"A New Exodus Begins" - 5 p.m. The River Service 02/22/2026

Rev. Ben Jones explores the temptation of Jesus by zooming out to the panoramic sweep of Scripture and then zooming in to the intimate struggle in the wilderness. He shows how Matthew’s account intentionally echoes Israel’s Exodus story and even the creation narrative—revealing Jesus as the One who launches a new Exodus, leading God’s people out of sin and death into new creation life. Ben highlights how real and agonizing Jesus’ temptation was, happening at the point of deepest physical weakness and spiritual vulnerability, and how temptation always appeals to real needs in unfaithful ways. Yet the sermon refuses to reduce the story to mere moral instruction; instead, Ben lifts our eyes to the larger gospel truth that in Christ we are already made new, already citizens of heaven, already held in the Real Presence of Jesus. The invitation is not simply to “try harder,” but to live into the identity Christ has already given—letting Him lead us home.