Moments after the Father declared "You are my son, whom I love," Jesus was led into the wilderness. Forty days of solitude, fasting, and prayer ended with three trials — not unique to the Son of God, but common to every one of us.

In this sermon from Luke 4:1–13, Revd. Mark Fletcher unpacks how Jesus rooted himself in Scripture to face each temptation, and how every one of his responses opens up an Old Testament story written for our encouragement. If Jesus needed the Bible to stand firm, don't we need it even more?

We chase material things and wonder why we feel empty. We subtly start trusting in ourselves rather than God. We demand proof of his love the moment things go wrong. These are the trials of the wilderness — and they are waiting for each of us.

Growing to maturity in faith means learning to say no. It means choosing to trust God when it's hard and worshipping him alone. Are you ready to stand firm?

Full transcript and video: https://stpeters.ch/sermons/temptation-of-jesus-spiritual-maturity/?utm_source=acny&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=sermon-2026-01-25