What does Tribe teach about birth pains?
Drawn from the message 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 birth pains starts with Jesus's own words in Matthew 24. Pastor Brian walked the congregation through verses 1 through 43 and identified birth pains as the first of three broad phases Jesus describes before his return, a period Jesus names in verse 8 and marks with wars, rumors of wars, false messiahs, famines, and earthquakes. Brian was careful to hold both the literal and the broader meaning of those signs together, pointing out that a false messiah does not have to be a religious figure making videos online but could be any philosophy or place that promises to be your everything.
The teaching was just as concerned with how people feel about these signs as it was with explaining them. Brian acknowledged that passages like Matthew 24 have caused real anxiety for people in the Tribe family, and he framed the entire exercise the way a good parent prepares a child for what is coming, so the child is not blindsided. He drew on the experience of a woman who had avoided Daniel, Revelation, and these gospel passages because they kept her up at night, and said that pressing into those texts, reading commentaries, and building a biblically grounded theology was what finally replaced her fear with confidence and joy.
The goal Brian kept returning to was replacing anxiety with clarity and even eagerness. He pushed back on any reading of Jesus's words about the timing of his return that would cause people to disengage, saying the church will not be hiding under rocks with stockpiles, but that "the gospel will be advancing." The birth pains, as he presented them, are not meant to terrify but to orient, giving believers a framework for what they are already seeing and a reason to hold on with confidence.
Taught from Matthew 24:1-43 · 1 Thessalonians and 2 Thessalonians · Daniel 9, 10, 11 · Revelation 3:10 · Hebrews 12:27-28
“The enemy would love to lull us into complacency with this verse right here by saying, don't worry your pretty little head about it.”
From The Return of Jesus
The passage taught · Colossians 3:2
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- July 29, 2024 The Return of Jesus Brian Hunter walks through Matthew 24, mapping Jesus's own words about birth pains, tribulation, and his return, and why understanding these things builds confidence rather than fear.