Lead Us Not into Temptation

Transcription

1 K/1 st 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 Cookie Bags Armor of God Cutout sheets 1 per child Blank Shields 1 per child 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 color 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

3 Arrive at Ruth Hall at 9:20 or 11:05. 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 107. 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 107. The Lesson SUPPLIES: Cookie bags, Shields, Armor of God Cutouts sheets, crayons, markers, glue, scissors Gather all the children in a circle on the carpet. As you are able, sit on the floor with them or use a chair as part of the circle. SAY: Today we learned about temptation. Temptation is when something tempts us to make a wrong choice. Sometimes it s hard to resist temptation and make the right choice. Let s see how good you are at resisting temptation. I m going to give each of you a cookie, but you are not allowed to eat it! Give each child a bag with a cookie in it (bags are labeled with a No Eating! sticker). SAY: These cookies look really good! How many of you are tempted to eat this cookie even though I told you not to? I bet it tastes so good! Look at all that cream in the middle! But I told you not to eat it it says so right on the bag! Sometimes our parent or teacher tells us not to do something, but we are tempted to do it anyway. For example, your teacher might tell you not to talk in line in the hallway, but you REALLY want to tell your friend something. You are tempted to not listen to your teacher and make the wrong choice. Just like you are tempted not to listen to me and eat this cookie even though you know it s the wrong choice. That s temptation.

4 SAY: Let s open up the bag and just smell the cookie, but DON T EAT IT! Does that make it harder to resist eating the cookie? Is it harder to resist temptation now? But we know we are not supposed to eat the cookie. It says so right on the bag. Sometimes we know the right thing to do, but doing the wrong thing looks (or smells!) so much better. Maybe your parent tells you to clean your room before you can play video games. But playing those video games is SO much more fun than cleaning your room! It would be easier to throw everything in your closet or under your bed and get right to playing. You are tempted to not listen to your parent and make the wrong choice because playing video games looks so good. Just like you are tempted to eat this cookie because it smells so good even though you know it s the wrong choice. That s temptation. SAY: What if I left the room? How many of you would be really tempted to eat your cookie if I wasn t in here and wouldn t see? Sometimes we think an adult isn t looking and will never know if we do the wrong thing. Maybe you didn t study for your test or you aren t sure the answers at school. You might be tempted to copy from a classmate because you think the teacher isn t looking and she will never know. You are tempted to make the wrong choice because an adult isn t looking, just like you would be tempted to eat this cookie if I wasn t in the room. That s temptation. But God knows, He always sees. SAY: When we are tempted to make a wrong choice, we can pray and ask God to help us make the right choice. Praying is one part of our armor that keeps us safe and away from evil and wrong choices. We are going to make a shield today that tells us all about the armor God provides. Show children the example shield. Collect the cookie bags. Have the children move from the carpet to seats at the tables. Give each child a blank shield and an Armor of God Cutouts sheet. Have children color and cut out the Armor of God parts and glue them onto their shield. Allow children to decorate their shields with markers and crayons.

5 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, Help us avoid temptation and make the right choices. Thank you for giving us armor to keep us safe! Amen If time remains before parents arrive, encourage children to return to their 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!

6 Armor of God Cutouts Armor of God

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