TEACHING
SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2022
10:30 AM (livestream + in-person + kids + communion & prayer) LENT 2022 - THE JOURNEY OF JESUS In the 40 days before Resurrection Sunday/Easter/Pascha known as Lent, we are following the journey of Jesus from Baptism, to Wilderness, to Public Ministry in Luke 3-4:13. LENT 2, WILDERNESS, TEMPTATION AND RELEVANCE There is often more than one way to accomplish anything, but it doesn't mean every path takes us in the direction we want to go. People who follow Jesus learn to go about life wrestling with the right use of the power we’ve been given in the choices we make. Join us as we explore temptation. EMAIL QUESTIONS HERE CONNECT WITH US HERE GIVE HERE |
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There is here an Adam typology and a Genesis background to this story: as Adam is cast out of paradise into the wilderness, so Christ, the new Adam, goes into the wilderness on our behalf, then to come forth from that temptation to lead us back into paradise. -Ambrose, Exposition of Luke 4:7
Our Lenten Journey Temple Grandin story SETTING THE SCENE: Baptism + Wilderness TEXT: Luke 3:21-22 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also was baptized. And while he was praying, the heavens opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my one dear Son; in you I take great delight.” Upfront Insights to Explore in the Temptation of Christ
WILDERNESS SETTING: Luke 4:1-2 Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan River and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he endured temptations from the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, he was famished.
One traditional way of reading the temptation is through the fall in Genesis. That this is the beginning of the unmasking and reversing the curse of Adam's disobedience and destruction. “Jesus will undo the harm of Adam.” -Justo Gonzalez Fourty...a number in the Jewish imaging was already charged with a sense of trial and testing in preparation for something new. -Jeffery, Luke, 67
The Devil’s Testing - Test the voice! Luke 4:3-4 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone.’”
“Dealing with burning issues without being rooted in a deep personal relationship with God easily leads to a divisiveness because, before we know it, our sense of self is caught up in our opinion about a given subject. But when we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without be manipulative” (H.Nouwen, ITNOJ, 31-32). For Reflection and Discussion
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