Talk (Temptation & Self-control / The Last Temptation of Homer)
Talk Introduction
Tonight we are going to thinking about two things
Temptation
Self control
You can't really talk about one, without the other
It's a big subject
And I kind of realise that there might be something that we are tempted to do, or have
been tempted to do, that we are maybe not proud of
Maybe we even feel ashamed of
Episode of the Simpson's
Homer is tempted by new female employee Mindy
The Last Temptation of Homer (Sex, Lies and the Simpson's)
The middle bit
Put the following headings on cards. and ask:
Have you ever...?
Do you struggle with this one ?
How do you handle it / get out of it?
Here's the list (could be based on Galatians 5:19..24):
Lied / bent the truth
Be somebody you are not
Do something "well dodgey"
Get drunk
Do something rude
Smoke
Get off with a friend's girl / boyfriend
"Do drugs"
Thump somebody
To give somebody a mouthful
To gossip
To slag somebody off
Waste money / time
To use people
To stand-up for yourself
To steal
To be ignorant / turn a blind eye
The Bible bit
There's quite a lot of stuff in the Bible about this
One thing to remember is that Jesus was human
He was tempted
He must have struggled at times
But, the Bible tells us he got it right
So if we want to know how to cope with temptation and be self controlled, we need to
look at home Jesus carried on
Discus
Matthew 4:1-11 P911
Luke 4:1-13 P1008
Conclusion
God expects to see love, joy, piece in our lives
We can only do that by:
been like Jesus which is hard
knowing what the Bible says on stuff (like Jesus did)
Which is why we need to read our Bibles
There are however, some practical steps:
Learn to know when you are tempted
Don't mix with certain people
To close I thought we could do something different...
[Hand out bits of paper / pens]
Write down something you struggle with...where you want God's help...
Now we are going to symbolically burn the bits of paper...we're saying "be
gone...etc."
Pray
Other Bible references
Self-control (general)
Galatians 5:19 - 24 P1213 - "the wrong things hating,
making trouble but the spirit produces the fruit of love, joy,
peace self-control "
2 Tim 3:1-5 P1265 " they will not love others will not control them
selves will love pleasure instead of God Stay away from these people."
Self-control (sexual)
1 Corinthians 5:7 "But if they can not control themselves,
they should marry. It is better to marry than burn with sexual desire"
Sexual temptation
Matthew 5:27-30 Page 914 "But I tell you that if anyone looks
at a woman and wants to sin sexually with her, in his mind he has already done that sin
with the woman"
Ephesians 5:3 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual
immorality "
Proverbs 6:24-29 Page 572 "They will keep you from sinful women and from the
pleasing words of another man's unfaithful wife. Don't desire her because she is
beautiful. Don't let her capture you by the way she looks at you. A prostitute will treat
you like a loaf of bread, and a woman who takes part in adultery may cost you your life.
You cannot carry hot coals against your chest without burning your clothes, And you cannot
walk on hot coals with out burning your feet. The same is true if you have sexual
relations with another man's wife. Anyone who does so will be punished"
Bathsheba
2 Sam 11 P283 - The Bathsheba story
2 Sam 12:1-25 P284 - The price David had to pay for Bathsheba
Joseph tempted, but did not submit Genesis 39:6-20 P45:
Joseph was tempted to have sex with some woman, but turned her down.
She then lies and said he tried it on.
He went to prison, which is when he gets to interpret those dreams