Luke Week 1 • Luke 4

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Good morning.

We're going to fix that and try to get you all the announcements at the end of the service.

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If you've got your Bibles, go ahead and open it up to Luke chapter 4 with me this morning.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

I'm excited to be here with you as usual today.

You know, over the last week, we were hoping for a lot of calmness, maybe, for 2021 as it

rang in.

And 2021's a little more chaotic, maybe, than we'd hoped for that we've seen.

But I think today, as I wrote in this morning, and as we're going through stuff within our

family, just as you're going through stuff within your family, just as we're going through

stuff together as a body of people together, it's just good to get away and to be reminded.

And I really hope that this morning, that this is what we can really look at in Luke chapter

Luke 4 · chapter mention

4.

For those of us who know Jesus, we're not going to be, I don't think you're going to find

anything new this morning.

I don't think there's going to be that piece of truth that jumps out that you've never heard

before as we look at the temptation of Christ and we see his victory in that.

But what I hope we can find is the reminder of the victory that for all of us who are found

in Christ, we can cling to and that we know.

And I want to say this, if you're here this morning, whether you're invited and so you came

with friends or family, or whether you just showed up here, or whether you're jumping in

online with us, and you don't know who Jesus is, I want to just say to you that what you

will see today, what we will look at in Scripture, that you'll be able to see his divinity and

his humanity and in the perfection of Christ and our call to follow him.

That's my hope for us.

That we can get our eyes off of ourselves, that we can get our eyes off of the world, and

that we can sincerely cling to Jesus.

When Luke writes the gospel of Luke and he records Acts, he writes it in that moment and

he addresses it to a person.

If you were here for our Christmas series, we talked a little bit about this as we looked

at the first several chapters of Luke, and he writes it to his friend Theophilus.

And he writes to Theophilus with a hope that Theophilus, of those things that he has heard

about Jesus, that he's been taught about Jesus, that reading the gospel will confirm, it will

solidify, it will help mature those things in Theophilus as he moves forward.

And so what you and I are, what we're going to do over the course of this semester as we

look forward, believe it or not, into summertime, which because we're in South Carolina could

literally be here tomorrow, right?

That's what we're going to work toward.

We're going to work through the book of Luke.

We're not going to read every verse.

We're going to kind of pick up some of the highlights as we move through.

But in doing that, that we can see, that we can know, that we can understand.

And for some of us, our prayer, my prayer for you, is that you may take that first step

in trusting Christ as your Lord and Savior, but for so many of us, what we will find is

the opportunity, right, to mature in Him, to trust, to grow, and to see that relationship

strengthen with Him.

And so if you would join me, let's begin reading Luke chapter 4, starting in verse 1.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

In Luke chapter 4, in this temptation of Christ, what we will see is this divinity of Christ

Luke 4 · chapter mention

and the humanity of Christ.

We're going to see what He is able to overcome in perfection as the divine Son of God being

sent by the Father, being filled by the Spirit.

But what we will also see, and what you and I will be able to relate to, in some essence,

is the humanity of Christ.

That God, fully God, stepped out of heaven, took on form of a man, and in His perfect obedience,

did what God called Him to, right?

In the first two verses, we see, as Luke records, that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and

being led by the Holy Spirit, right?

This conveys to us the divinity of Christ, the power in which Jesus lives His life, the power

in which He will walk on water, the power in which He will cause the blind to see and the

deaf to hear, the power in which Jesus will say, call Lazarus to life, the power in which He will

overcome the grave, is found fully, not in His human ability that He has, but in His divine

nature that He is fully God.

And so as Jesus goes into the desert to face the temptations of the devil, what we know is that He's

being empowered by the Holy Spirit of God fully in doing this, but He's also, Scripture tells

us, led there, that He's being led by the Holy Spirit into the desert.

Now, here's what this can gain from us in this, okay?

God is not out of control in this moment.

God is not aware of what is going on.

God is not knowledgeable about what is taking place, that Jesus, being fully empowered by

the Spirit, is being led into the desert for a moment of time with the devil.

This is God's will.

This is God's plan.

And what God is going to do in this is going to be remarkable here in the moment and for

all of eternity as we see the victory that Christ has.

And so just for a brief moment, what I want to gain us on, for some of us that feel like

we've been in the desert ourselves, that feel like that we're wandering through this, that

feel like we're facing the temptations of life and shaking our fists, wondering why we are

there and where is God in this moment.

As God guided Jesus into the desert for a moment like this, maybe God is guiding us into

the desert for our moment like this.

So that we can experience and so that we can walk through and that we can gain here in this

moment.

What we see in these first two verses is that Jesus, as He goes under the full authority

and the leading of God, the devil will be there to tempt Christ.

And this is going to be a little bit different for us.

The temptations that you and I face are found within our sin struggles, right?

So if you struggle with greed, guess how you're probably going to be tempted?

Through greed.

If you struggle with lust, look how you're probably going to be tempted with lust.

Right?

Like, so what happens within us, the sins that we struggle with oftentimes are the areas

within our life where we find ourselves most vulnerable, which is where Satan is going to

tempt us.

But that's not what we see here with Christ.

Because He is fully divine, He is perfect and He doesn't have sin struggles.

He has humanity that we'll talk about here and look at in a second.

But Jesus doesn't have sin struggles.

So where Satan is going to attack Him is in His fulfillment of the mission of God.

You see, for Satan, what Satan despises more than anything else is not you and I.

For him, we are simply pawns.

What he despises more than anything else is the mission of God.

And so when He attacks you and when He attacks me, what He wants to draw us away from is the

fulfillment in our lives for the mission and the glory of God.

That is His goal.

That is the battle that He faces.

And so for Jesus, His temptation is not due to some internal sin struggle like you and I

wrestle with.

But instead, what Satan is going to attack is the mission of God.

And what we're going to see, and this is kind of a side note, and I read about this this

week, but we don't have the time to go through it, but I really would challenge you maybe to

look back at Genesis 3, right?

The fall of man at creation and the fall of Adam and Eve and sin being introduced into the

world.

What we're going to see in this, right?

What was defeated and what failed in the garden, we're going to see the victory gained

in Christ here in this moment.

We're going to see what you and I, what mankind was incapable of doing.

In every moment, what you and I are going to see is the victory of Christ.

But also, it's not just about the divine and what Jesus is able to do in His nature as God,

but let's understand the humanity of Christ also here in this moment.

We just got done celebrating that in the Christmas season, right?

The miracle of Christmas that God is with us, and God is not with us in this moment of what

we see in Scripture as like this hovering cloud, right, above humanity.

God is not just as this spirit sweeping through the world in this, but God, the miracle of Christmas,

right, is that God takes on the form and the flesh of man in the form of a baby who grows

up into being this man who goes into the desert.

And so you and I, we can't just think of Jesus in His divinity, but we also have to think of Jesus,

and especially in this moment, in His humanity.

Because Jesus is being led in a moment of Him being vulnerable into the desert for a period of time.

Remember, the Bible tells us for 40 days, He's in the desert.

Now, I don't know about you, but imagine being in the desert for 40 days, right?

Like, after camping for 48 hours, I'm tired and need a shower and a bed, right?

And Jesus goes for 40 days into the desert where during the day, He'll experience excruciating amounts of heat,

and at night, He'll experience cold.

We see that a time is set for Him, that in His humanity, this isn't just like a moment that happens, right?

For God, there is no time.

But for Jesus, in His humanity, there is.

40 days in the desert.

The ultimate survival.

And not only that, while He is there in the desert, He's fasting.

So I want you to imagine what it's like not to miss a meal, not to miss a day of meals,

but 40 days in those extreme conditions, and this is where we find Him.

He's tired.

He's hungry.

And He's vulnerable.

But in this, what we'll see is His victory.

And what you and I can see, that the temptations that Satan fires at Christ

are the same temptations that he fires at you and I in order to pull us away from the mission of God.

And so as we see Christ's victory in those, we can know that He's gained that victory for us

and how we can apply that same victory in our life.

So let's continue.

Look, verse 3.

The devil said to Him,

If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

And Jesus answered him,

It is written,

Man shall not live by bread alone.

The first temptation that we see here in the desert is the temptation of trust.

The temptation of trust.

Now, you read this.

Let's look again at what the devil said to Him.

If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

Well, I want to ask you a question.

What's the big deal with that?

Right?

Like, what's the big deal?

Like, how is this a temptation?

You know, it's not sinful for Jesus to eat.

We'll see in stories where Jesus goes to people's houses that He's calling to follow Him.

And do you know what He does there?

He eats.

At the Last Supper, what we just observed here on Christmas Eve together is partaking of the Lord's Supper together.

Guess what they had just got done doing?

They just got done eating.

So it's not sinful.

The temptation of itself is not that Jesus would eat.

Because in His humanity, right, He would have to.

It's not sinful for Jesus to perform a miracle involving food, specifically bread.

We'll see two times in Scripture where Jesus will feed the masses of people that have come to hear Him

and His closest followers and food left over with a few fish and a few pieces of bread.

Jesus is able to take those and multiply those.

And so what we see in Scripture is it's not wrong for Jesus to eat.

It's not wrong for Jesus to perform miracles, to provide.

And I would be willing to bet in those future instances where Jesus multiplied that He Himself partook in those meals.

So what is happening here?

Why is this such a big deal that Satan comes to Jesus and he says to Him,

Hey, here's the first temptation, buddy.

See if you can pass this.

Turn these rocks into bread.

What Satan is doing here is he's attacking Jesus' trust in God.

Right?

Remember from where we began.

How did Jesus get to the desert?

God led Him there.

How did Jesus find Himself in the condition that He found Himself in?

Experiencing hunger.

God called Him to it.

So for Satan, it's not about the miracle.

It's not about the food.

For Jesus, it's beyond that.

It's showing who He trusts.

Jesus took on flesh, and in doing so, took on limitations.

Jesus would get tired.

Jesus would get hungry.

Jesus would get thirsty.

This would mark Him.

If Jesus cut His hand, it hurt.

This is the experience that He would go through.

He took on the limitations, and we see all those as Jesus experiences His humanity.

So what Satan is calling Him is, is in Jesus, are you going to follow the leading of the Spirit?

Or Jesus, are you going to follow the leading of the flesh?

This is what we see in the very first temptation of Christ.

And in that, who are you going to trust?

And so Jesus responds to Him, and He quotes Scripture found in Deuteronomy 8, verse 3.

Deuteronomy 8:3

It says this,

And He humbled you, and let you hunger, and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know,

that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone,

but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

So Satan challenges him, are you going to trust God?

And Jesus, in His saying yes, says, and here's why.

Here's why I trust God.

Here's what's happening in Deuteronomy 8.

In this passage of Scripture, God tells Israel that He was the one to cause them to be in the desert.

That God is the one who caused them to hunger in the desert, but that also God is the one who provided for them in the desert.

And how did God provide for them?

Ultimately, God provided them by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

To trust God means to cling to who God is.

Can they trust Him?

Jesus says, you trust Him because you know Him.

You trust Him because you know His word.

Here's what I want to ask you this morning.

Do you trust God?

In the moments when we're going through this life and we're making one of two choices,

do I lean in and press forward by the flesh and what my flesh wants and what my flesh desires?

I can imagine being Christ and being there in that moment and feeling the emptiness of your stomach

and having the ability and the means to do what is being laid before you.

But instead of choosing what the flesh wanted, Jesus stood and took the step and chose what the Spirit was calling Him to.

And so do you trust God?

God's word says we know Him, and when we know Him, we develop our trust in Him.

And that when we know His word, we grow in it.

That we grow in our trust.

You see, it's not just about knowing about Jesus, but it's about knowing Him and then consuming more

and becoming more filled with His presence.

So Satan failed in attempt number one.

So he goes for attempt number two, starting in verse five.

And the devil took him and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time

and said to him, to you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me and I will give it to whom I will.

If you then will worship me, it will all be yours.

And Jesus answered him, it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.

Here's what we see in this moment.

Satan attacks Jesus, he tempts Jesus with a call to surrender.

Now I don't know why.

I'm not God and I don't understand or know everything about God.

But what God has done in God's will and God's plan is in this moment of time, in this span of history,

he has released the devil to do work and he's allowed him to have powers.

And so the things that Satan is claiming here in this moment are the things that he can do.

And so he comes to Jesus and he says in a brief moment of time,

so you see this supernatural event takes place,

that in a moment of time that he's able to show Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

And he says to Jesus, you can have all of them.

That right has been given to me.

But in order for you to have them, you must worship me.

Now here's what's happening.

God's already promised all of this to Christ.

God's promised Christ, not the kingdoms of the world, but he's promised him the kingdom.

As Jesus has began to preach and what we'll see early on in his ministry,

that he's come to proclaim the kingdom of God, that he will rightly rule over.

And so Satan comes though and doesn't promise him the kingdom,

but he promises the kingdoms of what he can give him.

If only he'll bow down and worship him.

So what is Satan offering Jesus?

If he can give him the kingdoms, but God has for him the kingdom,

what is he offering him?

You see, Satan is offering him the kingdom without the cross.

That when Christ to take the throne that God has promised him,

that it happens through the work that he will do on the cross.

And so what Satan is offering him in this moment is surrender to me without fulfilling what God has called you to do.

And so Jesus responds once again by looking into scripture,

by looking back at Deuteronomy, and he says,

You see, what Jesus points him toward,

what Jesus reminds us of is that you surrender to who you worship.

Satan says, worship me and I'll give you this.

And Jesus says, no, because surrender is found in the plan that God has for us.

You see, you surrender to who you worship.

You surrender to who you serve.

So I want to ask you this.

You know, we look at this temptation and we think it's about who we worship.

But if we find ourselves in the midst of living in a religious mindset,

and we say, who do you worship?

Well, you're here today.

So you worship God.

You worship Christ.

Those are the answers that we've been taught.

That's what we've become known to be able to say.

So I want to ask it in a different way in this moment.

Not who do you worship, but who have you surrendered to?

Who have you laid your life down for?

Who are you called to follow?

You see, Satan wanted Jesus to follow him.

And in order to do that, then you didn't have to worry about the cross.

I think about later in Jesus' ministry, and there's a group of people who they want to follow after him.

And the same means by which Jesus is going to surrender to God, he calls them to.

He says, if you want to follow me, if you want to come after me, there's something that we need to do.

You need to take up your cross, and you need to follow me.

The surrender to God in our lives.

So many times in Christianity, we want to sell this false, weak, watered-down version.

You see, the ease of Christ could have gained everything this world had to offer.

All he had to do was walk away from the cross.

All he had to do was walk away from his suffering.

All he had to do was walk away from the difficulty.

But he chose it instead.

And for us, within our life, we can gain and pursue all the things of the world.

You know, an interesting thing happens is the kingdom of God is fully established here on the earth.

As nations are no longer nation, but there's truly, truly one nation under God.

What will happen is the plurality of kingdoms and nations will no longer exist, and there'll be one for him.

The kingdom that happens through the work of the cross and the battle through it.

And for us, it's where we find ourselves in the surrender and being willing to go into the battle,

being willing to take up our cross and follow him, that it is not found in anything else other than in our surrender to God.

And so Satan fails yet again.

Two times he's failed.

So he comes back for a third.

Verse 9 says,

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him,

If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here.

Can you hear the challenge?

Jesus, if you are the Son of God, prove it.

Do this.

And here's how it will prove it.

Verse 10,

For it is written,

He will command his angels concerning you to guard you.

And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

And Jesus answered him,

It is said, you shall not put the Lord your God to test.

Temptation number three, obedience.

Obedience.

So the devil takes Jesus on top of the temple,

330 feet up into the air.

And he tells him,

If you're the Son of God, show it.

If you're the Son of God, prove it.

Because here's what will happen if you're the Son of God.

And he quotes Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12.

Psalms 91:11

That if you throw yourself down,

He will command his angels concerning you to guard you.

And on their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.

So Satan says,

All right, you've been quoting Scripture.

Let me quote Scripture.

Prove it.

Show it.

I'm going to make you put him to test.

Satan looks at Jesus.

And he says,

Here's the temptation that you must face.

Here's the temptation that you must pass.

You tell God what you're going to do.

And that God needs to play on your terms, not his.

Jesus.

Jesus doesn't say,

No, I'm not going to do that.

Jesus doesn't just say,

I don't have to prove to you who I am,

that what's going to be seen is on the cross.

Jesus again goes back to Deuteronomy.

Back to Deuteronomy 6.

He says,

You shall not put the Lord your God to test.

As you tested him at Massa,

you shall diligently keep the commandments of the Lord your God

and his testimonies and his statutes,

which he has commanded you.

So in Deuteronomy 6,

there's this reference of,

hey, you as humanity,

you and I,

we don't have the right to test God.

We don't have the right to call God on our authority.

Instead,

here's what we have the right to do

because he's God.

We've got the right to keep the commandments.

We've got the right to obey him.

And so Jesus says to Satan,

no, no, no, no, no.

I don't have to do what you tell me to do.

He doesn't have to do what I tell him to do.

In this,

the son has surrendered to the father

and I'm just going to obey him.

Here's what happened at Massa.

In Exodus chapter 17 is where the story of Massa takes place.

Exodus 17 · chapter mention

And God's people are finding themselves,

the Israelites,

kind of being like God's people.

If you've read the story or you know the story of Exodus,

here's what they've experienced up until this point.

They've been held captive.

They've been bound.

They find themselves in slavery to the Egyptians

and God hears their cries.

They cry out to him

and he's going to set his people free

through the earthly leadership of Moses

of how God's going to work in that moment.

And so God sends plagues.

He sends the Passover

to where they will be set free

and the Egyptians will feel the weight

and the wrath of God.

But because of their obedience to God,

they won't experience the wrath.

And so in and through that,

they experience this.

And the Egyptian, the Pharaoh,

he sets them free.

And so what God's people have experienced

is being set free

by simply not anything they've done,

but by the work of God.

And then as God set them free,

even in their freedom,

death awaited them

and death pursued them

in the form of the Egyptian army.

And they get to appoint God's people

as they flee from them

where they come

and they find themselves

on the shores of the Red Sea.

And behind them,

the army is attacking

and the only way to be saved

is for God to save them.

And so God commands Moses.

Moses holds up his rod

in the waters of the Red Sea part.

And the scripture tells us,

and this is remarkable,

I tell this every single time,

that it says that God's people,

right,

that they cross the Red Sea

on dry ground.

I want you to do something

the next time you go to the ocean,

all right?

I want you to go out at low tide.

And I want you to walk out

where the water once was

and tell me if it's dry.

It never is.

You see,

people have tried

to naturally explain

how this could have happened,

but what you can't explain,

you can explain the low tide,

right?

You cannot explain dry ground.

But God's people crossed

on dry ground.

And as they crossed,

the Egyptian army

pursued after them.

And so they went

in the same path

where God's people were.

And the moment,

the last Israelite

stepped foot

off of the Red Sea

onto the fully dry ground

of what was there,

and the moment

that the full Egyptian army

was in there,

that the waters

closed in on them.

And so God saved them.

But now they're

in the desert

and they're wandering

and they're hungry

and they're thirsty.

So what does God do?

God doesn't provide them

berries in a field

that they find somewhere.

God instead causes bread

to fall down from heaven

so that they can eat.

That when their thirst

is beginning to consume them,

God provides them

water.

And God doesn't provide

them water

by leading them

to a stream

or to a brook

where they can find

water to drink.

Instead,

God causes water

to come out

of a stone.

And so God's people

were there

at Massa.

And in spite of

all of these things

happening,

their complaint

to him was,

God,

did you bring us

here to kill us?

God,

if you didn't,

then do these things

on our account.

What they wanted God

to do

was they wanted God

to respond

to their authority,

to test him

to see if he would do

what they wanted him

to do.

And what Jesus says

is in response

to God's authority

of who we are,

what do we do?

How do we respond

to him?

We don't test him.

We obey.

We obey.

And so Jesus says,

I know what God's word says,

but I'm not to test him.

I'm simply to live

my life in obedience.

I want to ask you

this question,

and this is a question,

I want to be honest

with you,

that I've really had

to wrestle with

for myself this week.

Not in the theology

of what I believe,

but what I heard

a pastor call

practical theology.

You see,

theology is what we believe,

practical theology

is what we actually do.

And there's a difference

a lot of times for us, right?

There are things

that I believe,

but how that practically

plays out in my life

sometimes looks different.

And here's what I've had

to wrestle with,

is this,

whose authority

do you cling to?

Do you think

that God is here

to obey you

or are you here

to obey God?

I want to be honest

with you.

So many times,

the selfishness

of my heart,

the selfishness

of my prayers,

I can find myself

in God.

If you love me,

do this for me.

God, if you love me,

remove this from me.

God, if you love me,

take this away from me.

And in that,

and in my sin,

what I find

is that I'm trying

to make God obey me

and not me obey God.

but Jesus

once again

is the victor.

And the devil

leaves

and Jesus

is restored.

And here's how

we should probably

think logic

should play out.

Christ is overcame.

He's the victor.

Good things happen,

right,

when you do

good things.

That's where

our minds have been taught.

That's what we feel

like the narrative

of the story

should be.

And so if you continue

on reading

in chapter 4,

there are good things

that happen.

Chapter 4 talks about

that Jesus has a crowd

that begins

to follow him.

He has opportunities

where he begins

to teach

and people like

what he says

in some instances.

And Jesus has opportunities

to heal people,

to provide a life

and hope.

And if we put

the period

right there

at chapter 4

and this is what

this is about,

then this is

the great victory.

This is the story

that we can cling to,

right?

Jesus did all the things

that he would do

and it all turned out good

and yay,

let's wait

and see what happens

in chapter 5.

But also woven

into the fabric

of the story

of chapter 4

is not only

does Jesus

draw a crowd,

but he's rejected.

Not only do some people

like what he says,

but others hate it.

He's mocked

even to the point

where his life

is put in danger.

But even though,

even though

in the wilderness

he trusted

and he surrendered

and he obeyed,

he still finds himself

in the midst

of the struggle.

even when he's

surrounded

by others.

So what does he do

for the remainder

of his time

to the point

that we see him,

even to the point

of death

on the cross?

He trusts,

he surrenders

and he obeys.

I don't know

if you have any

goals

for this upcoming year.

We have to talk

about the things

that we want

to be known

for,

that we want

to see

that happen

and take place

in our life.

And for a lot

of us,

we talk about

I want to be

more like Christ,

I want to love

more like Christ,

I want to look

more like Christ,

I want Christ

to mark more

of my life.

But what does

that mean?

And what I would

argue is we don't

have to look past

the temptation

of Jesus

in the wilderness

to look at

what Jesus

did

and how he

overcame.

He trusted,

he surrendered

and he obeyed.

Would you pray

with me?

God,

I come to you

this morning

thanking you

for the victory

that we've been

able to see.

Lord,

you led,

Jesus was led

into the,

to the wilderness

and in his

humanity

he struggled

but in his

divinity

he gained

the victory.

God,

I pray for us

as we look

at this year

of what's

ahead,

as we look

at our

tomorrow

and our

week,

as we look

at the

battles

that are

in our

life.

Lord,

we know

that you

have not

left us

or forsaken

us.

Lord,

we might

be in a

place where

we feel

like hope

doesn't

exist.

Lord,

where the

struggle

is there.

But Lord,

I pray

that through

it all

what we

would experience

is trusting

you,

surrendering

to you,

and obeying

you.

every head

bowed and

every eye

closed.

Whether you're

watching at

home or

you're here

with us

on campus,

we look

at what it

means to

follow Christ.

I think

sometimes we

complicate it.

I think

we see

in here

through the

modeling

of Jesus

the process

of faith.

So I want

to ask you

this morning,

have you

trusted

Christ

with your

life,

with your

marriage,

with your

kids,

with your

health,

with every

aspect,

have you

trusted him?

Have you

trusted him

for your

eternity?

That heaven

is not going

to be obtained

by works,

but it's

going to be

a gift

received

through grace

of Christ.

Have you

trusted him?

Have you

surrendered to

him?

At the

mark of

surrender,

to bow

down,

say my

life is

yours,

do with

me as

you

please.

Have

all that

is me

and use

it for

your name

and for

your glory.

And are

you

pushing

for

obedience

in

him?

Understanding

that every

day is a

day of

growth,

but understanding

that every

failure that

you commit

is met

with grace

and forgiveness

and kindness

and compassion.

But every

day,

looking for

an opportunity

to be

obedient to

him.

I think

that's

what it

means to

follow

Jesus,

to live

in victory

in spite

of the

wilderness

of the

desert

that we

find

ourselves

in.

God,

as we

conclude this

worship service

here in a

moment,

we're going to

respond in

song.

Lord,

I pray for

the

response of

hearts

to you.

For some

of us,

maybe it's

beginning a

relationship

with you,

salvation

found in

you and

you alone.

For some

of us,

maybe it's

growing in

trust,

growing in

surrender,

growing in

obedience.

But Lord,

I pray in the

spirit of God

that we will

not leave

here in the

way that we

enter.

Jesus,

we love

you.

We praise

you.

It's in

your name

we pray.

Amen.

Would you

stand and

respond to

him?

Thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge

Church

weekly podcast.

We hope

that you

enjoyed

listening to

this week's

message.

If you'd

like to

learn more

about who

we are

or explore

additional

resources,

visit us

online at

www.willowridgechurch.com

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

Facebook and

Instagram.