The Inner Wilderness

"Lent invites us to notice what is unseen." Pastor Clare helps us explore and unpack the unseen forces that influence us. This powerful message invites us into the wilderness experience of Jesus, where after His baptism and hearing 'You are my beloved,' He was immediately led by the Spirit into forty days of temptation.

We're challenged to recognize that our real struggle isn't against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces of evil—and surprisingly, much of that battle happens within our own hearts. The sermon confronts three core lies that tempt us all: that we are what we do, what we have, or what others say about us. These emotional programs for happiness—our need for power and control, connection and approval, or security and survival—can become the very wilderness where we lose ourselves.

The Lenten season becomes an invitation to do our own inner work, to name our temptations so we can tame them, and to ask honestly: What does it mean to be me? When we refuse to address what's happening inside us, we end up doing evil to each other out there. But when we face our own prejudices, judgments, and false selves, we discover that God knows us better than we know ourselves—and loves us still. This isn't about curating humility or managing our image; it's about living true from our center, grounded in our belovedness, so we can show up in the world as people who actually look like Jesus emerging from the wilderness.