RAP SHEET Luke 4:3-4

SERIES: The Chosen King

SERMON: Temptation 1: Provision

SCRIPTURE: Luke 4:1–4; Deuteronomy 8:1–3

REVIEW

This week, we step into the first temptation of Jesus—and it centers around food.

After forty days of fasting, Jesus was hungry. Satan appears and says, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answers with the words of Deuteronomy 8: “Man must not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

This moment is more than a story about physical hunger—it’s a spiritual lesson about provision and perspective.

When the Israelites wandered for forty years in the wilderness, God allowed them to hunger so they could learn dependence on Him. Now, in that same wilderness, Jesus faces the same temptation and succeeds where Israel failed.

The real test wasn’t about food—it was about trust. Satan attacked Jesus’ identity and perspective, trying to make Him believe that His Father had failed to provide. But Jesus resisted by relying completely on God’s Word rather than His own power.

Jesus shows us that true provision comes through dependence, not self-sufficiency. Fasting helps us remember that. As we prepare for baptisms, this fast isn’t about punishment—it’s about shifting our perspective to rely entirely on God for what truly satisfies.

APPLY

This week’s passage challenges us to evaluate what we trust for our sense of provision. The first temptation taught us PROVISION IS ALWAYS ATTACHED TO PERSPECTIVE!

• Where do you find yourself craving control or comfort instead of relying on God’s timing?

• When do you most struggle to believe that God is enough?

• How do comparison or discontentment steal your peace?

Fasting brings these questions into focus. When we intentionally empty ourselves, we create space for the Spirit to remind us that we live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.

Let this fast be more than skipping meals—let it be a time to realign your perspective. Ask yourself:

What is ONE AREA of your life where you need to stop striving for provision on your own and start trusting God to provide in His way and His time?

Remember: Sin is an attempt to find provision apart from God and always leaves you empty. Fasting is an intentional emptying of yourself before God and always leaves you fulfilled.

PRAY

• Thank God that Jesus faced temptation in our place and overcame it perfectly.

• Ask the Holy Spirit to expose areas where you’ve been chasing false provision or living in self-reliance.

• Pray for humility during the fast—that as you feel hunger, you would also feel a deeper dependence on God.

• Pray that our church family would enter this fast united, focused, and ready for the movement God is preparing to unleash through Baptisms.