IN THE WILDERNESS PT3 | SUNDAY 8TH MARCH | JESS HORNE

Jess horning. I'm Jess. I'm part of the

team here at Tanga Elum Church. And it

is my privilege and honor to be sharing

with you this morning. And I'm really

excited for what God is going to do in

this place. And I'm believing for what

he is going to do in your hearts as

well. So, if you haven't been following

along with us here at church, we've

started a series on the wilderness,

which is all about the life of Jesus as

he is led by the spirit into the

wilderness, as he fasts for 40 days, and

as he is tempted by the enemy. And this

passage of scripture can be found in

Luke 4:es 1-13. And pastor Aaron

preached a great message a couple weeks

ago, the first message in our series,

and it was all about the wilderness

being a place where formation happens.

And then last week, his sermon was about

repentance and confession. How these

aren't simply a religious act, but a

gift, an invitation into God's presence

and his grace. And I can't do justice to

these two sermons in 10 seconds because

they were really that good. And so, can

I encourage you after the service if you

haven't heard them to go back and listen

to them? I believe it will bless you.

But today, we're going to continue in

our series about the wilderness, picking

up in verses 3 to 4. But for a bit of

context, we're just going to read from

Luke 4:E1.

And it says, "Jesus, full of the spirit,

left the Jordan and was led by the

spirit into the wilderness where for 40

days he was tempted by the devil. He ate

nothing during those days and at the end

of them he was hungry."

Then in verse three, it says, "The devil

said to him, if you are the son of God,

tell this stone to become bread." Jesus

answered, "It is written, man shall not

live by bread alone." And so that is the

passage of scripture that we are going

to be looking at this morning. And it's

funny because as I was writing this

message, I um I sat down to write this

one Saturday morning, and I was in the

midst of a 24-hour fast, and my flatmate

had just baked a fresh loaf of

sourdough. And let me tell you, it

looked and smelled amazing. Absolutely

delicious. And in my opinion, there's

nothing quite like the smell of freshly

baked bread. I don't know if anyone has

smelt that smell before, but I just

think it's the best thing in the world.

And apparently, now Google says this,

and Google's always right, but

apparently uh if you are trying to sell

a house, what you should do is bake a

loaf of bread and let it do its thing,

right? Because apparently the bread, the

smell of the bread baking entices buyers

by creating a warm, inviting, and

nostalgic atmosphere that makes buyers,

potential buyers, feel like they could

live in that place. I've never owned a

home, so uh never sold one either. And

so the theory is yet to be tested. But

uh if you are trying to sell a home,

give it a go. Let me know what your

thoughts are. But this Saturday morning,

I was sitting down writing this message.

And as the fresh smell of sourdough

wafted through the air, tantalizing my t

senses and making my stomach physically

growl at me, the temptation to have even

just one slice was very real.

I can't even imagine how tempting it

would have been for Jesus in the

wilderness to want to eat some bread

after 40 days without food. I think

often that we can forget that Jesus is

divine and is fully God, but he was also

fully man. And so, he would have

experienced the same feelings and

emotions as we do. He would have

experienced human hunger. Anybody know

anyone that gets hangry? Actually,

don't. Don't put your hand up because

that could be embarrassing. But hangry

is when you're like getting angry cuz

you're hungry and you're maybe a little

bit unpredictable because you're that

hungry. And I'm not saying that Jesus

was hangry, but I am saying that after

40 days he was definitely hungry. And it

definitely tells us that he is. In verse

two, it says he was hungry. Just in case

we didn't figure that out ourselves.

Then directly after that, we read that

the devil tempts him to turn stones into

bread.

The enemy comes to him in a time where

he would have felt physically weak and

tempts him with the very thing that he

hadn't had and probably wanted. But

while Jesus' desire to satisfy his

appetite may have been strong after 40

days of fasting, his desire to grow his

spirit and in line himself with God's

will was stronger. Could Jesus have

turned the stones into bread? Of course

he could have. He had the power and he

had good reason to want to do it. But he

didn't. Instead, he reminds Satan that

man does not live by bread alone. And

we'll circle back to that a bit later.

But what I first want to draw our

attention to is that this first

temptation the enemy gives Jesus. He

says, "If you are the son of God, tell

the stone to turn into bread." And we

see two approaches of the enemy here.

Firstly, we see that he tries to get

Jesus to doubt who he is and give him

grounds for needing to prove his

identity.

Secondly, he appeals to Jesus's physical

desire, presenting him with a temptation

that might have felt hard to resist.

So why does Satan attack Jesus' identity

first? Now, a few passages before Jesus

is in the wilderness, we read about

Jesus's baptism and about the audible

voice of God speaking over him, "You are

my son whom I love. With you I am well

pleased." And now the enemy is

challenging that truth about who Jesus

is by saying if you are the son of God.

Why is this so important? Because if the

enemy can get you to doubt who you are

and to doubt who God is, the battle is

already half won. When we waver in

knowing who God is in our lives and we

doubt his love, we're more likely to shy

away from stepping into the call that he

has for us, into who he is calling us to

be. We become more vulnerable and

susceptible to give into temptation. And

it is far easier for the enemy to try to

get us to do what he wants us to do.

It's literally what he's been doing

since the beginning of time. In the

Garden of Eden, he says to Eve, I was

going to say Garden of Eve. No, Garden

of Eden. He says to Eve, "Did God really

say that?" He's trying to make her doubt

God and question his faithfulness.

Because you see, knowing who God is and

knowing that we are loved by him helps

us to filter out the lies from the

enemy. It anchors us in the truth of his

word. There have been so many times in

my own life that the enemy has tried to

make me doubt who I am or doubt that God

cares or that he's even there. But we

need to learn to start recognizing these

for what they are. And that is lies.

The second thing that the enemy will try

to do is to begin to speak into our

desires, hoping to lead us into sin and

away from the plans and the purposes

that God has for our lives. You see, the

act of turning stones into bread in and

of itself wasn't necessarily bad because

food and eating can be good things.

Everyone who loves food said, "Amen."

But the temptation lay in trying to

satisfy a physical desire in the wrong

way and at the wrong time outside of

God's will and to use his power without

regard for his purpose. You see, Jesus

was in the wilderness to fast, to draw

closer to God, to humble himself before

him. And this was meant to be a time of

preparation and of testing before he

begins his ministry and fulfills his

purpose. And what Satan is trying to do

in this first temptation is to get Jesus

to take a shortcut.

He's trying to get him to he's trying to

lure him into satisfying his own

immediate need at the expense of his

long range mission. By suggesting that

Jesus appease his physical hunger, the

enemy is tempting Jesus to seek

momentary comfort at the sacrifice of

his plan to die on the cross for the

sins of the world.

Yet, no matter how much his flesh might

have desired to give in, how much he

might have wanted to eat, his love for

us and his desire to please God and

fulfill his purpose gives him the

strength to withstand the temptation.

Jesus chooses to stand strong in the

knowledge of who he is and to feed his

spirit instead of his flesh. He chooses

to have an eternal focus considering the

spiritual formation taking place in his

life rather than his current physical

desire.

And while some of us in this room maybe

can relate to being driven by our

stomachs and loving food and food being

a hard thing to turn down, the truth is

that appetite and desire are not always

about food.

In fact, a lot of the time it's about a

lot of other things.

While we may be able to see the wrong in

some desires like desiring revenge or

wanting control of others, there are

many desires we have in this life life

that can be very legitimate and very

normal desires

like the desire to be known, to be

loved, to be valued, to be accepted, to

feel pleasure, to have peace, to be

happy, to be right. Others may be who

desire to have a family, to be in a

relationship, to be married, to be rich,

promoted, liked, or to fit in. And like

he did with Jesus, the temptation the

enemy will present us with time and time

again is to fulfill these desires in our

own ways and in our own time without

regard for God, his kingdom, his plans,

or his purposes.

You see, it's not necessarily a sin to

want good things. But many of us fall

into sin when we go about trying to

satisfy a physical desire outside of

God's design and intention for our

lives.

>> We live in a world of instant

gratification, a world that seeks quick

and easy pleasure and fulfillment,

prioritizing the immediate rewards over

the long-term benefits. Society

continually encourages convenience,

comfort, and compromise in order to

obtain what we want. We're told, "Do

whatever you want, whenever you want.

Follow your heart. You do you, boo. And

you do you, boo. And we are sold this

egotistical pitch that life is all about

us and what we can do for ourselves to

feel good. Or sometimes it's also about

not doing something that we know we

really should do.

Our flesh and our spirit will often be

at war. In fact, Galatians tells us that

they are in conflict with one another

and that the only way to overcome the

flesh, its desires, and its appetites,

is to walk by the spirit and to stand in

the truth of God's word. This passage

can be found in Galatians 5:16-17.

Galatians 5:16–17

And it says, "So I say, walk by the

spirit and you will not gratify the

desires of the flesh. For the flesh

desires what is contrary to the spirit

and the spirit what is contrary to the

flesh. They are in conflict with each

other so that you are not to do whatever

you want.

The temptation we will continually face

is to live according to our appetites

and to our desires. Our flesh says,

"Feed me now. Satisfy me now. You

deserve it." But our spirit says, "Trust

in God's timing." Like Pastor Aaron

mentioned a few weeks ago, in God's

kingdom, the wilderness is a place where

formation happens and good things grow,

but fruit takes time. And as people

driven by various appetites and desires,

we have a choice to make. We can choose

to gratify our flesh to live for the

momentary and temporary, satisfying a

need in our own time and strength. Or we

can be led by the spirit, rely on God,

trust in his word, and invest into the

thing that he is doing in our lives.

If we want to become more like Jesus,

there are going to be times that we are

required to say no to our desires, to

where our heart leads, or to what makes

us happy. There are going to be times

that we have to trust God and trust in

his timing, even when it doesn't make

sense or when it isn't what we feel like

doing.

James 1:es 2 to4 tells us to consider it

pure joy my brothers and sisters

whenever you face trials of many kinds

because you know that the testing of

your faith produces perseverance. Let

perseverance finish its work so that you

may be mature and complete not lacking

anything.

You see many of us want the spiritual

transformation. We want to be mature,

complete, lacking nothing. But we aren't

willing to persevere through the

wilderness, through the trial, and

through the temptation. You see, we want

the fruit of a godly life without the

commitment, without the sacrifice, the

surrender, the denying of ourselves for

the purpose of becoming more like

Christ. We want the comfortable, the

convenient. We want the shortcut. But

spiritual maturity, growth, and fruit

take time. They require patience and

they call us to trust God above all

else. This life isn't about what we

have, but it's about who we are

becoming. And I don't know about you

this morning, church, but I want to

become more like Jesus.

This Lent season is an opportunity for

us to lean into this. It's an invitation

into sanctification, surrender, and

transformation. It's a time where we

intentionally choose to deny ourselves,

to deny our flesh in order that we might

grow our spirit. It's a powerful time

because we're choosing to say no to

something, not to try and manipulate an

outcome, but to die to ourselves and to

draw closer to God. Matthew 16:24

Matthew 16:24

reminds us, "If anyone would come after

me, let him deny himself and take up his

cross and follow me."

As many of us in this Lent season have

chosen something to fast, we are

developing disciplines in our lives to

say no to what our flesh wants in the

moment and to deny ourselves of our

fleshly desires, choosing instead to

lean into the spirit and saying, "God,

would we desire you above all else?"

Now, if anyone has had the privilege of

being with me in a car, you will know.

What are you laughing at, Joy?

you will have discovered that I have a

bit of a heavy foot at times, okay? So,

that means that I use the speed limit as

more of a guideline than an actual

limit. Um, but guys, new year, new me,

okay? I'm trying really hard this year

to not do that. I was uh the reason that

I do that is actually because I'm

usually running late everywhere, so I

like try to get there faster. But again,

new year, new me, I'm trying to be on

time or early. Today, I was actually 15

minutes early. So, I mean, last week I

was 5 minutes late and missed the prayer

meeting. So, it's a work in progress,

but um there was this time last year at

the very start of the year and I was

just starting school. Uh so, I'm a

school teacher and it was the first day

back after summer and I'd overestimated

the time that I had in the morning to

get to school on my first day back. So,

as much as I do run late 80% of the time

and that's not something I'm proud of, I

actually hate being late. And I

especially hate being late if it's the

first day back at work. And so I get

into the car with 10 minutes to go and

I'm thinking all good. I've timed this

before. It only actually takes 9 minutes

and 20 seconds. So I'm safe as long as

the red light stays green. Um so I've

got time. Okay. So I've timed it. The

song Because of Christ, the extended

version, I can make it in that time. And

so I'm driving along worshiping Jesus. a

little bit stressed because of the time,

but also chilling because I'm only up to

the first bridge of the song. So, it's

all good. We've got time. And I'm

driving up 15th A and I realize that I'm

going a little bit fast. And so, I slow

down fairly quickly as I come up to the

lights.

It's all good. No one's watching. And

then about 15 meters down the road at

the next set of lights, I see red and

blue flash behind me. Anyone I get like

a racy heart when I talk about that.

Like, I hate being stopped by the cops.

And up until this point, it had never

happened. Um, actually, no, that's a

lie, but just not for speeding.

Not for something terrible, either. Uh,

it was actually for going too slow.

Okay, so

I'm, you know, here and there. I'm not

in the middle. Okay. Anyway, um, so he

asked me the questions. Typical, what

was your speed? And I misunderstood

where he was talking about. So I kind of

thought he was talking about like up at

the lights where it's like 50. So I kind

of was like, oh, like 70. But he was

actually talking about like the main bit

of the road where it's like 80 and I was

definitely not doing 70 there. So he

thought I was lying to him to try get

out of a fine. So now he's like grilling

me and he's really not that happy with

me. Um so I asked him if I can message

my boss to say I'm going to be late cuz

obviously now I'm definitely going to be

late. And I realized that no matter what

uh the speedometer was clocked pretty

high and I'm going to be paying this

fine and get them to merit whether I

like it or not. So, I arrived to school,

life goes on. But what's even worse is

that a week later,

only a week later, after dropping some

kids home after youth, it's 10:45 p.m.

and I want to get Mackers before it

closes because I think we've established

I really like food. And I'm doing 16 or

50 without even realizing. And next

minute, a cop goes past me. And then I

look in my rear view and he does the

U-turn and he follows me and he pulls me

over. And you can guess what happens

with the rest of the story. So, within a

single week, I've lost half my demerits

and a fairly large sum of money. Just

for the record, I barely speed now.

Okay, I'm actually scared to lose my

license, so I'm trying really hard to

follow the road rules cuz that could be

awkward. Um, so you guess I guess I

could say I finally learned my lesson.

But the crazy thing is that both of

these times I was trying not to be late

where I to where I wanted to be, but it

ended up costing me more than if I

hadn't sped. You see, in the long run,

it actually cost me more time because I

was stopped asked the questions. So, I

was late anyways. It cost me money. It

cost me dearits and it cost me a bit of

my pride. Now, the reason I tell you

this is not so that you'll think I'm an

unsafe driver and never get in the car

with me again. But it's to remind us

that sometimes choosing to deny our

flesh and not follow our desires comes

at a cost. But giving into these very

desires and temptations, compromising,

trying to take the shortcut or speed

things up, trying to do it in our own

strength or on our own terms is going to

cost us so much more.

There's a story in the Bible about a

whole people group who learned this the

hard way. They learn this by trying to

take the shortcut and they realize that

it's never worth it. You see, a journey

that was supposed to take them 10 to 11

days, a few weeks at most, ends up

taking them 40 years. Some of you may

know the story of the Israelites, how

God saves them from slavery, from the

Egyptians, and leads them out into the

wilderness to learn to trust him as he

prepares to bring them into the promised

land. However, the Israelites allow

doubts to creep in about who God is and

his faithfulness to them as his chosen

people. They allow day-to-day challenges

around food and water to overwhelm them

with fear and anger. They grumble. They

complain. And some of them even say,

"Let's go back to Egypt."

So, you see, they'd rather return to the

slavery in Egypt than be in the

wilderness where they have to learn to

trust God and not depend on themselves.

And instead of trusting God and trusting

that he would show up for them every

day, provide for them, and lead them,

they give into lies like, "God can't be

trusted or he's holding out on you." Or

you could have this in your own terms.

And despite continual evidence of God's

love, power, provision, and grace, the

Israelites are disobedient and try to

take matters into their own hands. And

as a result of their lack of faith, God

declares that the current generation

will not enter the promised land. You

see, they tried to take the shortcut.

They chose to do things themselves

without regard for God or his purposes.

And their disobedience and doubt cost

them years of wandering without ever

seeing the promises of God fulfilled.

In Deuteronomy, after 40 years in the

wilderness, we find Moses on the east

bank of the Jordan River as he's

preparing the new generation to enter

into the promised land. And he reminds

them of this. Deuteronomy 8:es 1 to3.

Be careful to follow every command I am

giving you today so that you may live

and increase and may enter and possess

the land that the Lord has promised on

oath to your ancestors.

Remember how the Lord your God led you

all the way in the wilderness these 40

years to humble and test you in order to

know what was in your heart, whether or

not you would keep his commands. He

humbled you, causing you to hunger and

then feeding you with mana which neither

you nor your ancestors had known to

teach you that man does not live on

bread alone but on every word that comes

from the mouth of the Lord. And this is

the passage of scripture that Jesus

quotes when the devil tempts him to turn

stones into bread. And it reminds us

that God alone can satisfy us. We learn

that real life comes from total

commitment to God and from living by

every word that comes from him. It comes

from trusting him and following where he

leads, even when it doesn't make sense.

It comes from surrendering to him and to

his voice, not giving into the lies and

the doubts from the enemy, even when

they appear to satisfy our deepest

desires.

Where many people believe that life is

about satisfying their own appetites and

desires or being comfortable, Moses and

now Jesus remind us that such things

will never satisfy our deepest longings.

In the end, they only leave us empty and

wanting.

And as Jesus replays the wanderings of

his people years later, as he enters a

40-day wilderness and is tempted with

many of the same temptations as the

Israelites, we see him choosing to trust

his father and listen to his voice alone

instead of the lies of the enemy. Where

Israel and all of humanity fails, Jesus

succeeds and overcomes so that we might

do the same. When we go through our own

wilderness, whether we intentionally are

being led into it, like in a season of

Lent, or we somehow find ourselves in

the midst of it, we need to learn to

trust in God and to believe that he is

enough.

We need to live by every word that comes

from the mouth of God and not allow the

enemy to make us doubt who God is or to

lead us into temptations and satisfying

our own desires without regard for his

truth.

Jesus knew what the Israelites had

forgotten or maybe simply hadn't learned

yet. He knew that God is faithful. He's

our provider, our protector, our

creator, almighty God, and his ways are

higher than our own. Jesus knew that

everything he needed was found in the

father. And church, everything that we

need, the fullness of life is found in

Jesus.

But it is up to us to take to stand

strong in this truth to learn how to not

give into the lies and the doubts of the

enemy and to not seek to satisfy the

desires of our flesh. And the only way

that we can do this is by following the

pattern of Jesus. You see, Jesus knew

the scriptures. He knew the truth of

them and he believed in them contrary to

the Israelites who knew of God but

didn't truly know God or trust his word.

Jesus teaches us that to overcome the

enemy, we need to grow an in appetite

for God's word, not for the things of

this world. You see, it's not simply

about knowing the word of God, but about

realizing our deep need for it and

having it deeply engraved into our

hearts, seeking to understand it more

and more. Jesus fulfilled and stood

against the same temptations the

Israelites failed to overcome because he

knew and trusted in God's word. He was

so deeply rooted in it. The word of God

is the truth that we stand on, the

nourishment that sustains us, and the

weapon that we use to fight the enemy

when he comes to attack us. In the armor

of God listed in Ephesians 6, the sword

of the spirit, which is the word of God,

is actually the only offensive weapon.

It is the only offensive tool and it has

power.

I heard it once said and it stuck with

me is that the word of God is a sword,

not a plastic butter knife. You know

those knives that you use at potlucks

and they just don't cut anything? Like

they're plastic or even worse the paper

ones and they just bend like they are

useless, utterly useless. But the word

of God is not that. It is a double-edged

sword and it is powerful.

But if we aren't in the word and we

don't know the word, then we aren't able

to use the word when attacks come. The

thing is, and as we read on in later

scriptures in Luke, the enemy knows the

word too, and he will try to twist it,

purposefully, misquote it, disregard its

meaning, and he has no intention of ever

following it. We need to know our word

better than he does so that we can stand

in its truth and know how to apply it to

our lives.

Jesus was also full of the spirit and

relied on him. God was with the

Israelites in the wilderness, too. His

presence was present. presence was

present. Oh well. Um his spirit was

present in a pillar of cloud by day and

fire by night. But they only relied on

him when it was convenient to them. We

need to be continually filled with the

spirit of God. The word of God becomes

living, active, transformative, and

powerful when coupled with the presence

of God. And Clinton spoke about a bit of

that this morning about the need we have

for God's presence in our lives. When we

are spiritfilled, we can be spiritled.

We can follow where he leads and learn

how to align our lives more with who he

is and what he's calling us to. John

John 14:26

14:26 Jesus says, "But the advocate, the

Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send

in my name, will teach you all things

and remind you of everything I have said

to you."

The Holy Spirit leads us, guides us,

comforts us, reminds us of truth, and

encourages us. Jesus was filled with the

spirit. And if he needed the spirit to

overcome temptations from the enemy, how

much more do we need the Holy Spirit to

strengthen us in times of trial?

But church, can I tell you that the Holy

Spirit is not just a genie in a bottle

waiting to be called upon when we need

him. He is constant. He wants to be part

of every moment in our life. He wants to

lead and guide and comfort and

strengthen us daily.

To walk in the spirit, we need to feast

on the things of the spirit. We need to

spend time in his presence,

understanding more of who he is and

allowing him to transform us from the

inside out.

And finally, we learn from Jesus to fix

our eyes on eternity rather than the

fleeting moment that we are in. The

Israelites couldn't see past their

present discomforts. And they allowed

unbelief and doubt to shift their focus

from God to their wilderness.

Jesus knew what his mission was. He knew

that there was more to his life than

just this single moment in the

wilderness. He knew that he was part of

God's plan to save humanity. And he

chose to focus on eternity rather than

his current physical desire.

The Israelites knew they were God chose

God's chosen people. They knew where

they were headed. Yet, every time the

smallest inconvenience happened, they

focused in on it and they let it

distract them from their purpose. They

let their desires and their appetites

and their comfort lead their actions,

forgetting that God is the one who is

leading them.

In 2 Corinthians 4:16 to18, we are

2 Corinthians 4:16–18

encouraged to have an eternal

perspective.

It says, "Therefore, we do not lose

heart, though outwardly we are wasting

away, yet inwardly we are being renewed

day by day. For our light and momentary

troubles are achieving for us an eternal

glory that far outweighs them all. So we

fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on

what is unseen. Since what is seen is

temporary, but what is unseen is

eternal."

Sometimes the moment that we are in can

feel so overwhelming and the temptation

to find a way out of it on our own is

very real. But we're reminded in this

verse not to lose heart, but to fix our

eyes on what is unseen, on what is

eternal. Now, don't hear what I'm not

saying. I'm not saying to turn a blind

eye to what you're facing that if you

ignore it, it'll go away. No, I'm not

saying that. But I'm saying that what

you focus on is what you magnify. You

see, focusing on eternity helps us to

focus on God and magnify him in our

lives and his strength and his power and

it gives us the strength to endure

through the trial, to endure through the

temptation.

My question for us today and the

challenge we have in our wilderness is

will we be like the Israelites?

Will we doubt God's goodness, try to

speed up the process, take the shortcut,

satisfy needs and desires in our own

strength, and live according to the

flesh?

Or will we be like Jesus, steadfast in

the truth of who God is, who he says he

is, trusting in his word and his timing,

choosing to say no to what might fulfill

an immediate desire for the sake of

growing in our eternal purpose.

The choice is ours.

We can either be driven by desire or

sanctified through surrender.

We can choose to live on bread alone or

every word that comes from the mouth of

the Lord. We can listen to the enemy's

voice of deception or we can follow

God's wisdom and direction.

It's not always going to be easy, but I

can promise you it's going to be worth

it. And so as we continue in this Lent

season, my prayer for us is that we

would grow in appetite for God's word.

That we would be filled with his spirit

and that we would learn to fix our eyes

on eternity, not because we are trying

to manipulate an outcome, but because we

just genuinely desire more of who God

is.

And so I'm going to wrap up in just a

moment. But can I just invite you to

ponder that for a moment?

Whatever is in this season of your life

in the wilderness, whatever lies the

enemy is maybe speaking over you, are

you going to choose to listen to that or

are you going to stand strong in the

truth of God's word and of who he says

that you are and who he says that he is?

And maybe you're sitting here this

morning

and you've never actually known that you

were created by a God who loves you.

You've never actually known the truth of

his word and what he says about you.

Maybe you've chased after the things of

this world and never been satisfied. Can

I tell you this morning that there is a

God who knows you, who loves you, who

has called you by name, who wants to do

life with you.

Maybe this morning you feel like you

once followed God, but you've actually

allowed these lies and these uh

different temptations to overtake you

and you've walked away. You've strayed

away from the path that he's called you

to live out. Can I remind you that you

are never too far gone from God's grace?

that you are never too far gone from his

love and that if you would like to come

back to him, he is waiting with open

arms.

And so just in closing, I want to give

everyone the opportunity this morning

with every eye closed and with every

head bowed.

If you don't know Jesus,

if you don't know this God who loves

you,

or if you've walked away from him and

want to come back, can I invite you in

this moment to just raise a hand in this

room?

I'm not going to count us down, but if

that's you, would you just wave your

hand right now?

Awesome.

Cool. Thank you, Jesus.

Lord, we just pray for every person in

this room. Lord, we thank you that you

love them and that you've called them

and that you have a plan and a purpose

for them. And Lord, we pray whatever

wilderness they are living in in this

moment, whatever temptations they may be

facing or lies they may be believing,

God, would your truth penetrate through

that. And God, would your truth, Lord,

would overcome that. We just pray right

now for every person in this room that

your life and your light would be upon

them right now in Jesus name. That as

they go through their weeks and about

their weeks that they would remember to

grow an appetite for your word to be

strong in spirit and filled with your

Holy Spirit. And Lord, would they

remember to set their eyes on the things

of eternity. Bless them God as they go

through their weeks in Jesus name. Amen.