What does Tribe teach about god's love?
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 God's love returns again and again to the image of being clothed. Drawing from Isaiah 61:10, Brian walked the congregation through what the Hebrew behind the word 'dressed' actually carries: the idea of being completely surrounded, ensconced, so that what is on the outside is all anyone sees. The point he pressed was that when people drag their past failures back to God, what God sees is the outer garment, the righteousness that has been given, not earned. The failure is not that the garment is missing. The failure is that people reach past it and put on something worn and familiar instead. Brian asked, 'How many times do we look in our metaphysical closet and we're like, that's too nice to wear today.'
The teaching also connects God's love to rest. Brian named three things God specifically invites people to rest from during Sukkot: their own plan, striving for their own salvation, and trying to earn God's love. The premise underneath all three is that God's love is not something a person works toward. It is already given. Brian put it plainly: 'When we quit trying to do this on our own, he's like, okay, you've given me something to work with.' The striving is not what opens the door. Letting go is.
Running through both messages is the conviction that Jesus is not a distant figure or a historical one. Brian says, 'Jesus is alive, and he is experiential. And when you encounter him, our lives are changed.' God's love, in this teaching, is not a doctrine to agree with but something a person actually meets.
Taught from Isaiah 61:9-11 · Isaiah 42:3 · Leviticus 23 · James 4:6 · Jeremiah 17:7-8
“When we quit trying to do this on our own, he's like, okay, you've given me something to work with.”
From Rest and Celebrate
The passage taught · Isaiah 42:3
3 He won’t break a bruised reed. He won’t quench a dimly burning wick. He will faithfully bring justice.
World English Bible
Messages that go deeper
- October 21, 2024 Rest and Celebrate Brian Hunter explores the Feast of Sukkot, showing how God clothes us in salvation and calls us to rest from striving and celebrate his goodness with joy.
- October 13, 2024 Sukkot 2024: Resting and Celebrating Brian Hunter walks through Leviticus 23 to explore Sukkot, the biblical feast of shelters, and what it means to rest from striving and receive God's love.