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An Embrace from the Church Family
In the late 1990s, the youth of First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, were burdened Read More
Roberta Bondi | Read Matthew 4:1-11
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Sign Up TodayJesus begins his ministry with a forty-day fast in the wilderness,
paralleling the Israelites’ forty years in the wilderness
after their rescue from slavery in Egypt. They faced many trials in
the wilderness. They found themselves tested by God, and they
barely passed. God miraculously provided for their care. Nevertheless,...
Loving God, we know that giving in to our temptations does not mean you abandon us. Amen.
The texts for Ash Wednesday are all ominous in nature, pointing forward to the redemptive power of God’s grace. Lent is a time when Christians reflect on their mortality and sin, as well as on the creative and re-creative power of God. The original parents of humanity could not resist the seduction of the serpent, but that narrative stands beside the story of Jesus’ lonely and painful resistance to the power of Satan. In Romans, the “one man’s obedience” by which “the many will be made righteous” is the quality that endures. The Joel passage is an alarm bell in the darkness of the night. Those who are caught in this terrible moment cannot hope to save themselves, for they are powerless to do anything on their own behalf. They are powerless to do anything, that is, except to repent and to open themselves to God’s intervening mercy.
• Read Genesis 2:15-17; 3:1-7. What choices have you made that put you outside God’s intention for your life?
• Read Psalm 32. Are there unconfessed wrongdoings in your life that need God’s forgiveness? Will this Lent be a time when you can nd the freedom forgiveness brings?
• Read Romans 5:12-19. Have you experienced a relationship that has died? How has God renewed that time in your life?
• Read Matthew 4:1-11. What has tempted you to set faith aside and to trust only in yourself? How did that work out?
Respond by posting a prayer.
"Wherever I’m appointed to serve as pastor I plan on encouraging our youth to participate in a Discovery Weekend. Knowing that The Upper Room is a part of building the content, I can trust it as a Wesleyan spiritual formation resource for youth." Learn more about Discovery Weekend here.
