TEMPTATIONS!1st Sunday in Lent

14th February 2016

Today…What type of world are we living in?

POWER FAME FOOD

Today…What type of world are we living in?

MONEY

THINGS

Lent… back to the basics...What did we face / are we facing at the beginning

of our faiths? How did / do we overcome?

TEMPTATIONS!

???

Throw them away!

Pray, pray, pray…

Sing songs

Read Bible!!!!

Confess….

Feel guilty….

Luke 4: 1-134:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the

Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness,

4:2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.

He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they

were over, he was famished.

4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of

bread.”

4:4 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'One does not live by bread alone.’”

4:5 Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.4:6 And the devil said to him, "To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been

given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please.4:7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

4:8 Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'”

4:9 Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here,

4:10 for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’4:11 and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’”

4:12 Jesus answered him, "It is said, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Quick contemplation…2 STORYLINES presented

Presented by the Devil

1. Self serving2. Power3. Glory and

fame

Presented by Jesus

1. Serve God2. Worship God3. Know God

Which way do we go?

Quick contemplation…2 times: The Devil questioned Jesus’ IDENTITY

IF YOU….. Are the Son of God.... Do this!

In families of the ancient world an adult son was often understood as the father’s representative and the father and the son would work together to

accomplish the family goals.

The son’s identity, honor, and status is rooted in his family’s honor and status.

Quick contemplation…Today, our IDENTITY. Do we KNOW who we are?

Are we PRESSURED to prove ourselves?

If you are a good person, you should….

If you are a good employee, you should....

If you are a good son/daughter, you should....

If you are a good father/mother, you should....

If you are a good Christ follower, you should....

What did we learn from Jesus?Our capacity to repent and to resist temptation

Comes from Our relationship with God and the grace of his

deliverance

Not from Our own strength and initiative.

40 days of Lent

Jesus is said to be tempted over a 40 day period (verse 2).

This can echo the 40 days Moses spent fasting while writing the covenant for the people of Israel (Exodus 34:27-28),

Also the 40 years the Israelites spent in the desert experiencing their own temptations.

Now Lent is a 40 day period.

How can the account of Jesus’ temptation illuminate our own 40 day experience?

How then shall we live?

Knowing our IDENTITY:“Children of God”

How then shall we live?Build the Father – Child relationship

Learn with Him

Rest with Him

Experience life with Him

Trust in Him