Jesus Is Tempted Lesson Aim: To study the three kinds of temptations we most often face.

Transcription

1 Leader s Guide: Ages Kings & Kingdoms Part 1: The Life of Jesus Unit 1, Lesson 3 Jesus Is Tempted Lesson Aim: To study the three kinds of temptations we most often face. THE WORSHIP Who God Is: The King Who Is With Us THE WORD What He Has Done: Jesus resisted temptation and battled Satan using God s Word. Scripture Focus: Matthew 4:1-11; 1 John 2:16 Key Verse: Matthew 4:4 Christ Connection: Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:13, 16 THE WAY The Big Question: What is your strategy for resisting temptation? UNIT 1 FOCUS VERSE How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to Your word. I seek You with all my heart; do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You. Psalm 119:9-11 Unit 1: The King Who Is With Us Bible Story What He Has Done Lesson Aim 1 Jesus in the Temple Courts, Luke 2:41-52 God came to earth and grew up as a boy of faith. To seek opportunities to ask your questions about God. 2 Jesus Is Baptized, Mark 1:1-11 God the Father claimed Jesus as His beloved Son. To study the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 3 Jesus Is Tempted, Matthew 4:1-11; 1 John 2:16 Jesus resisted temptation and battled Satan using God s Word. To study the three kinds of temptations we most often face. 4 Jesus Calls His Disciples, Luke 5:1-11 Jesus called regular people to follow Him. To know Jesus does extraordinary things through ordinary people. 5 Jesus Cleanses the Temple, John 2:13-22 Jesus cleared the temple of the merchants price gouging there. To treat God s house and our lives as special and holy to God. 6 Jesus Is Transfigured, Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus appearance changed and He spoke to Moses and Elijah. To know Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. LEADER S ENCOURAGEMENT This week, read Hebrews 4: Please join us in praying, Thank You for Your Word and the power it gives us to fight temptation. Protect the students from the evil one and lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from evil. Amen. Lesson Aims are based on reflecting God s character as we participate in His actions to, for, and in the world. Take Home Elements: The Journal Entry, Action Card, and Family Discussion Card may be sent home to encourage students to reflect on the lesson. The Journal Entry is an in-depth personal study. The Action Card is a visual reminder of the Bible story, God s action, and how we can join into that action. The Family Discussion Card gives parents and guardians a way to engage their students in what they are learning. Leader s Tip: For larger gatherings, teach THE WELCOME, THE WORSHIP, and THE WORD in a large group setting and divide into small groups for discussion with THE WAY. Permission is granted to reproduce these materials. Not for resale. Use is subject to the Terms of Use available at ResourceWell.org. Terms are subject to change without notice. All other rights are reserved. Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 1 of 6

2 Getting started THE WELCOME Suggestion: Choose a game that focuses on concepts related to the lesson such as temptation, battles, bread, angels, or a mountain. ACTIVITY OPTION 1: TEMPTATION MAZE Purpose: To introduce the concept of avoiding temptation. Supplies: Sheets of paper, marker, floor tape or chalk Prepare: Use chalk or floor tape to create a maze on the floor. Each on a separate piece of paper, write a temptation that is common to your students. Place the papers on the floor throughout the maze. Following the instructions below, test how long it should take for students to complete the maze. Welcome to Temptation Maze. Throughout the maze, you will find temptations we might face written on sheets of paper. Stop in front of each paper and read the temptation in a loud voice before continuing. Your voices will overlap as you read different temptations at the same time. Be thinking about how this is similar to how temptations sometimes bombard us. Let s see if we can get everyone through the maze in [minutes to complete the maze] minutes or less. You must stay between the lines and you cannot move ahead of another student. Directions: 1. Students form a line at the entrance to the maze. 2. Start the timer and signal the first student to enter the maze. 3. Every 3-5 seconds, let another student in the maze until all the students are in the maze. 4. As each student passes each paper, he or she reads the temptation in a loud voice. 5. The goal is for all the students to find the maze exit within the given time limit. Students who complete the maze may help students still in the maze by giving them verbal directions. ACTIVITY OPTION 2: SMART STEPS RELAY Purpose: To introduce the idea of helping each another avoid temptation. Supplies: Paper plates, marker, floor tape or chalk Prepare: Use tape or chalk to mark a start and finish line for two teams at opposite ends of the play area. The play area should be at least twice the distance of a team standing shoulder-to-shoulder. Ideally, leave enough room past the end of the finish line for a team to stand shoulder-to-shoulder. Directions: 1. Give each student a paper plate. Divide students into 2 teams. 2. Each team stands in a straight line, with each student standing on their plate. 3. Explain that the floor represents temptation, and the plates represent ways we avoid temptation. Students avoid temptation by staying on the plates. Only one student on a plate at a time. 4. Give the first player an extra paper plate to hold as they stand on their original plate. 5. On your signal, the first player of each team lays the extra plate in front of them and steps on it. The second player steps onto the open plate, the third player steps on the next open plate, and so on until the last player steps onto the empty plate in front of him/her. The last player then picks up the empty plate behind him/her and the team passes it forward to the first player. 6. Teams repeat step 5 until all the team members have placed their plates over the finish line and the first player is holding the extra plate. 7. Note: During the game, draw parallels to walking through a day avoiding temptation along the way. Point out the difficulty in skipping steps, and encourage good communication and teamwork. Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 2 of 6

3 The King who is with us THE WORSHIP Note to Leader: The instructions below are suggestions only. Adapt this time of worship to suit your environment, resources, and cultural expression. Encourage students to broaden their view of corporate worship by including a variety of expressions such as group prayer, group praise, silent meditation, singing, listening to music, reading scripture, collecting an offering, drama, dance, visual arts, and/or a physical exploration of nature or neighborhoods. Ideas for Optional Visuals: Today, we worship God for who He is and what He has done as the King who is with us. When Jesus came to earth to be with us, He faced many temptations, yet He never sinned. He understands the temptations we face; we can ask Him for strength to resist temptations as well as forgiveness when we fail to resist temptations. Read Unit 1 Focus Verse: Psalm 119:9-11. Sing worship songs that focus on Jesus presence with us, now on earth through His Holy Spirit and His Word and later in heaven where all who believe in Him will receive eternal life. Read Hebrews 4: Invite students to offer sentences of praise to God by completing the following sentence: Lord, we worship You for. Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 3 of 6

4 Jesus is tempted THE WORD Presentation Note to Leader: Adapt this segment to your setting (Sunday School class, youth group, multi-age gathering, youth camp, retreat, etc.). In some settings, you may choose to have a student read the scripture aloud, and then have the leader, in his or her own words, briefly communicate the Teaching Points, the Christ Connection, and the Big Question. In other settings, a teacher, pastor, or other experienced speaker may present a lecture or extended message that includes those same elements. Ideas for Optional Visuals: You may choose to include an object lesson, video clip, drama, dance, song, or work of art to illustrate the teaching points. Option 1: Kids Temptation Eat it or wait (video clip): Option 2: TEACHING POINTS Consider current culture and influences impacting your students, and adjust the teaching accordingly. Read the suggested scripture and communicate each of the points noted. The leader or a student reads Matthew 4:1-11 aloud. Jesus was hungry. Satan tempted Him to use His power to make bread from stones. Satan was tempting Jesus to serve Himself by using His power to satisfy His own physical desires. Making food is not a sin; but in this case, Jesus would have been satisfying his own needs instead of trusting God. Jesus knew He came to serve, not to be served. He knew His miracles were not to serve Himself, but to bring glory to His Father. Next, Satan tempted Jesus with pride. If Jesus had jumped off the top of the temple, He would have trying to proving His own importance as God s Son and testing God to protect Him from a foolish act. Finally, Satan showed Jesus the kingdoms and riches He could have. Satan was tempting Jesus to gain power and wealth for Himself. By resisting this offer, Jesus showed God the Father was more important to Him than any selfish desires. Jesus first desire was to worship God above all else. Each time Jesus was tempted, He resisted temptation by answering it with God s Word. Remembering and trusting God s Word is our best strategy in resisting temptation, too. The leader or a student reads 1 John 2:16 aloud. Listen to Eugene Peterson's The Message paraphrase of 1 John 2:16. Don t love the world s ways. Don t love the world s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from Him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 4 of 6

5 THE WORD Presentation continued 1 John 2:16 mentions three different types of sin that can tempt us. o o o Lust of the flesh refers to physical desires and cravings for sensual pleasure. Lust of the eyes refers to greedy longings and desires that come from seeing or thinking about things you want to have. Pride of life is also known as a pompous sense of superiority or boasting of what we have and do. It involves putting our confidence in ourselves or in our world, instead of in God. Pride not only distorts the truth in our own minds, but our prideful actions can hurt others. Connecting the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Us CHRIST CONNECTION In the whole story of God, what's the connection between this New Testament story and the Old Testament? Jesus resisted temptation and battled Satan by quoting and applying scriptures from the Old Testament. The leader or a student reads Deuteronomy 8:3. Which temptation did Jesus face when he quoted this verse? Remembering Deuteronomy 8:3 can strengthen you when you are tempted to satisfy your own physical desires instead of trusting God. The leader or a student reads Deuteronomy 6:16. Which temptation did Jesus face when he quoted this verse? Remembering Deuteronomy 6:16 can strengthen you when you are tempted to boast or to feel superior. The leader or a student reads Deuteronomy 6:13. Which temptation did Jesus face when he quoted this verse? Remembering Deuteronomy 6:13 can strengthen you when you are tempted to treat yourself, your plans, or your possessions as more important or valuable than God. THE BIG QUESTION Introduce and elaborate on this question. Students will answer it in their discussion group. What is your strategy for resisting temptation? Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 5 of 6

6 Resisting temptation THE WAY Discussion GETTING STARTED Display and review the Discussion Group Covenant below: We will include everyone here, treating one another with respect and kindness. We will encourage everyone here to express their thoughts and opposing views. Every student shares his or her best experience or greatest challenge of the past week. READ IT AGAIN Read Matthew 4:1-11 silently or aloud. Summarize what Jesus said when Satan tempted Him to make the stones into bread. Summarize what Jesus said when Satan tempted Him to test God by throwing Himself from the top of the temple. Summarize what Jesus said when Satan tempted Him with kingdoms and riches. THE BIG QUESTION Invite students to share their answers. What is your strategy for resisting temptation? TAKE ACTION Lead students in a discussion using the questions below. What kinds of temptation do you and your friends face? God s Word was not written as a recipe for fighting temptation or a rulebook for good behavior. The Bible was inspired by our Creator, written to show us who He is and how much He loves us. Because He loves us, He gives us ways to resist temptation. How might that motivate you to seek God first and resist temptation? Ask each student to complete this sentence: God calls us to resist temptation, SO THAT others might. PRAY Share prayer requests and answered prayers. Have students pray with partners, or have the whole group pray together. FINAL FIVE MINUTES When only 5 minutes remain, begin this segment. Give each student Action Card #3 and Journal Entry #3. Take home today s Action Card as a reminder of how we can join in what God is doing. Use the Journal Entry as your personal devotional study. Complete your Journal Entries at home and keep them together in a notebook or in your Bible. Optional: Provide parent or guardian with Family Discussion Card #3. Kings & Kingdoms Unit 1, Lesson 3 ~ Ages ~ Page 6 of 6

7 KINGS & KINGDOMS What are some ways we are tempted to show how important we are or to test God to see how important we are to Him? JOURNAL ENTRY #3 Jesus Is Tempted Mark 4:1-11 WHAT DOES IT SAY? Pray!!! Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what He wants you to learn from this passage. Now read Matthew 4:1-11 and 1 John 2:16. Satan tempted Jesus three times. What did Jesus use to help Him resist each of the temptations? What are some ways we are tempted to want things we don't have? WHAT CAN I DO? Jesus used God s Word to remind Him of the truth and to strengthen Him to resist the temptation. For those us who don't know where to look in the Bible for these truths, it can be an overwhelming and discouraging search. Below are some ways you can find scriptures when you need help resisting a temptation. Circle the ones you would be willing to try. Read the book of John, focusing on the words of Jesus. Ask a teacher or pastor from your church. Ask a friend who you ve seen resist temptation. Use a Bible website or Bible app to read verses that include words describing your temptation. According to 1 John 2:16, what are the three common types of temptation? Use this space to list three areas of temptation in your life. Next to each area of temptation, write a one-sentence description of a strategy you can use to resist that temptation. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? What are some ways we are tempted today to use our own power to satisfy our physical desires, instead of trusting God to give us all we truly need? How can you help a friend who is being tempted?

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