Dear Friends in Christ,
The experience of temptation has been a force at work in the lives of humans for a long, long time. The earliest written forms of the story of a famous temptation in the Garden of Eden date to the 10th century BCE. And, oral storytelling about this temptation precedes these written forms by hundreds and hundreds of years.

According to the gospel authors, Jesus experienced temptation from the beginning of his rabbinic ministry to its end. The earliest gospel writer, Mark, reports that right after being baptized by John, Jesus was “driven into the wilderness” to be tempted by Satan. And, in another garden, the Garden of Gethsemane, we find Jesus, near the end of his life, praying about temptation.

In between, during his lifetime, Jesus taught followers to pray that they not be “led into temptation.” And, he reminded them of this again, after he prayed by himself in the Garden of Gethsemane. So it is, we sing in John Scriven’s “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”, and ask, “Have we trials and temptations? … We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer!”

Giving into some temptations brings lots of trouble to our lives and world. So, tonight, in our worship, we’ll not just sing about temptation, we’ll reflect on it as we continue our sermon series on our Lord’s prayer. I hope you might join us.

Blessings of Peace,
Pastor Ed