Lead Us Not into Temptation

Transcription

1 2 nd /3 rd Grade Oct 22 Lead Us Not into Temptation Bible Verse Finally, let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armor that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil s tricks. (Ephesians 6:10-11) Teacher Enrichment This lesson is the eighth in the Teach Us to Pray series which emphasizes the practice of prayer using The Lord s Prayer. Each week will examine a stanza of The Lord s Prayer, what it tells us about God and how it directs our prayer life. Today s lesson explores Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Temptation is everywhere in our world. We could each make a long list of the things that tempt us and everyone s list would be different. But it really doesn t matter what s on the list, it only matters how we respond to those temptations. Temptation in and of itself is not sin. Rather, it is the place in between God and sin where we stand when faced with a choice. Will we choose to turn towards God and follow His teaching? Or will we choose to turn away from God and towards sin? The easy answer is of course I will turn towards God, but oh, temptation can make that choice much harder. For help, we can pray to God, first to avoid temptation to begin with (lead us not) and second to turn towards Him when we are faced with the temptation to sin (deliver us from evil). The Book of Ephesians 6:14-17 describes an armor of God that, when donned, will defend us against spiritual enemies. It includes such items as a belt of truth, a shield of faith and a sword of the Holy Spirit. When we rely on prayer, the truth of the Bible and faith to guide our decisions we are using the armor God provides to avoid evil. This lesson will help children recognize temptation in their lives and give them the armor they need to choose to turn towards God instead of sin.

2 Before Class Begins Place the Sign In sheet and a pen where parents can see it upon arrival. Place the Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards and pens where students can see them upon arrival. Check that you have supplies for this lesson: Arrival Activity, Lead Us Not Coloring Page 1 per child Temptation Story Sheets 1 per child Tackling Temptation Game Sets Place an arrival activity at each place on the table. Welcome SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards, Attendance chart, stickers, pens, Lead Us Not coloring page, crayons Greet each child individually as they arrive. Introduce yourself by name. Help children find or add their name on the attendance chart. Provide each child with a sticker to place in today s column on the attendance chart. Encourage children to complete a Joy or Concern card if they have a particular joy or concern they would like to express. Collect completed Joy & Concern cards. Encourage children to complete a Time or Talent offering card if they gave their time to God or used their talents to serve God or others during the previous week. Children should keep their own completed Time and Talent cards. If children bring monetary offering, they should keep it with them. Direct children to complete the Lead Us Not coloring page. Encourage conversation among the children and with you! Get to know the children in your classroom by asking about their week including school, activities and families. Introduce new children to each other and encourage friendships. Children s Worship SUPPLIES: Sign In sheet, Joy & Concern cards, Time & Talent cards Arrive at Ruth Hall at 9:20 or 11:05.

3 Bring the Sign In sheet and completed Joy & Concern cards to Ruth Hall. Hand the Joy & Concern cards to the Children s Worship leader as you arrive. Have children bring their completed Time & Talent cards and any monetary offering. If additional children arrive while in Ruth Hall, have parents complete the Sign In sheet and remind parents that pickup is in Room 105. Encourage children to participate in Children s Worship and provide re-direction if necessary. Assist the Children s Worship leader as needed. At the conclusion of Children s Worship, have children line up and return to Room 105. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Temptation Story Sheets, Temptation Story Discussion Guide, pencils, Tackling Temptation game sets (game boards, cards) SAY: Today we learned about temptation. Temptation is when something pulls us to turn away from God. When we are being tempted, we are deciding whether to do the right thing and continuing facing the God sign or to do the wrong thing and face the sin sign. (This concept was illustrated in Children s Worship with signs) SAY: Sometimes it s hard to resist temptation and make the right choice. We are going to read a few stories and I want you to think how tempted you would be to make the wrong choice. Read the first story aloud. Either you can read it as the teacher, or ask a child to read. Give children a moment to circle their answer. Remind them their choice is private and they should be as honest as possible. It s not about circling the correct answer, they are meant to think about how they would feel. Ask the children why it might be hard to avoid this temptation. Use the Temptation Story Discussion Guide for ideas. Repeat for each of the four stories.

4 SAY: It can be hard to make the right choices, but God gives us strength to resist temptation! Remember our armor of God? He provides all the tools we need. There is always an opportunity to make the right choice and resist temptation. SAY: We are going to play a game to help us remember ways we can resist temptation. Create pairs of children. If there is an uneven number you can play with one child or create a team of three. Each pair gets two game boards, one for each child, and a set of game cards. Explain the rules of the game: Place the game cards face down between the two partners. Player one goes first by drawing and reading aloud one game card. Decide how the action on the card can help overcome one of the temptations on the board and place the card over that temptation. (Note: some cards may be appropriate for more than one temptation, so players may choose which temptation to cover with those cards.) Players take turns drawing and placing cards. The first player to cover four temptations in a row (down, across or diagonal) wins. When a game is complete, children can play again with the same partner or a different partner. Closing Lead the children in a closing prayer. You may say your own prayer, ask one of the children to say a prayer or use the one below. God, Please help us to avoid temptation. Remind us to put on the armor of God! Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to Lead Us Not coloring page if they did not complete it. Also encourage conversation between children and with you. This is another opportunity to build relationships with the children in your classroom.

5 Temptation Stories

6 Temptation Story Discussion Guide Story Bridget & The Lies Jamie & The Test Owen, Isabelle & The Bread Elena & The Movie Why Is It Hard to Resist the Temptation? Her feelings are hurt and she wants to get even; Making Julie look bad might make Bridget look better; If she tells lies about Julie people might stop believing the lies about Bridget Jamie might get in trouble if he doesn t do well on the test; It might be fun to stay home for the day; No one will know he lied because his mom will believe he is sick They are REALLY hungry; The owner probably wouldn t mind if they knew the kids were lost (This is a tough one because these kids are in a pretty extreme situation; you can discuss that while the right choice is to not steal, there may be situations where the right choice isn t always right context matters) Scary movies have been fine before so why would now be any different; Her mom will never know because she s in bed; Watching movies is fun

7 Tackling Temptation Game Board

8 Tackling Temptation Game Cards