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Every follower of Jesus can learn from Jesus’ resistance to temptation. He understood His mission and refuted the devil’s temptations to short circuit the cross. How did Jesus refute the devil? He applied Scripture to each situation that the enemy was bringing to Him. In overcoming these temptations and the other various ones (see Matt. 4:1, 16:22-23), Jesus fulfilled His purpose as Savior.
In accomplishing His mission, Jesus:
On Sunday we did two things:
Keep pressing into these two disciplines! Praying with you, Pastor Andy Questions for reflection or discussion:
He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 4:3b The Teacher in Ecclesiastes has a good lesson for us today: God has set eternity in our hearts. In so doing, God shows each human that there is something more to life than just the here and now, that there’s something greater than the sum of our individual experiences. I think this also explains the restlessness of some people to accomplish something or be known for something, to leave a lasting impression in the world because life is so fleeting. And while we can’t fathom what He has done from the beginning to the end, He has made Himself known to us in Christ, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end (Rev. 1:8). Thus when we know Jesus well and see Him at work in our lives, we’re seeing the Father at work as well (John 14:9), because the Father and Jesus are One (John 10:30). Our part then, is to follow Him (John 21:19), even when it doesn’t always make sense. Seeking the Alpha and Omega with you, Pastor Andy Please read Matt. 3:13-4:11 for our time on Sunday. Questions for reflection or discussion:
Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises…
2 Peter 2:4a, NIV Do you know why God has given us His very great and precious promises? He finds us precious. Yep, we’re the reason. In His great and unparalleled wisdom, God knows that we need His promises because through them:
Dear friend, He knows that we need His promises because these precious promises help us cling to Him, our Heavenly Father, the Great Lover of our Souls, the One Who sent Jesus to rescue us from death, sin, and ourselves. Start taking hold of His promises today because the sooner you do, the sooner you’ll realize that in doing so, you’re actually taking hold of Him. Blessings in your pursuit of God! Pastor Andy Questions for reflection or discussion:
Dear NewLife Family,
Thank you for your wonderful support for our high school seniors that you demonstrated for Senior Sunday! From listening to them share their life’s journey up to this point in life, encouraging them personally in their next steps with Jesus, to participating in the BBQ meal in support of the senior scholarship, y’all showed up and showed out. That’s what it means to be the body of Christ to another! Thank you to On The Rise BBQ for the wonderful meal they served and their sincere generosity! Thank you, Jesus, for Your Presence with the NewLife Family! Blessed and honored to be on the journey with Jesus with y’all, Pastor Andy This coming Sunday we’ll begin a new series called, “Legs to Stand on in a Shaky World”, which will explore the foundations of our faith and how these foundations impact our lives. 
Nothing between my soul and the Savior,
So that His blessed face may be seen; Nothing preventing the least of His favor Keep the way clear! Let nothing between. Refrain from the hymn Nothing Between by Charles Tindley (1905) For the past three weeks, we have been pausing to examine if our hearts have become lukewarm in our relationship with Jesus. This coming Sunday will be Senior Sunday and the Sunday after that, we’ll begin a new series. But! Just because we’re moving on from this subject, it does not mean that we can go back to being lukewarm or become complacent with any numb spots of our hearts! Jesus is standing at the door of OUR hearts (Rev. 3:20). He's inviting us to have restored fellowship with Him. Jesus is the cure for the apathy of our hearts, so let’s be discerning about the world we live in (1 Chron.12:32 ) and walk in habits that feed our hearts (Ps. 39:9 and 40:6). Don’t just check your spiritual temperature but move that dial! Pardon me but do you hear that? I hear Someone knocking… Pastor Andy Questions for reflection and discussion:
A divided heart loses both worlds.
-A.B. Simpson, Founder of the C&MA When we have a divided faith, it leads to us having a lukewarm faith, which is precisely the kind of faith that Jesus saw in the church located in Laodicea. His warnings are stark, so this past Sunday we examined causes of lukewarm faith. Here’s a brief summary of those causes:
Be honest with yourself, are you in one of these places? The best thing to do is to repent (Rev. 3:18) with earnestness. Turn again to Jesus and ask Him to rekindle your heart with love for Him and ask Him to renew your mind. The ways of the world and the lies of the enemy are subtle, so ask Jesus to give you discernment for seeing these in your life. May Jesus give us refreshingly cold or passionately hot hearts for Him! Pastor Andy Questions for reflection and discussion:
The church of Laodicea was in hot water with the Resurrected Jesus precisely because they weren’t hot or on fire for Him. Nor were they cold, either. He told them they were lukewarm and because of that He was going to spit them out. That’s how repulsive He found their faith. Lest we hear the same things from Him, let us take our spiritual temperature:
How you answer these questions will tell you a lot about your spiritual temperature. Before we think anything incorrect, Jesus’ motive for such a hard rebuke is motivated by His love for us and His desire to see us be in a spiritually healthy relationship with Him (Rev. 3:15,19). What are the antidotes to spiritual apathy? We’ll be studying those in the weeks to come. For now, though, I leave with you the prayer that I included in my sermon on Sunday from A.W. Tozer: “O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long. In Jesus' Name, Amen.” (from The Pursuit of God) In pursuit of Him along with y’all, Pastor Andy Please read and mediate through Rev. 3:14-22 for our time together on Sunday. 
“Why do you look for the living among the dead?”
Luke 24:5 If the birth of our Lord Jesus changed time, in that all years became measured before or after his birth, then His resurrection changed all of history. For all lives will be measured according to their response to Him being raised from the dead. Just as He fulfilled every messianic promise in the Old Testament and prophetic prediction of a Messiah coming forth, He is the fulfillment of our faith; so it is by faith that we live (Rom. 1:17). His grace is not without effect because by His grace, we are what we are (1 Cor. 15:10). So, these questions remain: how have you responded to His resurrection? How has His grace impacted your life? He is risen! Pastor Andy Please read Rev. 3:14-20 for our time on Sunday.
Today, Jews all over the world are celebrating the Passover with a seder meal. They are remembering their ancestors' experience in Egypt, sacrificing a lamb and putting its blood over the doorposts to be protected as the angel of death passed over Egypt. Messianic Jews and gentile believers celebrate Christ as the Passover lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7) sacrificed to protect us from eternal death. How thankful we are that He chose to give His life for us.
This weekend, we'll celebrate through: Good Friday Service: At 7pm, we'll focus on the sacrifice Jesus made. Noah Smith will be sharing a message and Kit Bellman will be presenting a soliloquy as Mary. We'll also celebrate communion by intinction (dunking bread in the juice). Livestream will be available for this service. Resurrection Sunrise Service: At 7am, the Fredericktown area churches will have a joint service for about 30-45 minutes. Jerry Ernst, pastor at Cornerstone Community Church will share a devotional message and Kyle & Ashley will lead singing. Resurrection Services at NewLife: We'll have both services as normal, 9:00am and 10:30am. Please make sure to scoot to the center of the aisles, so there is plenty of seating it's not hard for visitors to find seats. We do not have any baptisms scheduled, but we'll still collectively celebrate the new life we can all have in Christ! Nursery & 3yo-K class will meet as normal. Andy will do a kids minute for the elementary kids who will then be given an activity bag and remain in the service. Looking forward to celebrating together as a family, The NewLife Staff 
I can do all this through Him who gives me strength, Phil. 4:13, NIV
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is both a thank you letter from a grateful missionary and an explanation on how to live the Christian life. The secret? It’s living this life in Christ. It’s learning to be content in Him and through Him as we face the ups and downs of life. It’s the centering of our lives on Him and having His hope as an anchor for our souls (Heb. 6:19) even when hope doesn’t make sense. It’s believing whole-heartedly that to live is Christ and to die is gain. It’s having the same mind as Christ and following His example of humility. It’s pouring out our hearts and needs to Him with thanksgiving because it’s a privilege to be able to pray that way and to know Him at all, let alone to have His peace. It’s having a mental framework in Him through which we approach life. It’s all of life lived in Christ. Though our study of Philippians is concluded, let’s continue forward in Christ, locked in with Him! Pastor Andy P.S. This Sunday, we'll welcome Earnie & Sharon as they share about their ministry in Spain. Be prepared to give a special offering for their ministry and to stay for a potluck meal with them after the ONE service! Questions for reflection and discussion:
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