Podcasts about Wilderness

Fr. Bliss, our senior pastor, preaches on the first Sunday of Lent.Intro for Sermon Podcasts Outro for Sermon AudioWe are a community hoping to live the Jesus-way in our city as a people of God's hospitality, God‘s restoration, and God's shalom. Learn more about All Souls Charlottesville: www.allsoulscville.com

Fr Toby speaks about Lent as a time of self-discovery and growth with the grace of God.WORD FOR TODAY is broadcast live on Radio Maria on weekdays at 1:15pm and is rebroadcast at 12:15am and 5:45am the following day. In it our Priest Director Fr Toby offers a reflection, usually drawing from the Mass readings of the day. If you enjoyed this programme, please consider supporting us with a one-off or monthly donation. It is only through the generosity of our listeners that we are able to be a Christian voice by your side. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.radiomariaengland.uk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

In 1978, Soviet scientists stumbled upon a family living in a remote part of Russia. They hadn't interacted with outsiders for decades. Almost half a century later, one of them is still there By Sophie Pinkham. Read by Olga Koch. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod

Hope for Right Now Podcast – Desert Bloom, A Lenten Journey: Let Yourself Be Loved While Walking with Purpose Founder Lisa takes time to write our next women's Bible study, Laura Phelps welcomes guest Caitlin Bean to the Hope for Right Now podcast for a seven-week series: Desert Bloom, A Lenten Journey. Lent is a time of sacrifice, preparation, and spiritual waiting—a time to prepare our hearts for Easter through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. For many of us, it has become about exterior performance, a “holy checklist” we begin on Ash Wednesday and struggle to sustain for 40 days. And preparation? Who has time for that? We are exhausted—after all, it was just Christmas! If this is how your heart feels at the start of Lent, this series is for you—offering practical encouragement, Scripture reflections, and simple ways to experience a more meaningful, peace-filled Lent. In today's episode, Laura and Caitlin talk about our new Lenten devotional, Desert Bloom: Discovering Unexpected Joy in the Wilderness, and share their personal Lenten fails and the idols they need to lose, while uncovering the fear behind letting go of achieving God's love in exchange for simply receiving it. Open your Heart to our key Scripture. Hebrews 12:2: For the joy set before Him, He endured the Cross. Open your Bible to other Scriptures referenced in this episode. Philippians 3:13–14: One thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 43:18–19: Remember not the former things, or consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Deuteronomy 2:7: For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands; he knows you are going through this great wilderness; these forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing. Exodus 16:2–3: And the whole congregation of the people of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Invite Him in with this episode's questions for reflection. What is your idol? What do you want more than God? Do you approach Lent like a spiritual performance review? How is the Lord inviting you to undo the production narrative you've been telling yourself?  Show mentions. Caitlin Bean and Laura Phelps, Desert Bloom: Discovering Unexpected Joy in the Wilderness Michelle Benzinger, Abiding Together Podcast Saint John of the Cross, “The Lord measures out perfection neither by the multitude nor the magnitude of our deeds, but by the manner in which we perform them.” Let's stay connected. Don't miss an episode. Subscribe to our podcast on your favorite platform.  Want to keep the conversation going? Join our private Facebook community. Stay in the know. Connect with us today.  We are committed to creating content that is free and easily accessible to every woman—especially the one looking for answers but unsure of where to go. If you've enjoyed this podcast, prayerfully consider making a donation to support it and other WWP outreach programs that bring women closer to Christ. Learn more about WWP on our website. Our shop. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Pastor Sarah Keller is back! It's been a few seasons since this incredible leader has shared her story on So Good Sisterhood, but she's back for Season 15 for a hope-filled conversation about walking through desert seasons. Sarah shares how what feels like emptiness is often spiritual thirst, and how God meets us in those places to grow, strengthen, and restore us. Together, they unpack how worship, perspective, and perseverance can transform even the hardest seasons into places of encounter with Him.Subscribe to Shownotes Plus for Discussion Questions, Extra Resources, and More!Check out Pastor Sarah's Freedom StudyLearn More About Sisterhood© 2022 Be Essential Songs (BMI) / Jord A Lil Music (BMI) / Doejones20 (BMI) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The heavens open over the Jordan and a voice calls Jesus “Beloved.” Moments later, the Spirit leads him into a wilderness where every shortcut beckons. That tension—identity affirmed, then instantly tested—anchors our journey through Matthew 3–5 and frames a richer understanding of Lent as a season of honest formation, not hollow performance.We explore how the early church guarded truth by retelling it, and how desert fathers and mothers chose prayer, fasting, and solitude to hear God clearly. Along the way, we map the three ancient temptations that still stalk modern life: the urge to provide for ourselves on our terms, the impulse to protect our image and avoid pain, and the lure to promote ourselves with power divorced from obedience. Each is answered by Scripture not as a slogan but as a story lived—words planted in childhood, prayed in community, and practiced in secret.From the Kidron Valley's shadow to the quiet room of Matthew 6:6, we show why turning down the world's volume is the only way to notice God's whisper. We talk identity before activity, and offer simple, concrete rhythms to carry you beyond a sprinting faith: close the door, open your Bible, sit in silence, and let gratitude steady your heart. If you've felt the pull toward shortcuts or the pressure to hustle your way through a dry season, this conversation will help you reframe the desert as a place of clarity, courage, and character.My hope is that this podcast helps grow your faith and equips you to accomplish your dreams and goals!Follow me on InstagramFollow me on FacebookFollow me on TikTok

Hannah Miller King is a brilliant writer and Anglican priest living in North Carolina. She's the author of the brand-new book (just came out on February 17 with IVP!) Feasting on Hope: How God Sets a Table in the Wilderness. I devoured it in one sitting and I was so excited to get the chance to ask Hannah all about it.From her ecumenical childhood in different denominations to the death of her father while she was still young, Hannah shares a story of discovering the richness, complexity, and grace of God through the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. (Or the Eucharist. Or communion, depending on your theological tradition.)This book resists the urge to move toward easy answers or simple platitudes. Within its pages, Hannah acknowledges doubt, fear, uncertainty, and deep loss. She is a good and faithful guide into these far countries, while never leaving us without hope.I loved this book and this conversation, and I know that you will, too.Plus, her favorite bird surprised me in the most delightful way. Get full access to Keep Looking Up at courtneyellis.substack.com/subscribe

We hope this message encourages and inspires you!Want more like this from CoastLife Church?YouTube: CoastLife Church - YouTubeFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/mycoastlifechurchInstagram: https://instagram.com/coastlifechurch...GIVE: https://www.mycoastlifechurch.com/giveLooking to get connected? We'd love to meet you! We offer several different ways to connect and be in community: Join a Together Group, Register for CoastLife+, or become a part of our Serve Team today by visiting: CoastLife Connect Card - CoastLife Church (churchcenter.com)Give: To support and be a part of or growth and global impact click here: https://www.mycoastlifechurch.com/give

1. Tim referenced David Foster Wallace's “This Is Water” speech, in which Wallace describes two fish swimming along when an older fish passes by and says, “Morning boys, how's the water?” The two young fish swim on, and eventually one turns to the other and says, “What is water?”Wallace's point — and Tim's — is that the most important realities are often the ones we're least aware of, because we're so completely inside them.Tim also cited Wallace's line: “Everything I've ever let go of has claw marks on it,” and suggested that the discomfort of fasting during Lent is meant to do exactly that — disrupt us enough to make the water visible.What water do you swim in that you often — or always — forget is even there? Have you had the experience of suddenly becoming aware of a reality you'd been living inside for years without ever seeing it as a reality at all? What was that like?Have you experienced any disruption in these early days of Lent? Or do you have past Lent experiences that managed to break through? How do you feel about disruption as a spiritual practice — is it something you're more likely to welcome or resist? Why?2. Tim drew on the first temptation of Christ and the Deuteronomy text Jesus quotes to make this point: the Israelites needed to remember that they were more than just mouths to be fed. They weren't simply a hungry people looking for provision — they were a priestly people. There was far more to freedom than leaving Egypt behind.What basic, ordinary needs tend to cloud your sense of who you really are? Do you find yourself thinking of yourself — even without meaning to — primarily as a mouth to be fed, a home to be maintained, a bank account to be replenished?What in your day-to-day life has the most power to quietly take over your deeper sense of identity? How do you push back against that — or do you? What do you think the long-term cost might be of never questioning it or letting it be challenged within you?3. Tim also taught that empires built through coercion or violence have to be maintained through coercion or violence. He said, “How you build a kingdom is how you have to sustain it.”What personal empires have you inadvertently built — or found yourself inside — that you've realized require something of you for their upkeep that you don't actually want to keep giving? How did you get there? What would (or did) it look like to stop maintaining it?Tim's closing reminder was that promise of the Lenten process is that we are not trapped. What comes up for you when you think about that idea? What do you most need to hear today that you are not trapped by?​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​How do you respond to the idea of Lent as a possible step in the journey of freedom from that space? What do you think that means? What does it require of you?

Welcome to the Sunday Morning Worship Service of New Covenant Christian Ministries with Pastor Bill and Dr. D'Ann Johnson. Our mission is “Transforming all people into fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.”  In today's sermon, Minister Tiffany Richardson shares an encouraging word about the refiner's fire.

What do you do when faith feels dry, confusing, or emotionally barren—when God seems absent, or even uncomfortably near? In this episode of the Thinking Christian Podcast, Dr. James Spencer talks with Dr. Noelle Forlini-Byrte, author of God in the Desert: A Spiritual Theology of Wilderness in the Old Testament and part-time lecturer at Samford University, about the wilderness as a spiritual landscape for real Christians living real lives. Noelle shares how this book was “twenty years in the making,” beginning with her first spiritual formation class and early encounters with the mystics—especially St. John of the Cross and the theme of God’s “dark night” and felt absence. Those questions followed her into doctoral work in the Old Testament, where narratives like Jacob wrestling at the Jabbok, the exile, and Israel’s wilderness wanderings became a rich theological map for suffering, disorientation, and divine encounter. James and Noelle explore why the church often defaults to two unhealthy extremes: shallow, pithy “application” divorced from biblical context—or scholarship so clinical that it leaves the soul malnourished. Noelle argues that liturgy and scholarship must belong together: rigorous exegesis should not be an escape from spiritual formation, and devotional practices should not ignore the actual meaning of the text. The goal is not information alone, but a scripture-shaped life where God excavates the soul. Along the way, they discuss difficult Old Testament passages without smoothing out their discomfort—especially the wilderness as a place of testing (Deuteronomy 8) and purgation (Hosea 2). Noelle draws on the Christian mystical tradition to describe purgation as the stripping away of “self-made props,” the idolatries and illusions that quietly sustain us until wilderness exposes what we truly trust. One of the most resonant themes is acedia—the “noonday demon” from the desert tradition: spiritual weariness, malaise, and the temptation to give up when faith becomes costly and daily life grinds us down. James connects acedia to midlife, family pressures, and the subtle exhaustion that comes not from one tragedy, but from “death by a thousand cuts.” Noelle suggests that the very presence of these questions can be a sign of a deeper, weathered faith—because wilderness presupposes we are actually walking with God. The conversation closes with a challenge for the church today: humility, honest questions, and a willingness to let Scripture form us rather than simply confirm us. Faithful discipleship requires more than confidence—it requires wakefulness and the courage to bring our real lives before God. You can get God in the Desert: A Spiritual Theology of Wilderness in the Old Testament at ivpress.com (use code IVPPOD20 for a 20% discount) Subscribe to our YouTube channel

What if the wilderness was not just a place of loss, but a place of encounter? In this sermon, Pastor David explores how God meets us in the wilderness; not always in the wind, earthquake, or fire, but often in the sheer silence.To learn more about Cross Points, check out our website:http://crosspointschurch.comTo stay up to date, check out our social media:Instagram: @crosspointskcFacebook: Cross Points ChurchYoutube: CrossPointsKC

Pastor Justin Kierzek UNITY Lutheran Church Brookfield, WI

February 22, 2026

Rev. Rachel Rhodes. Matthew 4:1-11

Series Big Idea: This Lent series brings us into Christ's wilderness experience and examines the temptations He faced and overcame.Key Truth: God promises to equip those He calls with everything they need to do what He asks them to do.Key Verse: Matthew 3:13–17; John 1:25–34Summary: Feelings of inadequacy can force us to shrink back from pursuing the call God has placed on our lives. God promises to equip those he calls with everything they need to accomplish what he asks of them through submission to his Word and his will._________________________________Instagram:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/legacychurchtx/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join us in person:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://legacychurchhutto.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

'Now they departed and came back to Moses and Aaron and all the congregation of the children of Israel in the Wilderness of Paran, at Kadesh; they brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land. Then they told him, and said: “We went to the land where you sent us. It truly flows with milk and honey, and this is its fruit. Nevertheless the people who dwell in the land are strong; the cities are fortified and very large; moreover we saw the descendants of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South; the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and along the banks of the Jordan.” 'Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, “Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it.” 'But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.”' (Numbers 13.26-31, NKJV) One thing had to happen before they could appropriate all the blessings of God, which had been so clearly promised and prophesied, this was their ‘Iron Curtain', the final barrier. One final step and all that they had longed and prayed for would be theirs. One step and the veil that covered their eyes would be lifted and they would see one of the most beautiful and dramatic things that man has ever seen (and few are allowed to actually see this), the REASON why God works great and powerful miracles! His purpose NOW revealed! After all Abraham only acted in faith, he never saw the fulfilment.  But this one final step was not taken! – It was to demand a faith beyond their ability! How often are believers today within sight of everything that they are desiring, often with earnest prayer and with the clear knowledge that God HAS promised... yet that final step is not taken, they don't go in and possess the land. It occurs in the realms of healing, finance, evangelism and missions, possibly even revival, certainly in most areas of our lives and especially our service for God.

Jesus faced temptation in the Judean wilderness for 40 days, and we enter another Lenten season to honor and learn from Jesus, seeking to grow closer to God and be changed on the road to Easter...Live streams are available each Sunday at 11:00 am on our website, app, and Vimeo at: ⁠https://vimeo.com/chippewaumc⁠⁠ChippewaUMC.org⁠

The down wing dry fly style is a perfect match for one of the most ubiquitous insects found in trout rivers across the planet: caddis. The down wing platform is also a first choice for matching many terrestrials, like moths and hoppers, and it finds it's way to stonefly patterns as well.But for this discussion, we cover the down wing and its progression into fly boxes, by looking at three standouts: the Elk Hair Caddis, the X-Caddis and the CDC & Elk. Because the arrival of each of these patterns brought forth major innovations to the world of dry flies. All three of these are down wings, but they are very different players on the water.The down wing, like all of these dry fly platforms, is a structural philosophy. There are reasons for having a wing that lays flat rather than stands up. The down wing is a canvas to be creative with. It starts with a wing that angles back.  Then, materials used for the undercarriage dictate how the fly behaves on the surface, along with where, when and how we expect trout to respond.My good friend, Bill Dell, joins me for a thorough look at another of our favorite fly platforms.ResourcesPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fly Tying - Essential Tools and More (S17 Ep9)READ: Troutbitten | Pattern vs PresentationPODCAST: Troutbitten | Fishing Dry Flies - Dry Fly Skills Series  (S12)VisitTroutbitten WebsiteTroutbitten InstagramTroutbitten YouTubeTroutbitten FacebookThanks to TroutRoutes:Use the code TROUTBITTEN for 20% off your membership athttps://maps.troutroutes.com Thanks to SkwalaUse the code, TROUTBITTEN10 for 10% off your order athttps://skwalafishing.com/

Part V: The Witness That Never SpokeSlate Ridge was never marked on a map—but everyone knew where not to go.In the final chapter of The Missing Hunter, a quiet encounter in the late 1980s brings the truth into focus. A lone hunter walks into the woods chasing sign, unaware he's about to witness something far more unsettling than a legend. What he encounters isn't violence… it's restraint. Not judgment… but observation.Part Five concludes the series not with answers, but with understanding—revealing the role of the witness, the cost of knowing, and why some stories survive without ever being spoken aloud.This is not a tale of justice.It's a tale of memory.Welcome to Bigfoot's Wilderness.IF YOU'D LIKE TO SUPPORT THE PODCAST, LINKS IS BELOW:Here are the steps to support them:    1    Find the Support Link: Go to the Bigfoot's Wilderness Podcast page on Spreaker https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/bigfoot-s-wilderness-podcast--4730412    2    Click "Support": Look for a button that says "Become a Supporter" or a link that ends in /support within the show description or on their main page.    3    Select Payment: Follow the prompts to set up your recurring monthly payment.

Meeting God in the Wilderness (Exodus 13:17-22) Pastor Darren Rogers  

We are starting a new series in February based upon the classic, best-sellling book by Joyce Meyer, "Battlefield of the Mind." Today's message by Annette Jahnke is, "Wilderness Mentalities - Part 2." Stay connected with us at: www.newbeginnings.org, www.larryhuchministries.com larryhuchministries.com/resources/#podcast.

Exodus 1-15 // Nathan MillerThis sermon covers the foundational journey of the Israelites as they transition from harsh oppression in Egypt to miraculous freedom. We follow the rise of Moses, the confrontation with Pharaoh through the ten plagues, and the climactic crossing of the Red Sea. Discover how these ancient events reveal the character of a God who hears the cries of his people and acts with power to rescue them.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49566445 PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2542/responses/new26.02.22

Exodus 1-15 // Ben BeasleyThis sermon covers the foundational journey of the Israelites as they transition from harsh oppression in Egypt to miraculous freedom. We follow the rise of Moses, the confrontation with Pharaoh through the ten plagues, and the climactic crossing of the Red Sea. Discover how these ancient events reveal the character of a God who hears the cries of his people and acts with power to rescue them.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49566446 PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2509/responses/new26.02.22

Does someone in your life need a doctor or just a friend to sit beside them? Jesus didn't wait for people to get their lives together before He sat at their table—He loved them in their mess until that love made them whole.#FULLTANKwithBroBo​ #FULLTANKwithBroBo2026​ #BoSanchez​ #IdentityInChrist​ #FaithInAction​ #Matthew4​ #OvercomingTemptation​ #SpiritualMaturity​ #TrulyRichMindset​ #GodsLove​ #InnerPeace​ #Beloved​--- PS. Are You A Parent? Are you thinking about Homeschooling for your kids? My wife and I have homeschooled our two boys. Looking back, it's one of the BEST decisions we've ever made. It gave us the space to pass on our values. It also gave them space to explore their passions and interests. If you want to know more about homeschooling and to find out if it is for your kids, check out this link: www.facebook.com/CFAHomeschool or cfa.edu.phSupport this podcast. Help me reach others by supporting this podcast.To support my mission work, click this link now! http://BuyMeACoffee.com/brotherbosanchez

Following the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites find themselves in the wilderness—a place of disorientation, testing, and revelation. This sermon explores the "Wilderness" as an evergreen metaphor for the Christian life. It is the mandatory field trip between deliverance and the Promised Land, where our fickle hearts are exposed, and our faith is refined. As we enter the season of Lent and prepare for a congregational digital fast, we examine how the desert serves as a paradox: a place of intense danger and lack, but also the "God country" where miracles and spiritual power are found.Scripture ReferencesExodus 15:22–27: The waters of Mara and the transformation of bitterness.Exodus 16: The grumbling of the community and the provision of manna.Exodus 17:1–7: The striking of the rock at Horeb.1 Corinthians 10:4: Paul's identification of the Rock as Christ.Key PointsThe Paradox of the Desert: The wilderness is both a place of exposure and a place of divine intimacy. It is where visibility is low, familiar markers are gone, and we are forced to put one foot in front of the other.The Necessity of Testing: You cannot trust what has not been tested. The wilderness reveals the true contents of the heart. It is a place of "wrestling" with God, learning to navigate relationship without causing harm.The Teacher is Quiet: In the wilderness, the silence of God during the "test" is a primary challenge. However, promotion and spiritual clarity often lie on the other side of this silence.Fickleness and Unholy Nostalgia: We are prone to wander. Within days of a miracle, we resort to grumbling and "unholy nostalgia"—selectively remembering the "meat pots" of our past captivity while forgetting the chains.The Cross in the Wilderness: * The Tree at Mara: Just as the log made bitter water sweet, the Cross of Christ makes the bitter experiences of life drinkable.The Struck Rock: In a divine reversal, God stands upon the rock to receive the blow of judgment deserved by the grumbling Israelites. Christ is the spiritual Rock who was struck so that we might receive the water of everlasting life.ConclusionThere is no making it through the wilderness by trying harder or merely following rules. We must cling to the Cross. In the desert, pain is not the greatest danger; rather, the danger lies in where we turn for relief. If we turn to Christ, the one who was struck for us, we find that even the most desolate place is filled with His presence.Calls to ActionParticipate in the Digital Fast: Join the church-wide digital fast starting March 1st. Use the provided guide to redirect your focus from screens to God's voice.Identify Your Wilderness: Acknowledge where you are experiencing disorientation or testing. Stop "trying harder" and start clinging to the Cross.Resist Grumbling: Be mindful of the urge to complain or romanticize past sins. Practice gratitude for God's present provision, even when it is "manna" rather than "meat pots." Support the show*Summaries and transcripts are generated using AI. Please notify us if you find any errors.

We open our new sermon series and talk about how remembering God’s faithfulness and other ways we get through hard times builds resilience. Learn more about Blue Ocean Church at a2blue.org. […]

"Entering the Wilderness" Restored, Lent 2026, Matt. 4:1-11, The Rev. Dcn. J.D. Meeder. Our sermon series, Restored, will trace the saving work of Jesus Christ and the healing that flows from union with him. The healing he brings touches every part of us—spirit, soul, and body—because he himself is our Restorer and our Life. During this first week of Lent, we are looking at Jesus' time in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. Learn more about Lent at redeemergso.org/lent

The Rev. Seth Cain-First Sunday in Lent-Gen 2-3, Rom 5:12-21, Matt 4:1-11

Pastor Luke talks about God providing for us in the wilderness periods of life. Scripture reading: Exodus 16:2-15.

Cultvate the Wilderness

During this season of Lent, we'll explore 'The Wilderness.' Today we see Hagar in dire circumstances both seen and cared for by God. We witness the failure of humanity and the graciousness of God.

Exodus 1-15 // Gabe CoyleThis sermon covers the foundational journey of the Israelites as they transition from harsh oppression in Egypt to miraculous freedom. We follow the rise of Moses, the confrontation with Pharaoh through the ten plagues, and the climactic crossing of the Red Sea. Discover how these ancient events reveal the character of a God who hears the cries of his people and acts with power to rescue them.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49566447 PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2553/responses/new26.02.22

When we see Jesus in the wilderness we see an example of how to face temptation. But more than that, we find our Savior and substitute, the one who is perfectly faithful when we are not. Pastor Jordan Kologe teaches from Matthew 4:1-11.

Exodus 1-15 // Bill GormanThis sermon covers the foundational journey of the Israelites as they transition from harsh oppression in Egypt to miraculous freedom. We follow the rise of Moses, the confrontation with Pharaoh through the ten plagues, and the climactic crossing of the Red Sea. Discover how these ancient events reveal the character of a God who hears the cries of his people and acts with power to rescue them.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49566448 PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2546/responses/new26.02.22

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Led Into the WildernessRev. Leah QuarlesScripture: Matthew 4:1-11

A Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent Ephesians 2:1-10 by The Rev'd Dr. Matthew Colvin             Week after week, I see Pastor Bill preaching the Bible to you on Sundays, and I want to commend him to you. I'm not sure you are aware how rare it is to have a pastor who does his own translation work in the Hebrew and Greek, and who attempts, with diligence and great effort, to read the text of the Bible anew, divide it up properly, and serve it to you. What matters to Pastor Bill in his preaching to you is what the Bible actually says — the actual point of the gospels' stories, or the actual meaning of the prophecies of the prophets, or the actual meaning of Paul's arguments in his letters — not what famous theologians have used the Bible to say, or what scholastic medieval philosophy says it can and cannot mean, or the way modern self-help gurus can use Bible verses out of context to tell a very different story. If you attend to the words delivered from this pulpit, you are being trained to understand the Bible on its own terms, rather than watching as a slick speaker uses the Bible to express his own ideas. The story needs to be your story; you are to think of yourself as a child of Abraham, as a sharer in Israel's Messiah, as someone in covenant with Israel's God. Since it is the first Sunday in Lent, we are confronted with the very first episode of Jesus' public ministry after his baptism by John the Baptist. This story has much to teach us about Jesus' work as the Messiah, the nature of his sufferings, and ultimately, the way we ought to think about God Himself. I want to start by thinking about what it means when the Messiah goes into the desert. In Acts 21, when Paul is arrested in Jerusalem, the Roman centurion is surprised that he knows Greek: “Are you not the Egyptian, then, who recently stirred up a revolt and led the four thousand men of the Assassins out into the wilderness?" -Acts 21:38 (I joke to my Greek students that knowing Greek is handy if you are ever suspected of being a terrorist.) In Acts 5, Gamaliel mentioned Judas of Galilee and Theudas, false messiahs who also started their rebellions against Rome by going out into the wilderness. Why do so many messiahs begin this way? Because they are attempting recapitulate of Israel's story. And the true Messiah also relives the story of Israel, embodying it in the events that happen to him: he has already gone down to Egypt to escape a tyrannical attempt to kill all the baby boys in Bethlehem, much as Pharaoh tried to kill all the male Hebrew babies; he has already been baptized in the Jordan, as Paul says Israel was “baptized in the cloud and in the sea” of the Exodus; and now he goes into the Wilderness to be tempted for 40 days, as Israel was tempted for 40 years. Covenant history rhymes, as the saying goes. So that is why Jesus is in the desert. There remains explain why he is being tested, and how he resists that temptation, and what these things tell us about the Messiah and about God. We must recognize that Jesus resisted Satan's temptation as true man, as a matter of his messianic office. Jesus' self-understanding as the Messiah was in terms of the latter chapters of Isaiah, i.e. the suffering servant. This understanding of his calling is why he girded himself with a towel and washed his disciples' feet at the Last Supper; it is why he set his face like flint to go to Jerusalem; it is why he undertakes to drink the cup of suffering, and sheds sweat like drops of blood falling to the ground during his agonized prayer in Gethsemane. Being this kind of Messiah involved contradicting the expectations that other men had about what the Messiah would be like. When Jesus is on trial, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, for instance, asks him — in a question whose statement-like word order indicates incredulity — “You are the king of the Jews?” (that is the word order, sarcastic or incredulous), and then puts over his head a sign reading “Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews,” in three languages, so that everyone could get the joke. Pilate mocks Jewish pretensions to even have a king. That is why he refused to change the sign to say only “He claimed to be the king of the Jews.”  It is also why he also brings out Barabbas and asks the Jews, “Whom do you want me to give to you? Barabbas, or the king of the Jews?” Pilate is operating with the standard pagan understanding of kingship: "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25-28) Pontius Pilate and the Romans were expecting someone taller, perhaps. Of course, Jesus could have met those expectations, as he told the soldiers who arrested him in Gethsemane: “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53) It isn't that he couldn't just blow the Romans away with fire from heaven. But that is not his agenda. That is not what the Messiah has come to do. He has come “not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus also has to correct the expectation of the Jews about what the Messiah is to be like — even the expectation of his own disciples! It is this self-understanding that makes Jesus tell his disciples in Mt 16:22-23 that “he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, "Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Peter's suggestion that Jesus could be the Mesiah without suffering and dying is so inimical to Jesus' self-understanding and his mission that he calls Peter “Satan.” And rightly so, because what Peter is suggesting is pretty much of the same spirit as what Satan himself suggests in our gospel lesson this morning. So that is the background: Jesus as the true Israelite, the Messiah, is in the desert, not to lead a rebellion or a gang of terrorists, but to be tested as Israel was tested. Against all this background, we are ready to hear the words, both of Satan tempting, and of Jesus answering, and hear them with richer and fuller meaning — meaning not from Greek philosophy or self-help gurus or even systematic theologians, but rather, from the story of Israel. With his first temptation, Satan seeks to exploit Jesus' hunger: “The tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But he answered, "It is written,  "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Matthew 4:3-4) Any of you who have ever been hangry know exactly why Satan is doing this. Jesus, no less than we, lived his earthly incarnate life in a body, and that body was subject to weakness. Jesus is not like Superman, so that bullets or nails would bounce off his skin. He was capable of suffering, and he did suffer. Satan is suggesting that Jesus should exploit his Messianic status — for that is what is meant by “If you are the Son of God” — and use it to avoid this suffering. Take your authority over all creation and use it to transform stones into bread. This is not a ridiculous suggestion. It is similar to Jesus' first miracle in John's gospel, where he turned water into wine for the wedding at Cana. But the aim of the action here would be quite different. Satan's meaning is basically the same as Peter's suggestion: “Suffer from hunger? Why put up with that? This shall never happen to you!” Jesus' answer is a quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3. (In fact, all three of Jesus' answers to Satan are from Deuteronomy. (Dt. 8:3, 6:16, and 6:13). That is, they are taken from Moses' instructions to Israel about how to live with the Lord. Jesus is the one who follows Deuteronomy's description of the faithful Israelite perfectly.) As so often, however, Jesus' quotations of the Old Testament are metaleptic —a fancy Greek word that means “takes along with it.” The idea here is that if I say, “We stand on guard for thee,” it would be a mistake for someone to try to understand that utterance merely by using a dictionary to look up “stand” and “guard” and so forth. The meaning of that phrase is rather to be found in the larger context of the Canadian national anthem as a whole, because that is how everyone who hears it will immediately start thinking in their minds: all the other verses will come flooding into your minds; you will perhaps recall occasions when you sang it: in school, or at sporting events; or watching a Olympic medal ceremony. Just so, when Jesus quotes the Old Testament, every Israelite hearer will not just think of the words he quotes; he will think also of the surrounding context, the story in which those words first occurred. So when we look at Deuteronomy 8:3, we should also think about the immediately preceding verse: "The whole commandment that I command you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember the whole way that the LORD your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.” (Deuteronomy 8:1-2) And then it goes on to say, in the very next verse, “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” (Deuteronomy 8:3) This is what Jesus has in mind: he has been in the wilderness for forty days, being humbled, being tested. He answers Satan from the very passage of Deuteronomy that has to do with his situation: it is about testing in the wilderness. He has been thinking about this verse for a while now. The tempter's second try is with a more showy possibility: Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,  "'He will command his angels concerning you,'  and  "'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'" -Matthew 4:6 This would be an impressive display! Who could fail to follow a Messiah who had made such a proof of divine power? Jesus had answered the first temptation by quoting Scripture. But the devil can quote Scripture for his purposes, so Satan appeals to lines from Psalm 91:11-12. And again, he knows what he is doing: at a time when Jesus feels alone, when he is in the desert, Satan tempts him with lines from that most comforting song: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” It is full of promises of God's protection and deliverance: in battle, from wild animals, from dangerous diseases. And yet it is singularly inappropriate for Jesus' messianic vocation: He has come to suffer and die. To avail himself of divine protection against these sufferings would be to deny his messiahship. So Jesus replies with words from Deuteronomy again. "Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'" -Matthew 4:7 This is from Deuteronomy 6, that chapter which contains the Shema, the single verse of the Torah that could be called the creed of Israel: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” It is the core chapter of the Torah about Israel's relationship with God. He has rescued her from Egypt and taken her to Himself to be His bride; at Mount Sinai, he has married her. But Israel was not faithful. She tested the Lord like a wife acting up to trying to make her husband angry. When there was no water to drink, Exodus 17 says, “Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, "Give us water to drink." And Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?" (Exodus 17:2) The verb used here, and also by Jesus in Matthew 4:7, is πειράζω. Note well: Who was doing the testing in the wilderness for 40 years? Exodus and Deuteronomy say it clearly: Israel was testing YHWH. And thus, we may perceive some clever irony in Jesus' answer to Satan here. For Satan is called “the tempter,” and in Greek, that is nothing other than a participle form of this same verb πειράζω, literally, “the testing one.” So on the one hand, Jesus' quotation of Deuteronomy 6:16 could mean, “You are asking me to test God by throwing myself down from the Temple. I am not going to do it, because Moses warned Israel not to test God.” But it could also mean, “You are testing God, Satan.” Satan doesn't take the hint. He keeps on testing Jesus. There will be more attempts later, but the last temptation that Satan tries on Jesus in the wilderness is narrated like this: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me." -Matthew 4:8-9 Why does Satan take him to a very high mountain? In the Bible, mountaintop scenes are real estate transactions. If I sell you this pen, it's simple enough: you put money in my hand, and I put the pen in yours, and you carry it away with you. But houses and land don't fit in your pocket. So we have other procedures. In our day, we get banks and notaries involved and sign a lot of documents. But in the ancient world, you took possession by inspecting the property after the transfer.  This is done in the case of Abram in Genesis 13:17: “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.” The same thing happens when Moses is about to die; in one sense, Moses doesn't get the promised land, because he dies before he can enter into it; but in another sense, God actually gives him the land, because he takes him up on a mountain and shows it to him, and this is the formal transfer of the land: “Go up this mountain of the Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, across from Jericho; view the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel as a possession..” (Deuteronomy 32:49) Satan is attempting to use the same convention in Matthew 4:8. He is trying to get Jesus to make a deal, offering the kingdoms of the world in exchange for worship. But Jesus has no need to make such a bargain, for God had already promised to give the Messiah everything Satan is offering, and Jesus, whose self-understanding as the Messiah is shaped by Isaiah's description of the suffering servant, knows it very well from Isaiah 49: The Lord says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:6) He knows it also from Psalm 2: I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. Ask of God. Not of Satan. The nations belong to the Lord, not to Satan. Jesus has no intention of making a bargain to purchase what Satan wrongly claims to own. In Matthew 12, after the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan, Jesus replies that, How can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. (Matthew 12:29) And he does plunder it. We see the result in Revelation 20: “And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer...” -Revelation 20:3 And as for the real estate deal Satan was trying to make, well, we see the end of that at the very end of Matthew's gospel. For the Great Commission too takes place on a mountain, and this setting seems significant, especially in light of Jesus' declaration that “all authority in heaven and earth” has been given to Him. This is a pointed contrast with Satan's lying statement, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.” (Luke 4:6 NKJV) Quite the contrary, Jesus, having refused Satan's bargain, and having bound him and plundered his goods, now bestows the kingdom on His disciples and takes possession of the nations by sending his disciples to teach and baptize them. I want to end by correcting three misapprehensions that some people might have about this story, which may prevent them from grasping what it teaches us about God. One mistake some have is that Jesus didn't really suffer in the wilderness; that His divine nature was smirking and unbothered by Satan's temptations aimed at his human nature; that all these things just rolled off of Jesus like water off a duck's back. We know this was not the case. Recall Gethsemane again, where Jesus begged the Father to “take this cup from me,” and his sweat fell to the ground like drops of blood — drops of blood, not water off a duck's back. A second mistake would be to think that, yes, Jesus suffered, but that's only because He is human. But that is not what the Bible says. It says that Jesus revealed the Father by his sufferings; that if you want to know what the Father is like, you should look at Jesus, for He who has seen Him has seen the Father. Greek philosophers say that God is an unmoved mover, and that God cannot suffer because he is perfect; but the Bible tells us that Jesus was “made perfect by sufferings.” (Heb. 5:9) Greek philosophers tell us that God cannot be afflicted; the Bible says that “in all their afflictions, He was afflicted.” (Isaiah 63:9) Greeks and Romans thought that suffering was miserable and degrading, and that if you are suffering, you must not have any glory or power; the Bible says that Jesus “humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore — not in spite of his sufferings, but because of them! — God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” (Philippians 2:8) There is no clearer picture of Israel's God than the cross of Jesus Christ. That is where we finally see God fully revealed. Finally, a third mistake would be to think that, yes, Jesus' sufferings were powerful and important, but ours are not. The truth is exactly the opposite. As George MacDonald put it, “The Son of God suffered, not that we might not suffer, but that our sufferings might be like His.” And they are. “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory...” (2 Corinthians 4:17) We are in the Messiah. His story, Israel's story, is our story. In Him, we are faithful Israelites, true to Deuteronomy 6. In Him, we are the suffering servant of Isaiah's prophecies. In Him, the kingdoms of the world belong to us. In Him, we too are victorious over Satan. Let us pray. Lord Jesus Christ, for our sake you fasted forty days and forty nights: give us grace so to discipline ourselves that our flesh being subdued to the Spirit, we may always obey your will in righteousness and true holiness, to the honour and glory of your name; for you live and reign with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen.

Exodus 1-15 // Jacob VangenThis sermon covers the foundational journey of the Israelites as they transition from harsh oppression in Egypt to miraculous freedom. We follow the rise of Moses, the confrontation with Pharaoh through the ten plagues, and the climactic crossing of the Red Sea. Discover how these ancient events reveal the character of a God who hears the cries of his people and acts with power to rescue them.SERMON NOTES (YouVersion): https://bible.com/events/49566444 PRAYER REQUESTS: https://ccefc.ccbchurch.com/goto/forms/2574/responses/new26.02.22

Village Church RolesvilleSunday Message, February 22,Pastor Tyler WilliamsMatthew 4:1-11

A sermon on Matthew 4:1-11.

Kicking off the new series, "Participating," and entering the season of Lent, Pastor Scott Engebretson looks at the reality of temptation and the "death spirals" we often find ourselves in. Using the story of Jesus in the wilderness from Luke 4:1-13, Scott highlights how the enemy targets our most basic needs, our desire for protection, and our hunger for power. He explores how Jesus resisted these temptations not through sheer willpower, but by being led by the Spirit and anchored in Scripture. Scott invites the community to participate in the new life Jesus offers—reminding us that while the enemy tempted Jesus to throw Himself down for show, Jesus chose to lay Himself down in Jerusalem to seek and save the lost. For more information about the church, please visit northwestvineyard.org.

Ben Fike Between Here and There (Lent 2026)

In this message, Terry Timm reflects on Jesus' temptations in the wilderness as a paradigm for our own Lenten journey, highlighting the temptations to be relevant, spectacular, and powerful. Drawing on Henri Nouwen and the desert mothers and fathers, he invites listeners to practices of contemplative prayer, confession, restraint in speech, and deep rooting in God's redemptive story as ways to resist the "wreckage of the world." Timm concludes by reminding us that we enter the wilderness of Lent not to become beloved but because we already are "deeply loved dust," blessed and accompanied by God on the journey.

Hiiii GGB! This week we dive deep into the topic of the waiting season — specifically what it looks like to wait for the person God has for you. We talk about the challenges of trusting His timing, choosing obedience over instant gratification, and staying faithful when it feels like everyone else is moving on without you. If you're in a season of waiting — for love, for clarity, for the fulfillment of a promise — this episode is for you. There is purpose in your patience, and beauty in honoring God even when it's hard. you can order our new book "Out of the Wilderness— 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons" at girlsgonebible.com/book we love you so much. Jesus loves you more. -Ang & Ari ORDER OUR NEW BOOK! You can order our new book "Out of the Wilderness— 31 Devotions to Walk with God Through Your Hardest Seasons" at girlsgonebible.com/book JOIN US ON GGB+