Tribe Church

This message is a reminder that our response to offense should reveal the Christ within us, and not our own definition what justice should be. The difference in a Believer is not that we will never be hurt, offended, or treated unjustly—it’s that what comes out of us in those moments should reflect the One who lives within us. 

The world is looking for a visible expression of Jesus through His sons and daughters. Even in the simplest moments—and especially in the difficult ones—our response can become a reflection of Christ.

The presence of the Lord is the most important thing—the one thing that is truly necessary. There will be times when we may not feel Him, but it's so important to get back to a place of being tender to His presence, where we discover that He often reveals Himself not only in extraordinary moments but also in the simple, everyday details of life. In His presence, things begin to change. The one thing that meets every need is His Presence…the answer to everything.

Scripture tells us that, for the joy set before Him, Jesus endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Jesus wasn't focused on the suffering He would endure—His eyes were fixed on the joy that awaited beyond it. We often do the opposite. We become so focused on what we're going through that we lose sight of why we're going through it. But when we understand that biblical joy is more than the pursuit of happiness—that it's an inner, abiding rejoicing found in seeking His Kingdom—our perspective begins to change. For the joy set before us, we too can endure when we make Him the focus. We realize that our greatest purpose isn't simply to endure the trial, but to know Him more deeply in the midst of it. 

The Lord's Prayer is so much deeper than just words to recite. Rather than simply giving us a script to repeat, Jesus reveals His own nature through every element of this prayer, beginning with "Our Father." It is out of this posture that we should pray, with our heart aligned with His nature, which ultimately connects us all together through Our Father.

You can be wild and still not be free.

Imagine a lion that has spent years in captivity. When the cage door is finally opened to set him free, he takes only a few steps outside and continues pacing the same path he walked while he was in the cage. Though physically free, he remained captive in his mind.

Many of us live the same way. We were created for something far greater, yet we often carry a mindset of captivity even though we are meant to live in freedom.

As we make Him our One Thing—the One we set before us each day—we begin to walk in the fullness of all He has prepared for us. Day by day, we walk into absolute freedom and the joy of becoming who we were always meant to be.

Our world is filled with controversy, and it’s easy to feel like we have to have an opinion and respond to everything. But all that does is create a dividing line where we are compelled to take a stand and choose a side. As Believers, we should remove ourselves from the battle and turn our eyes to Jesus, because every answer and every response is found in Him. He is the one thing we need…He is the answer to everything. 

“Trust.” We see it written on cute t-shirts, coffee mugs, and so on. As believers, it has become one of our hallmark words. But when faced with challenges, this word comes back around and confronts us to lean in a deeper way. Listen as Benjamin shares on the importance of being confronted with this word “trust.”

“Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:3. 

To magnify the Lord is not to try to make Him bigger (for we cannot), but rather to shift our own perspective. Just as a magnifying glass does not increase the size of the sun but instead focuses its immense energy onto a single point, our act of magnifying the Lord focuses our attention toward Him. In this perspective shift, His glory begins to hone in on our circumstances, and we are positioned to see His unwavering goodness woven into everything we face.

The Bible describes the Kingdom of God not as a distant destination to be achieved through our efforts, but as a present reality defined by righteousness, peace, and joy—an inheritance bestowed upon us simply because we are His children. As we navigate life, we are invited to anchor our hearts in this unshakable truth. By turning our gaze away from our circumstances and setting our eyes firmly upon Him, we have complete access to the fullness of His Kingdom—righteousness, peace and joy—because it is our inheritance in the Kingdom of the Most High King.

As believers, every breath we take serves as evidence that Jesus is alive and His life changing presence is within us. We carry a responsibility to navigate the world around us as His representatives, unapologetically abandoned to Him. May we pass this awareness on to the next generation so they may know that the only thing that truly matters is that Jesus is alive—and He is alive in us.