Week 21 Recap

Jesus and Mary (or, stuff John didn't have time to cover in the sermon)

Hey everyone -

So, when I wrote the sermon for this week, there was a topic I found fascinating, but didn't have time to get to in the sermon.  If reading the exchange in this passage between Jesus and his mother made you go "huh?" then you can head on over to the worship blog and read my thoughts there.

If the link doesn't work, you can type it in directly: vrbcworshipstuff.blogspot.com

John

Week 19 recap

Week 18 Recap

Hey everyone -

This week, we looked at Matthew 4:1-11 - the temptation of Jesus.  In this passage, immediately following his baptism, we see Jesus being tempted by Satan in the desert.  It reminds us of when Adam and Eve were tempted in the Garden way back in Genesis, but this time, Satan is defeated.  Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded.

In this passage, we find sobering news: we are vulnerable to the devil's tactics.

• We are vulnerable to our appetites: As Satan tempted Jesus to fill his hunger by turning stones to bread, he tempts us to fill the good desires God has given us with things other than Jesus, the only one who can truly satisfy.  We talked about how we are especially vulnerable to temptation when we are HALT (hungry, angry, lonely, tired)
• We are vulnerable to accolades (we desire approval/applause).  Satan tempted Jesus to do a "trick" to gain popularity.  He often tempts us to forsake our calling for popularity's sake as well.
• We are vulnerable to ambition.  Satan promised to give Jesus all the kingdoms of the world if he will just bow down and worship him.  And he often tries to sell us the same bill of goods: "make this one compromise to get ahead"

While it is sobering news that we are vulnerable to these "short-cut" tactics the devil uses, there is good news in the passage: Jesus defeats Satan!  And through his power, so can we.  Jesus forgives our sins, cleanses us, and strengthens us for the fight.

Toward the end, Larry gave us a tool to fight temptation.  He called it the "Temptation Equation"

I + W = V

Identity + Weaponry = Victory

Identity - remember that you are a child of God with the Holy Spirit living inside of you

Weaponry - spiritual disciplines like Scripture and prayer

Victory - the ability to follow through on the calling God has given us.

If you missed the sermon, check out the podcast on the resources tab or on iTunes.  See you next week!

Week 17 Recap

Happy New Year, everyone!

We took a short break from our weekly recap videos over the holidays, but you can still catch those sermons if you happened to be out of town.  They are available on our podcasting hosting website at http://sermon.net/vrbc as well as on iTunes (search Valley Ranch Baptist Church).

Yesterday, January 6th, Larry preached on Jesus' baptism as recorded in Matthew 3.  If you missed it, definitely check out the podcast-it's a good one!  Here is the short version of what he shared with us:

Background - John the Baptist (Jesus' cousin) is causing quite a commotion down in Judea (the southern part of Israel) by preaching that people need to "repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." He is also baptizing people in the Jordan River.  Jesus takes the trip down from Galilee (in the northern part of Israel) to see John.

When Jesus approaches John, he does a strange thing - he asks John to baptize him.  This has caused lots of questions for theologians over the years, as Jesus was the only person at the river that day who didn't have ANY sins to confess or repent of!  Larry explained it this way:

Jesus is fulfilling God's desire by being baptized, and he blazes a trail for us to be reconciled to God.  Jesus identifies with us so that we can find our new identity in him.

When we find our identity in Christ, what happened to Jesus in the Jordan River that day also happens to us.  We enter a new reality, where:

* Life is VERTICAL - no longer is all of our life "horizontal."  Instead, the heavens have been opened and we can be connected with God.
* Life is SPIRITUAL - We can live a Spirit-led life.  We don't have to wander around like a lost driver without a map.  We have the Spirit with us to guide us!
* Life is WONDERFUL - Jesus takes our sin on himself and clothes us with his righteousness.  When God looks at us, he doesn't see our sin - he sees his Son.  And he says to us the same thing he said to Jesus:  "This is my son (or daughter!), whom I love.  With him I am well pleased.


May this beautiful reality inform and inspire us this week!