To Resist - 02.22.2026

So through works of piety such as prayer and scripture and fasting and holy communion and public worship and works of mercy, justice and compassion and generosity through acts like visiting others in prison and feeding the hungry and clothing the naked and taking care of the widow and the orphan. Through these things, we train our hearts. Through these forty days, we train our hearts in holy resistance, Not to withdraw from the world, but to love it rightly. [00:45:19] (43 seconds)  #TrainYourHeart

Grace is so much larger than your worst moment. Grace is so much larger than the worst thing you've ever done. The wilderness is not the end of your story. It's only the beginning. Because on the other side of the wilderness is an empty tomb. And because Christ resisted, because grace abounds, because the spirit still leads us, it's not too late. [00:46:38] (39 seconds)  #GraceBeyondWilderness

The tempter does not get the final word in Jesus' story or in ours. Grace does. And that is why even here even here and even now, whatever you are facing in your life, whatever hardships you are facing, whatever has been said about you by others, whatever you have told yourself, those are not the final word. God always has the last word. [00:47:47] (39 seconds)  #GraceHasTheLastWord

if we begin to doubt who we are, we'll grasp for almost anything to prove ourselves. But Jesus doesn't take the bait in the wilderness. He resists not by performing, but by remembering. So much about of what we are about in the church calls us to remember what we already know, to remember the love of God, to remember the gifts of God, to remember our calling by God who called us long before we were able to answer intelligently. [00:33:09] (46 seconds)  #ResistByRemembering

Not too late for you to begin again, not too late to return to God, not too late to resist the temptations of believing that you are not enough and never will be. So remember your baptism and remember the words said over you. This is my son. This is my daughter, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased. You are beloved. You are claimed, and you are not alone in this journey. [00:47:16] (31 seconds)  #YouAreBeloved

Let us claim our identity in Christ, and let us never forget no matter how hard times may get in this life that we don't go it alone and that we are loved with a love that never goes away. Friends, it's not too late. So may our yes be a yes to god, and may our no be a no to anything that diminishes us and other human beings and goes against what God is doing to redeem the world. Let our yes be yes. Let our no be no, and let our love show that God is here even in the wilderness today. [00:49:04] (64 seconds)  #ClaimYourIdentity

But what's wrong with bread? Absolutely nothing. But this is about more than food, Jesus says. It's about using power for preserving yourself, sometimes at the expense of others. It's about solving need without declaring dependence. Jesus replies, one doesn't live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God. In other words, I will not reduce myself, my life to consumption. [00:36:52] (37 seconds)  #NotByBreadAlone

I will not define myself by what I can produce or control, and I won't allow the comments of others to lay claim over me. This is a temptation that we know very well because we live in a culture that tells us, fix it yourself, secure yourself, consume more, prove your worth. Even faith can become transactional. Pray harder, do better, achieve holiness, but Jesus resists this. [00:37:29] (46 seconds)  #FaithNotTransaction