VERDUGO COMMUNITY CHURCH WORSHIP SERVICE FEBRUARY 26, 2023

Pastor Gail Linstrom welcomes all to worship and to participate in the life of our church family. Dale Reynolds calls us to worship with a reading from Psalm 91 and Jessica Jimenez leads us in the opening prayer. Kim Cox, Jessica Jimenez, Mike Minasyan and Ed Manacop lead us in our praise singing. Greg Hart takes up the concerns of the church and our world in the Prayers of the People.

 

In her sermon “The Temptation and Triumph of Jesus,” Pastor Gail looks at the temptations of Christ from Matthew 4, where Jesus uses and follows Scripture to rebuke Satan, in contrast to the story of the Fall. Each temptation would result in immediate good – food after a 40 day fast, spectacular fame as Jesus starts his ministry, and justice and freedom for all those oppressed in the kingdoms of this world. But the price was to abandon God’s plan for Jesus’s ministry and eventual triumph and our salvation. As humans we too often want to bypass God and do good by our own strength and abilities. Jesus showed us that we must obey God and wait for his timing and help to accomplish God’s plan for our lives.

 

Pastor Gail then leads us in Communion, so you are invited to have bread or crackers and a beverage ready to participate in this sacrament.

 

Verdugo makes its Sunday sermons available to you on Facebook and posts audio copies of the service and sermon at https://verdugochurch.podbean.com.

 

Verdugo Community Church is a Free Methodist congregation serving the Glassell Park, Eagle Rock, and Glendale areas in Los Angeles. It is located at 4300 Verdugo Road, Los Angeles, CA 90065. Our email address is verdugofmc@gmail.com. Contact Pastor Gail at (323) 500-3343.

 

Verdugo is online at www.facebook.com/verdugochurch and www.verdugochurch.org.

Sermon copyright 2023 by Gail Whitcome Linstrom and Verdugo Community Church.