The Scripture Reading for this week is: Luke 4:1-13
The Sermon title is Decide!
Early Thoughts: Who are you? How will you fulfill the mission God has for you?
That is a question we all need to wrestle with as we grow and mature as people of faith. God invites us to participate in the missio Dei, to share in the work God is doing in the world.
Turns out Jesus needed to do the same thing.
According to Matthew, Mark and Luke, right after his baptism Jesus is led (or driven depending on the Gospel) into the wilderness for a time of testing. This week we are reading Luke's version of that event.
The Tempter/Tester (because that is what Satan is in Jewish thought, a member of the heavenly court whose role is to test the righteous) offers the words "If you are the Son of God...". What does it mean to Jesus to be, as was affirmed at his baptism "you are my [God] Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased"?
In an exchange chock full of scripture references (on both sides) The Satan offers three different scenarios. Jesus could feed the hungry. Jesus could have political power. Jesus could be a miracle worker. Jesus turns down each of them. And, it would appear, in the process gains clarity about who he is and what his mission is.
What temptations might distract us from our vocations?
AS we explore who we are in this season of our lives, as we explore how God is calling us to join in the missio Dei what will we decide?
--Gord
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