Sermon Tone Analysis

One day Crickett Caleb and I went with another family to a Mountain that all the locals called mount sniffles…It is called this because it looks like a man with a big nose...It was in the spring and we were hoping to get some pictures of that wild flowers that grew on the mountain.

We also hoped to drive to the top and take in the view and enjoy our time together.

One day Crickett Caleb and I went with another family south to a Mountain that all the locals called mount sniffles…It is called this because it looks like a man with a big nose...It was in the spring and we were hoping to get some pictures of that wild flowers that grew on the mountain.

We also hoped to drive to the top and take in the view and enjoy our time together.

Scripture:

One day Crickett Caleb and I went with another family south to a Mountain that all the locals called mount sniffles…It is called this because it looks like a man with a big nose...It was in the spring and we were hoping to get some pictures of that wild flowers that grew on the mountain.

We also hoped to drive to the top and take in the view and enjoy our time together.

One day Crickett Caleb and I went with another family south to a Mountain that all the locals called mount sniffles…It is called this because it looks like a man with a big nose...It was in the spring and we were hoping to get some pictures of that wild flowers that grew on the mountain.

We also hoped to drive to the top and take in the view and enjoy our time together.

MARCH 10, 2019

Sermon Outline

It was a beautiful drive…a little tricky in some places but still beautiful…we were able to see several large patches of mountain wild flowers and even got some pictures of Caleb close to some small water falls.

There were several people act had the same idea as we did but many were coming back down the mountain having already spent most of the day on the mountain.

However we kept going up.

We were just above the tree line when we noticed that we had a flat tire.

INTRODUCTION

No big deal we would just pull off the path and change the time and head back down…so we thought…When we got out of the Ford Bronco to change the tire we found out we had not just one flat but two.

Apparently we had driven over a particularly sharp rock and the rock split both tires.

So not only were they flat but the were both unrepairable.

For God So

So there we were at over 12,000 feet with two flat tires and no spares.

Evening was coming on and non of us were prepared for spending a cold night at 12,000 feet.

All the sudden being in the wilderness did not seem to be such a great idea.

As a matter of fact it was pretty scary as I thought about all the possibilities…We would either have to try to walk down the mountain which is not as easy as it looked.

Or wait for hours or maybe even days before anyone would be back up or down these trails.

LOVED

Eventually we did get someone to take one of us down to a gas station to get a used tire and we ended up getting out of this predicament.

But suffice to say our time in the wilderness was not what we thought it would be.

Instead of enjoying our time (which we did) we also learned how important it was to make sure we were always prepared for difficulties on the that trail no matter how safe we thought we might be.

FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT

As I look back on that time not only taught me how to be prepare for Mountain four wheeling it taught me the importance of keeping my wits, and staying calm in the face on uncertainty.

While I did not go expecting life lessons my time on Mount Sniffles made me a better leader as well.

There seem to be two types of people in the world: those who love the wilderness, who camp, hike, hunt, and fish; and those who don’t, who prefer a Hilton with an indoor pool over a tent by a mountain stream.

Some view the untamed wild as an opportunity for adventure, challenge, and exploration.

Oth- ers view it as a beautiful sight to be viewed from the window of a chalet, where you don’t need to wear bug spray or worry about bears.

When we approach this text about wilderness, we tend to bring along our preconceived notions and preferences about wilderness too: either it’s a vast and beautiful wonder, or it’s a challenging and desolate landscape to be viewed from afar.

I think most of us are willing to go on adventures that we can control but when we find ourselves in places and situations that require us to trust someone else we would rather retreat into things that we are comfortable with.

However wilderness adventures have the potential to leave us stranded with nothing but our thoughts and the presence of God.

This is why a lot of people are not fond of their wilderness adventures but these times have the potential to teach us things we would never have learned in times of busyness.

Today many of our wilderness times are not in the mountains or any other physical place…our wilderness experiences tend to be centered around seasons of life.

Times of loneliness, depression, times of doubt, or other extreme times of uncertainty.

It is in these times of wilderness unfortunately that many of us not only have to deal with self doubt and pain but these also tend to be the times we are tested spiritual.

Jesus was tested or tempted in His wilderness experience as well.

Temptation is a very real thing in our world and I am afraid that some have assumed that if one is tempted they are somehow in disobedience to God.

This could not be farther from the truth.

If Jesus was tempted we can expect to be tempted as well.

We hate these times but if we are willing we can use these wilderness times to bring glory to God.

Wilderness for the Jews, however, would conjure up a very different image.

The image wouldn’t be of camping, as much as one of journeying.

It wouldn’t be of picture windows in mountain lodges, but of years looking out of tent flaps.

For them, the idea of wilderness would bring up images of Moses and the exodus.

READ PASSAGE HERE (NLT)

Moses was led into the wilderness after killing the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew slave.

The wilderness for Moses became a place of refuge, until the day he saw a burning bush.

Suddenly the wilderness became a place of calling, a place where God spoke, and he had the choice to answer.

Out of the place of calling, the wilderness became once again a place of refuge, not just for Moses this time but also for the Hebrew people, who fled the oppression of the Egyptians.

Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness is a powerful passage that I have reflected upon often in my ministry.

Just as Jesus was tested, I will face tests and trials often and learning from Jesus’ way of handling temptation will help me to be aware of when I’m thinking more of myself and less like Him.

Just as Jesus was tested, you and I will face tests and trials often and learning from Jesus’ way of handling temptation will help me to be aware of when I’m thinking more of myself and less like Him. 

Temptation is a very real thing in our world and I am afraid that some have assumed that if one is tempted they are somehow in disobedience to God.

This could not be farther from the truth.

If Jesus was tempted we can expect to be tempted as well.

If Jesus was tempted we can expect to be tempted as well.

READ PASSAGE HERE (NLT)

Author, Henri Nouwen, wrote a book “In the Name of Jesus” and the temptations Jesus faced can be summed up in applicable language today:

In that same wilderness...God spoke again, through the Ten Commandments, calling his people to be a people of covenant relationship with him and with one another.

The wilderness also became a place of provision, where the children of Israel were fed manna and quail, where water poured from rocks.

This wild and untamed wilderness, however, was not just a place of refuge, of calling, and of provision.

It was also a place of great temptation.

The Temptation to be Relevant:

“Jesus first temptation was to be relevant: to turn stones into bread.

Are we not called to do something that makes people realize that we do make a difference in their lives?

Aren’t we called to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and alleviate the suffering of the poor?

Jesus was faced with the same questions, but when he was asked to prove his power as the Son of God by the relevant behavior of turning stones into bread, he clung to his mission to proclaim the word and said, “Human beings live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

The Temptation to be Spectacular:

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The Temptation to be Spectacular:

“Jesus was tempted to do something spectacular, something that could win him great applause.

“Throw yourself from the parapet of the temple and let the angels catch you and carry you in their arms.”

But Jesus refused.

He did not come to prove himself.

He did not come to walk on hot coals, swallow fire, or put his hand in the lion’s mouth to demonstrate that he had something worthwhile to say.

“Don’t put the Lord your God to the test,” he said.”

The Temptation to be Powerful:

The Temptation to be Powerful:

wild and untamed wilderness, however, was not just a place of refuge, of calling, and of provision.

It was also a place of great temptation.

“I will give you all the kingdoms of this world in their splendor,” the demon said to Jesus.

Around every corner the children of Israel were tempted to forsake the God who was performing miracles before them.

One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that leaders constantly give into the temptation to power—political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power—

Jesus, did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are.

What makes the temptation of power so seemingly irresistible?

Maybe it is that power offers an easy substitute for the hard task of love.

It seems easier to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love people, easier to own life than to love life.”

Jesus’ awareness of the ways the enemy tempted also prompted Him not to respond using his own words and own methods but the very words of God the Father.

They erected statues to worship, they grumbled about the food, they complained about the water.

Ultimately, when they were told to take the promised land, they fell into the temptation of not trusting God, and they were forced to wander the wilderness for forty years.

These forty years of temptation and trial, of hope and promise, are what we see reflected in these forty days of Jesus’s wilderness journey.