AFTER THE SERMON-God’s Incredible Love Personified

We hope today’s message was encouraging and helpful. These notes are meant to help you remember and reflect on the message, help you go deeper into study on the subject, or to be used for a Bible/sermon group study. Enjoy!

Main Scripture: Hebrews 4:15-16

Other scripture mentioned: John 4:1-11

(If you’re going through this discussion with a community group this week consider taking the time to read or paraphrase through some of the provided scripture to catch everyone up!)

Overview:

We can only scratch the surface of understanding God’s love, and other characteristics of God, through our own understanding. God is so much more than we can see and understand, and that includes the depth of His love. When we look at Christmas, we see Him punching through the darkness of this world to bring His love and strength to us.

We talked about one of those aspects of His love when we see what Jesus went through when he was here living like we do on earth. Hebrews 4:15-16 helps us see that Jesus was tempted in every way, but was without sin. Think of the incredible concentration and holiness it takes to live all of His life on Earth but not engage in any sin at all. He did all of that for us! It also allows us to approach God’s throne with confidence to get what we need when we need help.

We looked at Jesus’ journey into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. The devil threw everything at Him, including the word, but Jesus never gave in. He won the battle of the flesh so that we can be victorious in our struggles today. What an incredible love he had and has for us.

Takeaways:

• Jesus conquered the devil

  • He won the battle.

  • He conquered the temptations of the flesh.

  • He won for you and me.

• He wrestled the same way we do.

  • Imagine any other God who would live life like us so that we could be free from our sinful, fleshy nature and live in victory. He had the capacity and the potential to sin but chose not to.

• The greatest time to fight the flesh is when it is the most inflamed.

  • It is easy to declare a diet after a 7-course turkey dinner. The best work spiritually and physically comes when we can conquer the flesh when we are hungry. God’s grace enters in and gives us the strength. Always remember that Jesus did it for us so that his power can help us to be overcomers. We cannot do it on our own.

• Each of us has to wrestle with our own specific fleshy temptations.

  • What tempts us, will not tempt another. Our work comes at conquering what the enemy is trying to do specifically in our lives. Be aware of your own weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on you.

  • What do we need to do in this battle?

    • Saturate ourselves with the Word!

    • Jesus used the Word to win the battle against the devil. We need to study, memorize, always keep in our minds, and meditate on His word, especially when we struggle with life the most. Overflow with God’s view of our struggles so His power through the Word helps us to victory.

  • Interpersonal accountability

    • The Bible indicates that two are better than one. It is very difficult to do battle by ourselves. We need others around us to process what we are going through, pray with us in our struggles, be there for the most difficult times, and remind us of what the Word says. Discipleship and Bible study are essential elements to our victory.

  • Keep our focus on Jesus through spiritual familiarity.

    • What do we think of the most when we struggle? Do we think of how our flesh is betraying us, or do we immediately direct our thoughts to what Jesus did for us and his strength to overcome? We need to be so familiar in our spiritual walk that our first impulse is to go to Jesus in our struggles.

Discussion:

• What areas of your flesh or sinful nature do you struggle with the most? Is it an addiction, emotion, attitude that seems to hold on?

• What does it mean to you personally that Jesus defeated the devil in the wilderness?

• Describe what happens in you when you are fighting some temptation or fleshly desire. How can you allow God to join more in your fight to victory in that area?

• How can you become better acquainted with the Word in your life?

• Who do you have in your life that is a good accountability partner to help you in your struggle? If you do not have any, who could some potential people be?

• When temptation does come, what do you tend to go to first; fulfilling your fleshy desires, or the Lord to help you conquer these desires? How can you allow your spiritual focus to lead off during these times?

Pray:

Lord, I thank you for the example Jesus led when he came to this earth to live like we do so that we have an advocate to help us in our time of need. When I am struggling with sin or the flesh, give me your awesome strength that I do not have within myself. Give me an awareness of the struggles I do have and a focus on you when I do wrestle with them. Help me to become so spiritually familiar with you that when I do struggle, you are the first place I go. Thank you for your incredible love and doing what you did on this earth for me. In Jesus name, Amen!

We hoped you found this AFTER THE SERMON discussion helpful for your walk with Jesus. We pray you can find ways to apply it this week!