In week three of the Supernatural series, Pastor Craig Groeschel examines what the Bible teaches about demonic forces, their origins, tactics, and limitations. Drawing from Mark 1, Colossians 2, and James 4:7, he explains that demons deceive, accuse, tempt, and oppress, yet are already defeated through Christ's death and resurrection. He calls believers to submit fully to God's authority first, then resist the devil with confidence, trusting that greater is the Spirit within them than any force of darkness in the world.
Generated automatically the morning after this sermon was preached. Read every open card free. The locked ones get built when it’s your sermon.
9 pieces open to read · 18 more unlock with your own sermon
“Your handling of the Mark 1 synagogue encounter is a textbook example of how to do expository preaching without losing your audience. You grounded the entire message in a specific text, drew out the three”
Read the full insights report →Six sermon moments, automatically clipped, subtitled, and sized for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts.
Unlock with your sermon →“This is Week 3 of the Supernatural series. Week 1 introduced spiritual warfare and the reality that we fight spiritual battles with spiritual weapons. Week 2 explored walking daily with the Holy Spirit.”
Open the discussion guide →Scroll-stopping captions, strategic hashtags, and posting strategy with best times to share.
Unlock with your sermon →“What does the Greek word for 'submit' in James 4:7 mean, according to Pastor Craig?”
Take the sermon quiz →“This session digs into one of the Bible's most neglected and misunderstood topics, demonic forces and spiritual opposition. Rather than sensationalizing darkness, the sermon grounds us in Scripture's clear teaching: demons are real, they are active, but they are already defeated by Jesus.”
Open the deep study guide →Algorithm-optimized posts with discussion prompts built to spark comments and reach beyond your followers.
Unlock with your sermon →“Mark 1:23-27 belongs to the genre of miracle narrative, specifically an exorcism account. Mark's Gospel is renowned for its urgency, the Greek word euthys ("immediately" or "suddenly") appears over 40 times, driving the narrative forward with breathless pace.”
Start the individual study →Ready-to-post messages written in the pastor's authentic voice. Copy, paste, connect.
Unlock with your sermon →“I've been in a season of severe spiritual attack. And I found myself doing something I'm not proud of, I started leading on defense. Fear had taken root, and instead of moving forward in faith, I was shrinking back.”
Read the pastor's blog post →“The people in our lives, struggling marriages, depressed kids, friends who've lost hope, are not enemies. They are people Jesus died for, caught in a real spiritual battle. The church, he reminded us, is not called to play defense.”
Read the guest perspective →Talking points that let elders, deacons, and volunteer leaders share Sunday's message from their own accounts.
Unlock with your sermon →“You can't resist the devil when you're still resisting God.”
See the golden moments →Fine-tune any piece, regenerate with one click, and send devotionals straight to your congregation's inboxes.
Unlock with your sermon →According to this sermon, the key is James 4:7: submit to God first, then resist the devil and he will flee. Submitting means placing yourself under Jesus's authority as Lord. You then resist not in your own strength but under the name and authority of Jesus, which is above every other name.
This sermon teaches that demons deceive people away from God's truth, accuse believers with lies like 'you're worthless,' blind unbelievers from spiritual truth, tempt people in their weakest areas, oppress and afflict harm, and even try to influence rulers and nations, all aimed at stealing, killing, and destroying what God values.
No. This sermon explains that demons are not omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent. Through Jesus's death and resurrection, God disarmed all spiritual rulers and shamed them publicly. As 1 John 4:4 states, the Spirit living in believers is greater than any spirit in the world, meaning the enemy is already defeated.
More sermons on James, spiritual warfare, faith, temptation.
Browse the full Sermon Library →
Submit your manuscript or notes and get 17 more pieces: kids, pre-teen, and teen ministry lessons synced to your sermon, a fill-in-the-blank sermon notes worksheet, a teaser email that fills seats, speaker notes, and more.