she was calling Jesus by his recognized title, the Messiah. You are the Messiah. You are the savior of not only Israel, but of the whole world, and I'm laying claim to that. I'm calling out in you. I see in you your true identity while the crowds are flocking around him and and and maybe they just want another hand, maybe they just want a quick miracle.

Who knows? Or they're just curious. This woman is different, which is why her story is still being told today. This woman recognizes that Jesus is divine, that he is the Messiah, and she knows that the Messiah, an aspect of the Messiah, is that he will set wrong things right. Is it right?

Is it wrong for a child to be demonically oppressed? Wrong. What what who all had she gone to before this? What all had she tried to do? Waving sage candles and and who knows what all kind of money maybe she spent trying to, like, get her child free.

But now Jesus has come up to her neck of the woods, and she cries all she cries out for her miracle. And then Jesus responds with the ground that we've already covered. It's not right to take food from the table. He's talking about Israel and the Jews that he had first come to. Take it from the children at the table and throw it to the dogs.

Why did he say that? Where you guys are already way ahead of me down the road. Jesus was looking for something in here. Do you really believe? Do you really believe that I'm the son of David?

Do you really believe that I'm the prophesied one? Do you really believe that I'm the Messiah of Israel and the whole world? And her response to Jesus's surface level offensive statement tells us everything we need to know about this woman and tells Jesus exactly what he was looking for. Yes, Lord. That's true.

But even the dogs or as Gretchen's translation says, when you look at that word in the Greek, even the puppies, which softens the offense a little bit because puppies are cute, but even the puppies are allowed to eat the scraps that fall from the table. She says, I'm not asking you to take anything away from what you're called to do for Israel. I'm asking if there's just any little thing left over. So Jesus pushes a little with that statement. It's not right to take food from the table and give it to the dogs.

And then he steps back. How would you have responded? Would you have cried? Would you have and you can't say that. Would you have fired right back?

And she responds. And in my mind, it's a quick she has a she has a sharp mind. True. And she's desperate. Never stand between a desperate mom and her help for her baby.

Right? I will remember. That's a good way to get added over there to those in memory of Yeah. Know. Colson, Clay, anybody any other needs to be added to it.

She fires back, and her response tells Jesus everything he needs to know. In my mind's eye, I see him doing that Samuel L Jackson meme where he's like, well said. And then look what he look what he says. Dear woman, now the page has been turned. Jesus turns the corner.

Did he think of her as a dear woman before he ever opened his mouth to her? Yes. It's Jesus. He knew. He knew.

Verse 28, he says this, dear woman, Jesus said to her, your faith is great. That's saying a lot within the territory of Israel, and that's saying a whole lot outside of the region and territory of Israel. Your faith, not just in faith in the goodness of the universe, not just faith in the, you know, the spirit of the mother earth or or or karma. Your faith in what came out of your mouth calling me the son of David, the Messiah. That faith in me is great, tremendous, exceeding, above the normal because she's desperate.

And then the end of the story is, and her daughter was instantly healed. So what's the bottom line deeper part of this? When Jesus said those words, Jesus wasn't insulting her identity by calling her a dog. He was creating a moment to demonstrate her devotion. One more time, Jesus wasn't insulting her identity by calling her a dog.

He was creating a moment to demonstrate her devotion. We see time and time again throughout scripture that Jesus loves and honors and admires and engages with and lifts up women. Jesus, counter cultural to that day and age. He had tremendous respect and admiration for women. Question, At the resurrection, what gender was the first person to proclaim that Jesus had risen from the dead?

Boy or girl? It was a girl, a woman. Now he could have arranged things so it could have been a Roman officer, maybe Pilate himself. I mean, how about his testimony? Would that not be really valid?

What about, one of the disciples that got to see the empty tomb first? It was a woman. A woman was the first person to share the good news of the resurrection of Jesus in all of history. The tomb is empty. Jesus is alive.

Jesus was like, well, you know, should take some scraps from the table and feed it to the like, I'll I'll I'll let a woman do that. He's like, no. No. There's nobody better. On the cross when Jesus is dying, Very few of his words are recorded because he is kind of preoccupied.

But while on the cross, he took a moment to look at John and say, man, behold your mother. And he was speaking about his mom, Mary, who was at the foot of the cross. And then he said to his mom, mother, behold your son. In the midst of all that he was going through taking the of the sins of the world on him, having, experiencing crucifixion, unimaginable agony and suffering, he thinks about his mom, and he's thinking about taking care of this woman. So on the surface, Jesus would get canceled as a misogynistic, chauvinistic sex pig.

And for people that think that about Jesus, oh, if you only knew if you only knew how great and wonderful he really is. He loves, cherishes, honors women. And if we're gonna be like Jesus, that means that we do too. And I love that tribe is a place where we have a culture of honoring and respecting women. Let's keep it let's keep it up, guys.

Here's the last thing that I wanna say. Could it be that today you find yourself in a similar place where on the surface, it feels as though God is ignoring you? Today, can you relate to the story of this woman? She was calling out for him. She was calling out for him.

Maybe others have said, like, why are you so fixated on that? Like, move on with life. Get over it. It's kinda what the disciples told that woman. Maybe you find yourself in the park here today in a situation where it feels as though you are being ignored by Jesus.

I want to to first with the last few minutes that we have, I wanna first acknowledge that it it could be anyone or maybe more than one person here. Whatever it is that you're going through, prayed about it. You've been looking at options, you've been asking the questions, you've been stressing, you've been fussing over and over, you've been crying out, Lord. And it feels as though maybe that being ignored. Well, if it feels that way, let me just say this, you're kind of in good company.

You're in good company with that woman who felt ignored, overlooked, shoved to the side, marginalized, unanswered, unaddressed, uncared for. And we have an amazing example. Jesus is faithful. But look at the example of this woman. She was persistent.

She didn't give up. She understood the assignment in that moment. Yes, Lord. But she held him to his identity and his mission and that cost him. She didn't respond.

She didn't come she she had a need. His lack of addressing her was in a way addressing her. But she didn't respond by like getting pouty, by like going off, being upset, turning her back on him. She was she responded in faith. What if instead of coming to the lord, I know that you're in a difficult spot.

Instead of coming to the lord with your your your trouble, of course, you can come to him with your trouble. Pour out your trouble but what if you came to him saying, here's my trouble and I and it's it's terrible. I need wisdom. I need guidance. I need healing.

I need help. I need deliver. Whatever it is. And then before you stopped your prayer, you said, but Lord, I know that you are faithful. And I know and then fill in the blank with his word.

What if you came to the lord with the biblical scriptural solution instead of just the problem. Do you not think that the lord will? Look at that. Of all of the prayer emails, the billions that I get every day, problem, frustration, heartache, fill in the blank. It's okay.

We all have those. It's okay. But then one email comes through that ends the email with this. But Lord, I know. But Lord, your word says.

So today, we've got we we got one more thing to do after this, but let's just take a moment and whatever it is that you've been chewing on, whatever it is that you've been wrestling with, go ahead, tell him one more time. Lord, you know, and then pour out your heart to him, whatever that frustration or loneliness or whatever it is. Just tell him now add Oh lord, I know and then you tell him the promise that he's whispered to your heart and or you say, but lord, your word says, And if you find yourself in a spot, I don't know what God's word has to say about what I'm going through. Two things. Number one, there ain't nothing that you can't go through that he doesn't have hope and a promise for.

That's in his word. Number one, Number two, you could Google it. What does god's word have to say about and whatever you're going through or you can ask somebody and come ask me. So now, let's just visit with the lord for a moment and we're going do one more thing at the end of service. So, Lord, will you help us to move beyond just having our minds be offended?

Invite us to move deeper than than just that surface level. What if our breakthrough is just below the surface and he's looking to see, will you press through? Will you press in? Will you press on? Invite us.

I know you stepped on our toes by calling us a dog or by ignoring us for this long or whatever it is. Even so, Lord, your word says, and hold on to that. Father, I pray for my friends gathered here that that you would invite them one more time. I mean the and or I mean this in the best way possible. Call him a dog one more time.

Call him a dog one more time to get that reaction so that they would then have an opportunity to respond like this woman did. God, I pray for my friends that your word would be like a healing balm to their heart and that your presence would be miraculous in its provision and in its comfort and in its truth and in your provision. Look at these people. They're pressing in. They're ready for the scraps from the table, and we know that you're a good God that gives abundantly above and beyond to more than we could ever hope, think, or ask for.

So it's not just a crumb. It would be enough if it were just a crumb. But it's so much more. So we tell you that we love you and we thank you. We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. And when when we're done, if you're like, oh, I need a bible verse for so and so. Just turn around and ask your neighbor. They might have a great verse right in their pocket That would address what you're talking about. Two last things that we're going to do every time we gather a tribe, we we worship the lord a song.

We worship the lord by considering the word that's preached. We we submit and surrender to it. Organize our life according to it, and then we always bring our tithes and offerings to the Lord. And I feel like the giving IQ of our tribe fam is is pretty high because we know the difference between tithes and offering. Think about your tithe as paying the rent, not not rent at a building, but rent on planet Earth.

Did you make that oxygen you're breathing? Did you invent gravity that you're enjoying? How about that grass? Did you make the grass green? So a tithe is a percentage of our finances that we give back to the Lord to just tell him thank you.

Thank you for one more day on planet Earth. Thank you for my metabolism. Thank you for the atoms sticking together in my body. And then there's an offering. An offering is above and beyond the tithe.

And last week, I mentioned to this and Lisa sent this out in the text blast that this week where we're gonna receive a a special offering for a cause and I'll talk about that in a moment. Let's just keep them separate and do first things first. So I'm gonna pray over the tithe, and then we'll talk about a special offering. So, Lord Jesus, thank you for being good to us. Thank you for giving doctors wisdom and skill to bring about the healing of our Achilles tendon and our body.

Well, you could just zap it if you wanted to but you could also choose to work through medicine. So, thank you. We're not picky. Thank you for healing. We tell you that we love you and we trust you and we surrender a portion of our finances as a tithe.

Lord, would you receive these tithes? Use them to make your name famous. Here at this park, in Jackson Hole, the surrounding region, and to the uttermost bounds of the earth. In Jesus name, amen. The lord bless your giving of the tithe.

I'll tell you how to give in just a moment. So, because it it goes to it's the same place but different things. For the offering. Last week, we we let you all know about a special offering that we were gonna receive this week and we did it last year. A group of 12 IDF reserve soldiers that are coming Now, if if you know anything about the the military in Israel, it's compulsory.

So, you have to serve. It's not unique. There are other countries that do this but in Israel, you are required to serve for two years out of high school, and then beyond that, you can serve more. But after those two years, it's not like you're you're done. You then enter the reserves.

And so this year, the ministry, Risen Hearts, founded founded by Ali and her husband. You'll get to meet them, next week. But they have identified a group of reservists that have just come off of deployment to bring them to Jackson Hole and let them get their feet in the grass. Let them float down the Snake River. Give them lots and lots and lots of Jesus and healing and and hope and comfort.

Various members of our tribe fam are volunteering their time and their cooking skills and all kinds of things to to help with this ministry. But these are 12 reservists that are coming to Jackson. So a reservist is somebody that's not an active duty soldier, like a young guy. These the men that are coming are like teachers. They're bankers.

They have a a landscape companies. They work in in finance. They work at a grocery store. These are everyday normal guys that meant most of them are married. Many of them have children.

But because of the threat surrounding their country, they've been called up from reserves into active duty. It's one thing when you, like, you know, sign up and you go be a marine. Great. Awesome. Wonderful.

Then you serve your time. You're still always a marine, but you're you've retired. You're done. If you're a reservist, you're just living your life and then you get called up. And so that's what these guys have done.

They've got their family, their wife, their kids, their normal routines, but they've been called up. They've recently served a tour, and on their way back home to their families, they're coming out to Jackson. You'll get to meet some of them. We'll invite them to church. We're gonna do a big Shabbat dinner, one of those Friday nights.

If you wanna come to that and experience some culture, I'm inviting you to that meal. Just make more food. Yeah. I'm inviting you. Come find me afterwards.

And so there is there is opportunities. We'll invite them to church. You might get to meet them at church. And so we're gonna receive a special offering to help offset the cost of all their meals. 12 hungry dudes eating a lot of food for the ten days that we're here.

So your offering will go towards buying groceries that will feed these guys while they're here. That's our financial commitment. Alright? And I'll tell you how to give to that as I tell you how to give to your tithe. Let me pray for this and then we'll we're almost out of here.

Lord Jesus, we pray for these these reservist soldiers that are coming to Jackson, that they would experience your peace, they would experience your comfort, most importantly, that they would experience the presence of your wonderful holy spirit. And so we're sacrificing a portion of our finances as an offering to go towards helping to buy groceries that will be converted to preparing meals to feed these guys, and, Lord, that they would encounter your presence through this. So we surrender an additional portion of our finances for your worthy cause. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

How do I give whether it's a tithe or a special offering? Number one, if if it's cash or check, you can just go in that little wooden box, and it literally tithes or offerings. How more and more of our tribe fam is giving is by right there behind those delicious donuts. There's a QR code that you can scan, and it will take you to this place called Church Center Church Center. And from there, there's a drop down menu, tithes, and then you'll see a fund that we have open called, providing meals for the IDF soldiers.

You can click on that, and then you can give however the Lord leads you. Alright? So with all of that and if you're like, wait, that was too fast. Just come find me afterwards. I'll walk you through it.

Alright? If you stand, I'll pray for you and then we will skid out a lot of here because we have a beautiful Sunday to enjoy. You guys look so good today. And just before we pray, you know, we have just one more Sunday here. One more Sunday here and then we're going to switch to the evening service, 5PM on a Sunday, so you can go golf or ski or sleep in or sleep, whatever you need to do on a Sunday morning, and then we'll rally at 5PM at First Baptist Church.

These guys are being so amazing to open up their doors to us and all of our little eccentricities. So the first Sunday that we'll be meeting at First B is Sunday, September 6 at First B at 5PM, and we'll text blast that out to you. It'll also be on the website. So let me pray for you. Lord Jesus, thank you so much for this beautiful day.

Thank you so much for this green grass between our toes. Thank you, Lord, that you are the Messiah of Israel and the whole world, and that as we press in and refuse to get offended, that's where we encounter you. I command a blessing over each and every person here in the park today whether you're at service or hanging out in the background over there. I command a blessing on you. Lord, give us a great week.

Keep us safe. Help us to enjoy these last days of summer and I pray for all the students that are about to go back to school. What is that? Tomorrow? Oh, not tomorrow.

Next week. Oh, you get one more week. Alright. Now, jump the gun. Give em one more week to enjoy this summer.

We pray these things in Jesus name and everybody said, amen. I love you guys so much. Have a great week and remember, Leona, you guys.