Your preaching text is 1 Corinthians 10:13. It’s a well-known church sermon verse. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up to it.”
Your preaching subject is “Repeat Temptations.” By that you mean temptations that prove troublesome time and again.
The response you are calling for from your people is for them to stand up and know victory in such encounters.
The problem is that many of them don’t seem to know how to do this. So what are some possible “how-to’s” you might suggest in your Sunday sermons?
Here are four examples:
- Realize that the outcome of most spiritual battles is determined within the first minute. The longer you listen to the enemy, the more likely it is you will lose.
- So be like Jesus when the devil tempted Him. Quickly lock your mind onto what you know God would have you do. Then determine in your mind that this will be your course of action.
- Take time to carefully write out the rewards that come from righteousness and the damages that result from sin. Go over this list regularly so you can instantly refer to it when it’s needed.
- Establish an accountability relationship with a close Christian friend. You don’t have to say what the temptation is that repeatedly troubles you. But you can let this person know how you are doing in terms of wins and losses.
These are the kind of helpful specifics that need to be included in your topical sermons.
