ØCollection envelopes for 2023-24 are now available please see Mary if you would like a pack.

ØAll are welcome to attend the World day Of Prayer service at 2,00pm on Friday March 3^rd St Dunstans church, Kingsfield Road, Kings Heath – in the conference room opposite the church

ØIf you are looking for a way to donate towards the relief efforts in Turkey and Syria please click the link https://www.dec.org.uk/?gclid=CjwKCAiA85efBhBbEiwAD7oLQA1yXVVkGtMOUrqkE3ueD4-172dlo0WtOUdbuXLHd-xIIzd3oEOejBoCDzoQAvD_BwE

Alternatively there will be a further opportunity to contribute to the collection in church on Sunday.

ØThere are packs of both soup and (assorted, labelled) sandwiches in the freezer in the kitchen of the Hub,- if anyone comes into church in need of a meal. All marked ‘Sunday sandwiches’.

ØWe continue to collect food bankcontributions for the Spearhead trust please leave your food donations at the back of church.

Reflection on the Temptation of Christ Matthew 4:11

Jesus in the desert a perfect example of overcoming temptation

Rev. David Wilson Rogers | Carlsbad Current-Argus

After Jesus was baptized, he journeyed into the wilderness for forty days and was tempted by the Devil. Turning stones into bread, bowing to Satan, and putting God to the test were the three temptations with which the Evil One thought he could win over Jesus. Scripture records that Jesus never gave into the temptations and Satan was defeated. However, the lessons learned from Jesus’ foray into the wilderness speak volumes to the church.

Turning stones into bread represents the sin of expediency and instant gratification. Jesus was hungry, and likely pretty weak from the time of fasting he had endured. As he would later prove with loaves and fish, miraculously creating an overabundance of food would not have been difficult for him. Yet, the short-cut would not serve God’s will. Placing his immediate needs above God’s plan for salvation would have ended in disaster.

When Satan offered Jesus the allure of power, control and authority—a power for which Jesus would not have to suffer and die to obtain—the temptation is one that has compromised the authority of the church for centuries. Rather than embrace a life of service, too many churches have sold out to the satanic lure of partisan politics and personality cults focused on protecting rights, power, and prominence.

For Jesus to throw himself down from the Pinnacle of the Temple knowing full well that God would send angels to rescue him, the temptation was for the lure of the spectacle—literally a demonstrative demonstration of God’s cosmic powers. Jesus knew that one’s power over Satan is only wakened by the spectacle. Folks may have been awed and wowed by the wonder of the event, but such drama rarely cultivates meaningful faith. Rather, when the church resorts to spectacle and show to win hearts, at best it excels in providing Christian entertainment but likely does not transform lives for Christ in substantive ways.

The answers Christ gives to his demonic tempter in the wilderness point to the higher reality of scripture, faith, and one’s relationship with Christ. Rather than find easy short cuts, earthly power and control, or seek the allure of the spectacle, Jesus calls for living out of the Word of God, unhindered allegiance to God, and unrelenting trust in God.