RAP SHEET LUKE 5:15-16

Series: The Kingdom Way

Sermon: Empty to Be Filled

Scripture: Luke 5:15–16

REVIEW

This week, we asked, “What do I need from God?” But the text quietly flips the question: What does God want from us?

“But the news about him spread even more, and large crowds would come together to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. Yet he often withdrew to deserted places and prayed.” (Luke 5:15–16)

Jesus’ popularity is exploding. Crowds are multiplying. Momentum is building.

Yet — He withdraws.

Luke tells us this wasn’t occasional. It was a pattern. Jesus often withdrew to deserted places — the eremos — the wilderness.

Throughout Scripture, the wilderness is not just geography. It is formation.

In Exodus, God brought Israel into the wilderness after freeing them from Egypt. The wilderness was not merely punishment — it was purification.

God emptied Egypt out of His peopleand filled them with faith.

Luke shows us the same theme:

• John the Baptist heard from God in the wilderness.

• Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days.

• After miracles and rising fame, Jesus returned to the wilderness again.

Why? Because the wilderness empties us of “Egypt.”

Egypt today isn’t pyramids and Pharaoh. It’s ambition, anxiety, comparison, cultural pressure, noise performance, ego, etc...

If we are never intentionally emptied, we will be accidentally filled with the wrong things.

Jesus withdrew not because He was weak —but because He refused to be shaped by the crowd. The wilderness is not where we retreat. The wilderness is where we get ready for all God has for us!

APPLY

Where is “Egypt” quietly filling your life right now?

• Is it constant noise?

• Work ambition?

• Anxiety?

• Approval?

• Social media?

• Comparison?

Jesus intentionally created space to be emptied and refilled by the Father.

What is ONE specific way you will create wilderness space this week to be emptied of “Egypt” and filled with God?

Be concrete:

• What will you step away from?

• When will you do it?

• How long will it last?

Say it clearly.

PRAY

Use these prompts:

• Ask God to show you where “Egypt” still lives in your heart.

• Confess distractions, idols, or misplaced ambition.

• Ask Him to empty you of what does not belong.

• Invite Him to fill you with faith, clarity, and dependence.

Sit in silence together for a moment.

Ask God to form us into people who seek the wilderness before we seek the crowd.