What does Tribe teach about church anniversary?
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 the church's anniversary is rooted in the same posture Isaiah takes in Isaiah 62:1, where he declares he will not keep still, cannot remain silent, and will not stop praying for Israel. On Tribe's seventh birthday Sunday, Pastor Brian opened by tracing how Isaiah arrived at that posture: an encounter with God in chapter six, a coal on his lips, a commission as God's mouthpiece. Out of that encounter, God's own heart for Israel was transferred to Isaiah, so that when Isaiah speaks his love for Zion, it carries the full weight of what God himself feels. The anniversary became an occasion not for self-celebration but for asking whether the congregation has been shaped by the same kind of encounter.
Brian pressed hard on what it means for a church to not keep still. He was direct that neutrality on Israel, especially in the moment the Hamas war broke out, is not a Christian option, and he said that holding the tension between God's promises and the violence on the news honestly is what moves a person from spectator to participant. He pointed to the twenty-one day fast Tribe had done earlier that fall, which ended the same Saturday Hamas invaded, as preparation the congregation had not known they would need. He noted that "you cannot claim to be a Christian and have a narrative that is contrary to God's narrative on Israel in this situation."
On not remaining silent, Brian pushed back against the idea that a changed profile picture or a sharp social media post is enough. The conversation is already happening in workplaces and friend groups, and the question is whether Tribe fam enters it. He closed that thread by pointing toward what he called honest hope, saying about the full fulfillment of God's promises for Israel, "we have not seen the perfect fulfillment of that yet. That's an honest answer, but in my mind it is also dripping with hope."
Taught from Isaiah 62:1 · Isaiah 6 (broader passage) · Zechariah 12:10-11 · Zephaniah 3:17 · Psalms 122:6
“You cannot claim to be a Christian and have a narrative that is contrary to God's narrative on Israel in this situation.”
From I Will Not Keep Still
The passage taught · Isaiah 6 (broader passage)
1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple.
2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. With two he covered his face. With two he covered his feet. With two he flew.
3 One called to another, and said, “Holy, holy, holy, is Yahweh of Armies! The whole earth is full of his glory!”
4 The foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- October 30, 2023 I Will Not Keep Still Tribe Church marks its seventh birthday with a study of Isaiah 62, exploring what it means to pray, speak up, and act on behalf of Israel in a time of war.