Lead us not into temptations

 

Lead us not into temptations from Alex Tang

Lead us not into Temptations

Text: Luke 4:1-13

Sermon Statement

It is the human Jesus who resisted the temptations of Satan by his lived experience of the Scriptures. This gives us hope that we can resist temptations by (1) knowing ourselves; (2) developing a plan to resist; (3) avoid temptations; (4) resist and pray; and to (5) get the help of theirs.

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All dressed up

Conversations with my granddaughter: On beauty

Hello little one,

Here we are, both of us all ‘dressed up’ and ready to go out. You must wonder why we have to wear all these uncomfortable clothes just to go out. I am sure you are just happy to be wearing only your t-shirt and pampers. Grampa too. Wearing T-shirt and pants, that is, not pampers. The reason is that, little one, this dressing up is to make us beautiful. I know, little one, we are already beautiful. However, for some strange reasons, big people think that smart clothes and even additional things like jewelry and makeup make them beautiful. 

What is beautiful? Good question, little one. To be beautiful is to make your physical appearance pleasing to other people and to cause envy. Why would big people bother about what other people think about their appearances? I do not know, little one, but many big people spend a lot of time concerned about what other people think of their appearances instead of thinking about other more important things. In fact, Grampa suspected that after an initial glance, most big people are not interested in thinking about other big people’s appearances. They are generally more concerned about their own.

What is even more interesting is that what is ‘pleasing’ to other people changes over time. If you look at some of the pictures in Grampa’s books, the pictures of beautiful women in the past are very fat! Now they are very thin! Where once being fat is beautiful, now it is beautiful to be skinny. I know, it is very confusing. And little one, you must be also are aware there are many types of big people. Some are slightly bigger than you, some big people such as your Mummy and Daddy who are called adults and there are some older big people like as Grampa and Grandma. With time all people’s appearances change. This is called aging. Grampa do not always look like this. A long time ago, Grampa was young, thin and handsome. Now Grampa is older, paunchy but still handsome.

Little one, true beauty is not what a person is on the outside but what that person is in the inside. The outside of a person is the appearance but the inside is the soul. We can see the outside but we cannot see the soul. However we can appreciate the soul in how a person think, feel and act. A beautiful soul is full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. It is in continual communion with God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. Grampa believes that if the inner soul is beautiful, then the outer appearance will be too. That is true beauty. Grampa thinks big people should spend more time looking after their souls than their physical appearances.

Little one, may you grow to up to be a beautiful soul. May you always have enough love to nourish your soul. May your soul grow to be a red rose that brings beauty to the kingdom of God. May you always maintain the communion you now have with the Holy Trinity and not lose it when you grow older. May you bear the fruit of the spirit in your soul. This is Grampa’s wish for you, my beautiful little granddaughter.

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