The Messiah Revealed and Rejected - Nathan Rages

Luke 4:14-30 describes Jesus' return to His hometown synagogue at Nazareth.  This remarkable story can be broken down into these five parts:

1. His shocking declaration (v18-21).

2. His initial popularity (v15,22,23).

3. His controversial comparisons (v23-28).

4. His violent persecution (v28-29).

5. His sovereign power (v30).

9 Lessons from Jesus' Temptations - Nathan Rages

Luke 4:1-13 describes Jesus' wilderness temptation.  This message first describes the events and then makes a series of practical applications, following this outline:

1. The setting (v1-2).

2. The temptations

    Turning stone into bread (v3-4).

    Gaining worldly power via false worship (v5-8).

    Leaping off the Temple (v9-12).

3. The outcome (v13).

Applications:

1. The same Devil also tempts us to destroy us.   

2. The Devil takes advantage of our difficult circumstances.

3. Jesus understands our temptations by personal experience.

4. We must have absolute confidence in Scripture’s authority.

5. We need to know the Bible well in order to use it effectively.

6. Beware of escaping from trials in an unrighteous way.

7. Beware of pragmatic compromises to gain worldly influence.

8. Beware of presumptuously testing God.

9. Relief from temptations comes from steadfastly resisting them.

Confidence in the Christian Life - Jon Beary

Lessons are drawn from a crisis in the life of King Hezekiah and connected with Isaiah 40:9-11.  This reveals four things about God's character:

1. God is near.

2. God is able.

3. God is just.

4. God is caring.

Daniel, How Should I Pray? - James Voon

This message analyzes Daniel's famous prayer in Daniel 9:1-19 to obtain these principles to apply to our own prayer life:

1. Pray in response to the Word (v.2).

2. Pray with a confessing heart (vv. 3-9).

3. Pray depending on God's character (vv. 4,7,9)

4. Pray with God's glory as the goal (vv. 16-19).

From the First Adam to the Last Adam - Nathan Rages

We draw valuable lessons from our Lord's genealogy as recorded in Luke 3:23-38, following this outline:

General observations:

1. It differs from the one in Matthew’s Gospel. 

2. Many of these people are unknown to us. 

Notable ancestors:

1. David

2. Judah

3. Abraham

4. Adam