Throughout Jesus’ ministry we see Him exercise an ability to not be “swayed by others”. In fact, the first real test to this temptation of applause was in the wilderness as Jesus was tempted by the devil himself. As Jesus emerged from nearly 30 years of obscurity, he had grown a so-called "immunity to praise”. In this message T.D. Davis (co-lead pastor), shows us that Jesus’ secure identity, trust in timing, and transformed imagination were key ingredients developed through an unknown season that helped resist a human strategy of using the wrong mechanisms for even the best motives.
Immune To Praise
December 11, 2022 • T.D. Davis
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Ordinary Faithfulness
Savor Every Season
January 8, 2023 • T.D. Davis
How do we savor every season? After nearly 30 years of obscurity, Jesus inconveniently enters into a 40 day wilderness test where he is tempted by the devil. By the time it is all said and done, Satan's tactics and Jesus’ posture helps illustrate a clear spiritual reality: The devil continually desires us to choose against God and Jesus safeguarded Himself through every temptation with unmodified obedience. In this message T.D. Davis (co-lead pastor) offers practical ways we can lean into the model of Jesus and harvest massive spiritual growth as we cooperate with obscurity into the power of ordinary faithfulness.
Positional Paradox
January 1, 2023 • T.D. Davis
Jesus uses many different “paradoxes” (or seemingly contradictory statements) to describe the way His rule and reign often contrasts from earthly wisdom. In that vein of thought, one of the most compelling contrasts in the New Testament is the eyewitnessed authority that Jesus uses during His earthly ministry. Rather than ruling from a position of power familiar to those around Him, Jesus’ power paradoxically comes from a place of submission. In this message, T.D. Davis (co-lead pastor) unpacks the positional paradox Jesus uses in His final temptation in the wilderness and the access we have to that power, even in unknown seasons.
My "Wild" Friend
December 18, 2022 • T.D. Davis
Chances are we’ve all got names and faces in our younger years of friends who were just “wild”! Contrasting this sense of joy, friendship, and community is Jesus’ experience in the desert alone and being tempted by the devil. In Satan’s final offer to Jesus is an opportunity to wield power and authority in a way that affirms individualized aspirations and in turn, helps prop up a vision for the “Kingdom of ‘Me’”. In this message, we discover that one of the greatest “friends" in this life is the one who helps incubate the relationship our human souls need most.