This is the first Sunday in Lent, the forty days leading up to Easter.  Pastor Beth is using a worship series for the 6 Sundays in Lent and Holy Week called, A Table in The Wilderness, A Lenten Worship Series Focusing On God’s Care and Provision, by Natasha Vedder.

This week’s message, “The God of Mercy” focuses on Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness.

Wilderness can be found as easily in a nearby area as it can in a thousand-acre forest.  It can be, as well, a mental or spiritual feeling of loneliness, isolation and vulnerability, as a physical location.  It’s in these places of vulnerability that we find ourselves most open to God’s presence.

Jesus resisted temptation.  He used scripture to respond; to see how God wanted him to live.  It is through scripture and knowing God’s word that we will be able to discern God’s will for us.

The next time you’re tempted, ask yourself, “Is this what God wants for me?  Can I do this and still truly love God?”

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

1 Corinthians 10:13