Pentecost 22 - November 9, 2025 (pdf Slides) - To follow the slides with the service, click on the words "pdf Slides." It will open a new tab. Follow the slides as the service streams below. You may also open two windows to view the slides and service at the same time.
The M3 - Monday Morning Mail for the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
The 40-40-3 Plan
Yesterday we celebrated and gave thanks to YHWH for the forty years he has given us at 3003 Silverside Road. The sermon began with a series of slides that took us back to 1985, beginning with President Ronald Reagan's second term as president of the United States of America and concluding with two images of the Ford Tauras and Mercury Sable–both models debuting in 1985. I noted that, of course, a lot has happened in the past forty years. I encouraged everyone to consider how the Lord has worked in their life the past forty years. I also asked us to give thanks for the saints who made the current site possible and now rest in the perfect peace of Jesus.
I then transitioned to the forty years in the wilderness that the people of God experienced as they made their way to the promised land. I recounted the golden calf incident in Exodus 32, the Israelites complaining in the wilderness in Numbers 11, being scared to go into the promised land in Numbers 12 and 13, the rebellion of Korah that led to the earth swallowing him and those who rebelled with hin in Numbers 16, Moses striking the rock in Numbers 20, and the complaining of the Israelites in Numbers 21. I then made the comparison: while our 40 years on Silverside Road may not have been as dramatic as the Israelites 40 years in the wilderness, we, too, have had our misteps, our sins, and our shortcomings here.
Thankfully, Jesus goes into the wilderness for you and me–40 days. I noted that it's not 40 years but days. Jesus quickly undoes Satan in the wilderness for you and me by resisting his three temptations. Ultimately, his time in the wilderness, especially his three resistances of Satan, point to the three days on the Cross, where Jesus finally does away with Satan and begins life anew with his resurrection.