The Problem of Temptation
September 20, 2026
CENTRAL TEXT: Matthew 6:13a
And lead us not into temptation
CALL TO WORSHIP: Psalm 26:1-3, 12
LEADER: Vindicate me, O LORD,
for I have walked in my integrity,
and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering.
ALL: Prove me, O LORD, and try me;
test my heart and my mind.
LEADER: For your steadfast love is before my eyes,
and I walk in your faithfulness.
ALL: My foot stands on level ground;
in the great assembly I will bless the LORD.
PRAYER/SCRIPTURE READING/CONFESSION OF FAITH: Matthew 4:1-11
LEADER: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,
“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”
Matt. 4:5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,
“‘He will command his angels concerning you,’
and
“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
Matt. 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,
“‘You shall worship the Lord your God
and him only shall you serve.’”
Matt. 4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
CELEBRATION OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
CONFESSION OF SIN:
LEADER: Let us confess our sin to the Lord.
ALL: Lord, “we are the failures you always knew we would be.” Far too enchanted by the fleeting, too easily pleased by the paltry, and too willing to give ourselves over to what will hold us hostage and damage our souls. But as surely as you knew what we would be, it did not deter you from loving us into what we could be, through Your Son. Forgive us for choosing the darkness. Help us again to see Jesus, and to long again for what He longs for in us.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON: Romans 5:6-8
LEADER: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
BENEDICTION: Jude 21-25
LEADER: keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. 24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.
Illustrations:
Discussion Questions:
- When you were younger, what were you most tempted by? Can you remember what your “thought process” was--as much as a youngster can have, or as you can recall–in the middle of the moment?
- Why do you think the Lord makes temptation so prominent in His teaching?
- Who led Jesus into temptation? Defend your answer (cf. Matthew 4)
- What does it take to fall into temptation? Try to slow the whole “process” down and identify what’s included. For instance, what must one both think and also repress thought of, in order for temptation to mislead? (e.g. Eve and Adam in Genesis 3)
- What are the multiple motivations for avoiding what temptation offers? Why if the Gospel is true does it serve as the ultimate “resource” for not falling into temptation?
- In light of the sermon’s summary what was new about the discipline of facing temptation (the “FTP”)--what to do “in the daily rhythm,” “in the desperate moment,” or “in the ditch”?
QUOTES:
Music and silence—how I detest them both! How thankful we should be that ever since Our Father entered Hell—though longer ago than humans, reckoning in light years, could express—no square inch of infernal space and no moment of infernal time has been surrendered to either of those abominable forces, but all has been occupied by Noise—Noise, the grand dynamism, the audible expression of all that is exultant, ruthless, and virile—Noise which alone defends us from silly qualms, despairing scruples and impossible desires. We will make the whole universe a noise in the end.
- The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
When she was told... that a General... was cut to pieces with all his troops, she laughed; when she heard that the enemy was on his way to besiege her papa’s capital, she laughed hugely; but when she was told that the city would certainly be abandoned to the mercy of the enemy’s soldiery—why, then she laughed immoderately. She never could be brought to see the serious side of anything.
- “The Light Princess,” George MacDonald
But when the prince, who had really fallen in Love. . .began to talk to her about love, she always turned her head towards him and laughed. After a while she began to look puzzled, as if she were trying to understand what he meant, but could not... - “The Light Princess,” George MacDonald
To whom shall we make confession? According to Jesus’ promise, every Christian brother can hear the confession of another. But will he understand? May he not be so far above us in his Christian life that he would only turn away from us with no understanding of our personal sins? Anybody who lives beneath the Cross and who has discerned in the Cross of Jesus the utter wickedness of all men and of his own heart will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him. Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the Cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother. Looking at the Cross of Jesus, he knows the human heart. He knows how utterly lost it is in sin and weakness, how it goes astray in the ways of sin, and he also knows that it is accepted in grace and mercy. Only the brother under the Cross can hear a confession.
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together
Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of. An apparently trivial indulgence in lust or anger today is the loss of a ridge or railway line or bridgehead from which the enemy may launch an attack otherwise impossible.
- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Books / Docs
The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis
“The Light Princess,” George MacDonald–and more recently a graphic novel adaptation by Meredith Finch (here’s a sample)
“A Theology of Music,” Griffin Gooch