1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from
the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2where
for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate
nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was
hungry. 3The devil said to him, "If you are the
Son of God, tell this stone to become bread." 4Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man
does not live on bread alone.' " 5The devil led him up to a high place and
showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6And
he said to him, "I will give you all their authority
and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give
it to anyone I want to. 7So if you worship me,
it will all be yours." 8Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship
the Lord your God and serve him only.' " 9The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him
stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you
are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself
down from here. 10For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels
concerning you
to guard you
carefully; 11they will lift you up in
their hands,
so that you
will not strike your foot against a stone.' " 12Jesus answered, "It says: 'Do not put
the Lord your God to the test.' " 13When the devil had finished all this
tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
This Weeks Sermon:
Temptations are all around
us. We fall prey to the sins of this world. We seek
immediate gratification and ignore God's plans at times.
We make excuses to keep ourselves from helping those in
need. In order to overcome worldly temptations, we must
realize that we cannot do it alone and need the help of
God. We must ask God to lead us not into temptation and
to deliver us from evil. Luke's account is a message of
hope. Jesus, as a human, overcame the temptations of the
devil; and so can we. What a friend we have in Jesus,
someone we can ask to help us stand strong when
temptations are present. "What would Jesus
Do" is not just a catchy phrase but a way of
life we should strive to achieve. He is an excellent role
model, not only for his unconditional love, but also for
his handling of life's temptations.
Word of the Week:
Gospel
The word Gospel
usually designates a written record of Christ's words and
deeds. It is very likely derived from the Anglo-Saxon god
(good) and spell (to tell), and is generally
treated as the exact equivalent of the Greek euaggelion
(eu well, aggello, I bear a message), and
the Latin Evangelium, which has passed into
French, German, Italian, and other modern languages. The
Greek euaggelion originally signified the
"reward of good tidings" given to the
messenger, and subsequently "good tidings".
Most people today say it means "good news."
Prayer of the Week:
God of mercy and grace, help
us to realize that we need you. We thank you for sending
Jesus as a role model for us. We know that our salvation
is a result of your will. Cleanse us of our sins and
prepare our hearts to be your sanctuary. In the name of
our true friend, Jesus. Amen.
Question of the Week:
Why are there
different colored altar cloths? What do the colors
mean?
Traditionally purple,
representing both royalty and penitence, is used
during Advent and Lent.
Blue symbolizes hope
and may also be used during Advent.
White and gold are
used at Christmas and Easter to symbolize joy and
festivities.
Red symbolizes the
color of fire to represent the Holy Spirit on the
Day of Pentecost and times when the work of the
Holy Spirit is emphasized. During Holy Week
it represents the blood of Christ. Red is
also used for ordinations, church anniversaries
and civil observances such as Memorial Day and
Thanksgiving.
Green represents
growth and is used during Ordinary Time (the
season after Epiphany and the season after
Pentecost.)
