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This Sunday we wrapped up our series The Testing, about the 3 temptations the devil puts before Jesus in the desert.

Here’s the question:

“How can we know if we’re already fallen into the devil’s trap?”

The devil’s goal is to ruin our lives; the third temptation he puts before Jesus is subtly dangerous. In fact, it’s so subtle that we may have already fallen into his trap without knowing it.

Here are 3 signs to watch for.

This Sunday we’re continuing our sermon series “The Testing” as we look at the second temptation of Jesus in the wilderness.

This is the time the devil quotes scripture at Jesus…accurately.

I know there must be some trick going on here—he is the devil, after all, and probably shouldn’t be trusted—but what is the trick? What’s the devil up to?

What if you could see the devil’s plan to ruin your life?

There’s a lesson here for us in how the devil interprets scripture, one that involves our expectations for life.

If we fall into the trap, it will lead us into misery. Let’s not make that mistake!

What if you had a copy of the devil’s plan to ruin your life?

What if you could see—in detail, and with specifics—how the enemy was planning to lead you into destruction, to bring you to a place of daily misery, to take away every possibility of happiness?

If you had a copy of the devil’s plan to ruin your life, what would you do with it?

This is the question we’re asking in week 1 of our new sermon series from the Gospel of Matthew called “The Testing.” For the next 3 weeks, we’ll be looking at the fascinating place in the Gospel of Matthew when Jesus is tested and tempted by the devil before he is ready to begin his public ministry. What we will see is how the devil plans to destroy human lives...one lie or tempting thought at a time.

This first week, we see that the devil’s plan to ruin your life starts with dropping a suggestion of suspicion into your thoughts—What if God can’t be trusted to provide?

 have two questions:

1. Why was Jesus baptized?

and, related to it

2. Why should I care?

This is week #2 of a preview of the Gospel of Matthew, which we start next week, and we’re looking at the baptism of Jesus by in the Jordan River by John the Baptist; we’ll read through the entirety of Matthew chapter 3.

We should care about the baptism of Jesus because it tells us how God wants Christians to live in the world, standing in the gap for others.

Series: Matthew category

As I’m beginning Year 2 at Asbury, I want to share my plan for taking over the world.*

*The plan actually belongs to Jesus, but I’m going to copy it.

The last words that Jesus gave his followers were to: “make disciples.”

Not converts, not attendees, not believers, but “disciples,” i.e., apprentices or learners or students.

Our job is to learn to live like Jesus, and to train other people to live like Jesus.

Let’s GO.

I’m tired of losing, of playing defense, and acting like a victim. I’m tired of the trend lines all going in the wrong direction. And I’m tired of all the anger and finger-pointing.

So, what do we do?

The same 3 words give us the way forward, whether it’s a Fourth of July barbecue or a big national issue. It’s the way of Jesus.

And it works.

Let’s go.