What does Tribe teach about forgiveness?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At Tribe, the teaching on forgiveness tends to surface not as a self-help strategy but as something that flows directly from what Jesus has already done. In the service Lissa Hunter led on worship and prayer, the congregation spent extended time sitting with unforgiveness as a real and specific thing, not a vague spiritual category. People named names. Nancy confessed decades of resentment toward her younger sister and prayed aloud for it. A woman described never being able to forgive someone who told her as a child that her parents' divorce was her fault, and said that during worship she had asked God to help her let go and to forgive her for holding on so long. The picture Lissa described was not of God ripping something out, but of a careful surgeon separating a knotted tangle from healthy tissue, because the hurts done to us and the things we genuinely need to own are often wound together, and God wants to sort them out gently.
That same morning, Jay shared something Pastor Brian had said while praying with someone that week: God is not going to simply remove a sin you are passively wishing away. You have to partner with him, put skin in the game, and make the decision that you are done with it. That is when God moves. The teaching on forgiveness at Tribe does not treat it as a feeling you work up but as a decision you make in cooperation with God, even when the feeling has not arrived yet.
The thread that runs under all of this is what Brian taught in the series on hearing God's voice, where forgiveness appeared alongside the other things the congregation named as what it means practically to lay down your life. Giving up the right to hold a grudge was one of the clearest answers the room gave. That framing matters here: forgiveness at Tribe is not presented as something a person does to be a better version of themselves. It is presented as part of what it looks like to stop being the center of your own story and let Jesus be the center of it instead.
Taught from Matthew 6:14 · James 5:16 · 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 · John 10:1-19 · 1 John 1:9
“His tactic is to just scatter you and to just put a little bit of distance, a little bit of distance, a little bit of compromise at a time.”
From They Recognize His Voice and Come to Him
The passage taught · John 10:1-19
1 “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2 But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4 Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- July 24, 2023 They Recognize His Voice and Come to Him A Wyoming pastor and his congregation explore how to recognize God's voice, using John 10 as their guide in the final week of a six-week series.
- January 30, 2023 Worship and Prayer A Sunday of worship, prayer, and communion at a Wyoming church, where members shared personal struggles, prayed the Lord's Prayer line by line, and sought forgiveness together.
Mentioned along the way
- August 26, 2026 Called to Holiness Brian Hunter walks through 1 Thessalonians 4:7, showing that God's call to holy living is an invitation he equips us for, not a demand we have to meet on our own.
- August 16, 2026 Losing Your Life to Find It Jesus said to gain your life you must lose it. Brian Hunter explores what it really means to lay down your rights and exchange self-rule for something far better.
- June 9, 2025 Three Uses of Worship Brian Hunter walks through Psalm 150 and three reasons to worship God through song: as a weapon in combat, a tool for recalibration, and a response to celebration.
- April 21, 2025 The Blood Is Enough Brian Hunter walks through the Passover account in Exodus 12 to show why the blood of Jesus is enough to cover every sin, no matter who you are or what you've done.
- September 16, 2024 Jesus, the Better Joseph Brian Hunter walks through Genesis 45, exploring how Joseph's story foreshadows Jesus, the better Joseph, who provides not just grain but salvation for all who come to him.
- September 15, 2024 Jesus, the Better Joseph Brian Hunter walks through Genesis 45, where Joseph reveals himself to his brothers, showing how Joseph's story points forward to Jesus as the true and better savior.
- February 11, 2024 Clarity Comes Through Intimacy A pastor and congregation in Jackson Hole explore how intimacy with Jesus, built on vulnerability and transparency, brings clarity in an increasingly complex world.
- December 25, 2023 Tribe Christmas Eve Service Brian Hunter shares the Christmas story on Jackson Hole's Town Square, tracing it from the garden to Bethlehem and inviting anyone to receive forgiveness and new life.
- August 7, 2023 The Ring, the Robe, and the Rib Eye Brian Hunter walks through the parable of the prodigal son from four camera angles, showing how shifting your perspective on a familiar story can break open what feels like a dead end.
- April 24, 2023 Kiss the Sun or Lick the Dust A woman's extravagant act of worship at Jesus' feet shows two ways every person will ultimately respond to him: with love and gratitude, or pride and rejection.
- November 28, 2022 The Government on His Shoulders Brian Hunter walks through Luke 19 and Isaiah 9 to explore what ruling with Jesus actually means, and why resurrection shapes how Christians live and lead right now.