Temptations offer terrible trades.

If you are trying to lose weight, a Snickers bar can be very tempting!  But eating it will derail your long term goals.

If you are trying to save money, a daily Starbucks run may be tempting!  But those daily $5 cups of 10 cent coffee are not where you have budgeted your money to go.

If you are trying to honor God by living in purity, watching pornography on the internet may be tempting!  But viewing it is ultimately unsatisfying.

Temptations offer terrible trades.  They promise happiness but deliver sorrow.  They lure us in with offers of fulfillment but end up leaving us bloated, broke, and full of shame.

All the way back in the Garden of Eden, giving in to temptation gave birth to death as a part of the human experience.  Giving in to temptation today has killed relationships, marriages, jobs, and opportunities.

WE KNOW THIS about temptation … and yet it is still so tempting!

There are things that may NOT be a temptation for you, but if we continue to change topics, you will eventually find an area where you are tempted to sin.  This is a universal human experience.

So what do you do when temptation comes?  How do you resist temptations siren’s song?

As the Apostle Paul once said, “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate!  Who can set me free from this body of death?” (Romans 7:15, 24)

Did you catch what he said?  “WHO” can set me free?  Paul knew that He needed more than a plan, he needed a Person.  He needed more than sympathy, he needed a Savior!

And so do we.

“Who can set me free from this body of death,” Paul asked.  “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!,” he answered (Romans 7:24-25).

Jesus Christ is the Person who can be our Savior in the face of temptation.  This Sunday at Wildwood Community Church, we will be in the seventh and final part of our “Prepare the Way” sermon series looking at Luke 4:1-13 where we will see Jesus be tempted by the TEMPTER … and NOT SIN!  Want to know how to navigate temptation in this life?  Curious about the help that is available to us when temptation comes?  Join us as we follow Jesus through temptation’s tangles in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service as we find out together.  See you there … and bring friends!

The Bible is an amazing book.  It is literally God’s Word.  As 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”  And 2 Peter 1:20-21 says, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

This means that though the Bible does not tell us EVERYTHING, it tells us what we need to know.  We can be certain of this because the Bible is not just the product of fallible men, but men were moved along by the Holy Spirit (moved by the very “breath of God” as wind fills a sail) to communicate accurately what we need know to be “complete” – not just in knowledge but in behavior as well.

So, if this is the case, we may want to ask a couple of representative questions.

The Bible DOESN’T tell us what exactly happened to the dinosaurs.  We WANT to know the answer to that question, but we don’t apparently NEED to know the answer to that question.

The Bible DOES tell us a surprising amount of information about genealogies.  The book of 1 Chronicles alone features nine straight chapters of genealogies (1 Chronicles 1-9) and over 600 verses in our Bibles deal with genealogies.  This may be info we think we DO NOT WANT to know, but that we apparently NEED to know.

But why do we need to know about these genealogies?  If all Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable … how would our lives be enriched if we focused on any of these genealogies?

This Sunday, February 8 at Wildwood Community Church in part 6 of our sermon series “Prepare the Way” (studying the first 30 years of Jesus’ life from Luke 2-4), we will look at Luke 3:23-38.  These 15 verses provide us with Jesus’ family tree.  Inside of His genealogy we will see some important reminders about Jesus’ identity … but we will also see something essential regarding our family tree as well.

Make plans to join us in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service for singing, prayer, study of God’s Word, and celebrating the Lord’s Table together.  See you there … and bring friends!

“Every once in a while a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” – Steve Jobs

19 years ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made that statement to a crowd of adoring fans, developers, and stakeholders at Macworld in San Francisco.  At first, he teased the crowd that he would be announcing THREE game changing products that day:  a widescreen iPod with touch controls, a mobile phone, and a next level internet communication device.  Three revolutionary products launched in one speech!?  What a promise.

But soon, it became clear that Jobs was not launching three separate products, but one new product that would do all three of those functions.  This new product, of course, was called the iPhone.  Nearly two decades later (for better or worse) it certainly has changed the world.

Can you imagine being present for that first iPhone reveal?  Would you have believed Jobs’ assertion that this device was a game changer?  Would you have been skeptical?

My son was born just before the iPhone was released.  Though Josh never knew Pluto as a planet (it was named a dwarf in 2006), 3 BILLION iPhones have been sold in his lifetime.  The world population was between 6-7 billion people when the iPhone was invented, and they have sold 3 BILLION of them in less than 20 years.

Has this device changed our lives?  Absolutely.  In some ways life became easier and more connected, while in other ways it has made our lives more complicated and lonely.  What a strange paradox!  The full effects of this device are still being mapped out in real time, with some of the negative consequences being observed in books like Jonathan Haidt’s “Anxious Generation,” as he sees the effects of this device on a generation raised on phones instead of playing.

Speaking of revolutionary moments, I want to shift our focus from our phones to something even more life-changing.  If the iPhone changed the way we spend our time, I want to talk about another announcement that changed our eternity.  This launch was not made in San Francisco in 2007, but near the Jordan River in the late 20s AD.

In Luke 3:21-22 we see the baptism of Jesus Christ.  This event is referred to in the New Testament as the beginning point of Jesus’ public ministry.  It was His inaugural ball, His launch party, or His opening rally.  Dr. Luke shares this event with economical precision, using just two verses to say so much about who Jesus is and what He came to do.

Only twice in all of the earth’s history does Someone so revolutionary come along and change everything.  And, I am not referring to two different people, but the same Person who came once … and will come again.

This Sunday, we will look at the event that launched the ministry that changed the world.  Has He changed yours?  He can!

Join us Sunday at Wildwood Community Church in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 services as we continue our “Prepare the Way” sermon series with part 5, looking at the baptism of Jesus Christ.  See you Sunday … and bring friends.

Lookalikes – they come in various styles and purposes.

One style is the doppelgänger.  This word (coming from the German for double-goer) refers to two people who look similar.  For doppelgängers, there is no purpose for their similar look, they just share a common appearance.  Perhaps someone has said that you are a doppelgänger for ______________.  “You look exactly like a young Brad Pitt,” said no one to me ever.  If I have a doppelgänger out there, I’m still looking for him!

A second style of lookalike is the impersonator.  Impersonators are trying to look like someone else for the purpose of entertainment.  Maybe it is an Elvis impersonator gearing up for a show, or perhaps it is a friend who dressed up like a celebrity for costume party.

A third style of lookalike is the counterfeit.  Counterfeits try to appear like something else for the purpose of exploitation.  Someone counterfeits dollar bills in order to steal goods and services, while another steals (or counterfeits) an identity to pretend to be someone else in order to take advantage of others.

I share these styles of lookalikes because in Luke 3:15-20 we see the crowds that had gone out to see and hear John the Baptist wondering if John was the Messiah.  There were aspects of his appearance and location that made people think of Elijah.  But there were also aspects of John’s life that made them think that maybe John was the promised Savior of the world!

John was not trying to pretend to be anyone to take advantage of them.  And John was not filling a part in a cosmic play, dressing and acting a certain way to impersonate the Savior.  No, John simply had some remarkable things about his life that were anticipated doppelgängers of the Promised One.

When John heard their questions about his identity, how did he respond?  And what is the central lesson for you and I to learn from all of this?

At Wildwood Community Church, on Sunday, January 25 in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 services, we will be in part 4 of our “Prepare the Way” sermon series exploring the first 30 years of Jesus life (as recorded in Luke 2-4).  This Sunday, we see John pointing us to Jesus.  Join us Sunday when we explore how and why John would say that not only was he (John) NOT the Savior, but that he (John) was not even worthy to untie the sandal of the true Messiah.

In last week’s message we saw that in light of our sin, we prepare for Jesus by repenting (turning) from our ways to God.  In this week’s message, we will see who greets us as we make that turn.  See you Sunday … and bring friends!

P.S.  As you know there is a high likelihood of snow and ice in central Oklahoma this weekend.  We intend to have in person services on Sunday, but if any changes are necessary, we will communicate electronically our plans, including where to access the livestream of this week’s service.

You prepare to see a movie by purchasing a ticket.

You prepare for takeoff on an airplane by buckling your seatbelt.

You prepare for a job interview by updating your resume.

You prepare for a test in school by studying the relevant material.

You prepare to move by packing up your belongings.

We are used to the idea of preparing!  We prepare for all kinds of things, all the time.  And the way we prepare varies based on what we are preparing to do or where we are preparing to go.

2,000 years ago, Jesus was getting ready to start His public ministry.  Before His ministry would begin, His relative, John, was sent by God to “prepare the way” for His coming.  How would John prepare the way for the King of Kings?

We are used to preparing for movies, or travel, or interviews, or exams, or relocations.  When it comes to those activities, we know how to prepare.  But what is the most important way to prepare people for Jesus?

If Jesus were just another religious rabbi, perhaps John would have simply invited them to synagogue to participate in a ceremony or to hear a lecture on the intricacies of Old Testament prophecies.

If Jesus were just another political lighting rod, perhaps John would have invited them to the capital and briefed them on the talking points of His platform.

If Jesus were just another military general, perhaps John would have invited them to boot camp and given them a dagger.

If Jesus were just a really good guy, perhaps John would have invited them to the country club and staged a reception to welcome Jesus to the scene.

But Jesus is way more than just a rabbi, political revolutionary, military conqueror, or friend.  Jesus is LORD.  So how did John prepare someone to meet the LORD of Lords?

John called them to repentance: to do a 180 away from selfish independence and towards humble submission to Jesus’ sovereign leadership.  John convicted them of sin so that they might be converted unto salvation.  John understood that they must understand they are lost before they could ever be found.

So John went to the wilderness (not the capital).  Wore animal skins (not three piece suits).  Called them snakes (instead of saints).  Informed people of the coming judgment (instead of saying that they were all ok).

And in this way, John prepared the way for Jesus to launch His public ministry.

Wow.

This Sunday, at Wildwood Community Church, in part 3 of our sermon series “Prepare the Way” (focusing on the first 30 years of Jesus’ life), we will be in Luke 3:1-14 as we see the Holy Spirit through John the Baptist, prepare the way for Jesus to be OUR LORD as well.  Join us in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service.  See you there … and bring friends

Since 2015 I have had the distinct privilege of helping to guide various groups of people on tours of Israel.  I was invited into this opportunity by my friend Mark Burget, who guided many trips through the land of the Bible during his time with Search Ministry.

Mark (who passed from this life into eternity just over three years ago) and his wife Elaine were/are involved in many ministries in the Oklahoma City area over the years, one of which was the High School/Middle School ministry of Young Life.  As I understand it, in many ways Mark is the “Godfather” of Young Life in Cleveland County, helping to bring this ministry to the Norman area 40 years ago.

If you don’t know, Young Life is an evangelistic ministry to students and has expanded from its Texas roots to now having a presence in many countries worldwide.  It is not an exaggeration to say that Jesus has saved hundreds of thousands of young lives through this ministry over the years.   Incidentally, I was also involved as a Young Life leader during my time in seminary, and we support Young Life missionaries and ministries on two continents today.

On one trip to Israel, Mark Burget was enjoying dinner at a hotel on the Sea of Galilee when he saw a man wearing a T shirt that caught his eye.  On the front was a Young Life logo above the word “Nazareth.”  On the back, were the words “doing ministry where Jesus went to school.”  Given Mark’s background with Young Life, leading trips in Israel, and as a Christ follower, he fell in love with the shirt.  Striking up a conversation with the wearer of this shirt, Mark found out that there WAS indeed a Young Life ministry in the modern day city of Nazareth, and the next day, the owner of that shirt returned to the hotel giving Burget a version of the T-shirt he so admired.

Isn’t it wild to think of Jesus as a middle schooler?  How about as an 8 year old?  A toddler!?!  Imagine Him losing his teeth or cooing instead of speaking!  Imagine the creator of the universe, building His first chair in His father’s workshop.  Imagine the author of the world’s greatest best seller learning to read. What wild thoughts!

To be clear, when Jesus came to this earth He did not subtract His divinity, He added humanity … but He did so placing access to His divine capabilities under the direction of His Heavenly Father.  And (by the providence of God) presenting the divinity of Jesus to the world would take three decades to fully unveil.

Jesus really grew up.  He really had a childhood.  He really learned to walk.  He really had a gangly awkward phase where the proportions of His body were aligning.  He really had siblings that He grew up with and parents to which He submitted.

The Bible does not give us much information about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life, but in Luke 2:39-52, we get a snapshot of one central event in Jesus’ life that happened when He was 12 years old.  This Sunday, at Wildwood Community Church, we will look at those verses together in part 2 of our “Prepare the Way” series.

This section of Scripture is fascinating to look at for EVERYONE … but I think there are special things for us to see if we are a young person (under the age of 30), or if we are a parent/grandparent (responsible for someone under the age of 30), or if we are simply in a period of waiting and preparation in our own lives for things that may be decades away.  If any of this describes you or interests you, make plans to join us on Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, or 11:00 service.  And if you know anyone that you think may want to hear this also … bring them with you!  See you Sunday!