Baptism and Temptation

Faith Quest

The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

January 2 - January 30, 2005

Good News

Scripture: Matthew 3:13-4:11

Memory Verse: “Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!” Hebrews 4:15 (CEV)

Offering: Hospice of Wake County

Concepts:

Ø Although human, Jesus did not give into temptation – he was obedient to God.

Ø Evil exists in the world.

Ø Sometimes we are tempted to disobey God.

Ø When tempted, we can call on God and turn to God’s word for help.

Objectives:

In the Good News Lesson we hope to:

Have a clearer picture of the events that made Jesus have life experiences like we do but how he did not give in to temptation.
Discover that we have to think before we make choices.
Understand the lessons Jesus was showing us by obeying his Father.

Procedure:

Welcome and Introductions:

Wear your nametag. Make sure the children are wearing nametags. If not, ask the shepherd to supply a temporary badge. Remember you are interacting with a different group of students each week that may not know you. Remember to that if you need the shepherds to assist you in any way do not be afraid to ask, that is why they are present with the class.

Scripture/Bible Story:

1. Ask them stand and bow their heads for prayer. [Dear Lord, who is with us everywhere we go, we thank you for your love. We pray this morning you will help us to better understand your word and to pay attention to what is right and wrong. Please forgive us when we do not always obey. Amen.]

2. Have them remain standing and say the memory verse. (You may want to have the verse on poster board.)

3. Once seated have them open their Bibles to the Scripture. Ask the children to volunteer/assist in reading the scriptures. It is not necessary to have all children to read. If you want to read and have them to follow along, that is your choice. Matthew 3:13-4:11

Application:

After the scripture provide an explanation that these two stories are important in that we are shown the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.

The importance of Baptism – using these notes to “tell” the story:

Jesus being baptized by his cousin John was the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.
Jesus obeyed his Father by being baptized and fulfilled scripture to show others what they should do.
Baptism demonstrates that we want to follow Jesus – in some churches baptism is similar to how Jesus was baptized (being submerged or dunked under water by the minister) in our church the parents bring the child forward and through prayer and promises provide openly for all to witness that the child will be brought up in a Christian home. The baby is sprinkled with water that is blessed by the minister. (Sometimes older children or adults are baptized in our church too.)Many of you may not remember your baptism. It was a special ceremony with your family welcoming you into the Kirk Family and Gods family. If you were baptized at the Kirk go home and see if you can find the needle point plague provided to you by the church with your name and date.
So when Jesus was baptized by John He was letting us know that He was willing to take our sins on His shoulders and was obeying what His Father wanted Him to do.

In our church many of you were baptized as babies and a few of you were baptized as young children. It does not matter the time in one’s life they are baptized, even adults are baptized. It shows our families made the decision or we made the decision to join God’s Family.

Temptation – in the scripture we are told that Jesus was tempted just like we are often tempted.

Ø We see that the first temptation was to put the satisfaction of His own needs before those of Gods. Jesus resisted!

Ø The second time He was tempted to take a short cut to do God’s work rather than the path God wanted Him to take. Jesus resisted!

Ø The last temptation was to use His power over the people for Himself. Jesus resisted!

Ø The message of Jesus being tempted is that we should not just be concerned with the results, but how we get to the results. We must always think before we act. We must remember what is right from wrong.

Experiment to show children that choices are not always easy, that we should think before we act and that sometimes it is hard to choose right from wrong.

Materials needed:

o ¼ cup table salt in a small clear bowl

o ¼ cup of sugar in a small clear bowl

o Oranges or grapefruit peeled and sectioned (one section for each child) OR Popsicle sticks that you have them to dip in a third bowl of water to get the stick wet

o One square of unsweetened baking chocolate – unwrapped and have shavings for them to taste

o One square of plain milk chocolate unwrapped (or a milk chocolate bar cut into a square) – unwrapped and have shavings for them to taste

o Paper towels

Guide each child to:

Look at the bowls and examine the contents and guess which sugar is and which is salt without tasting them.
Dip their fruit or Popsicle stick in the bowl of their choice. After each child has done this – have them to tell you if they were right or wrong.
Get their reactions as to what they thought about the sugar and salt. In real life are there situations that they think are correct and in the end they find out they are wrong? Examples could be: letting friend copy homework, taking money from a parent’s wallet without telling them thinking you will replace it with your allowance later, or stretching the truth about something that happened at school.
Look at the two types of chocolate and decide which one will taste better.
Allow them to each take a piece of the shaving and stand on one side of the table for milk chocolate and one side for the unsweetened chocolate BEFORE you allow them to taste their choice. As they taste their choice ask if it tastes like they thought it would? Would they like to taste the other kind?
We know that sometimes it is hard to make a right choice. What if you are angry at someone? What are your choices? Which is the right choice? Allow them to react to the question about dealing with anger. Lead them back to the Bible verse and get them to think about when reacting to anger are we thinking about our self or the other person? Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin!”
What did Jesus choose in the story about His 40 days alone and being tempted? What happened to Jesus at the end of the 40 days? God sent the angles to take care of His needs. He did not give in to temptation; He resisted!

Reflection Time:

Distribute the journal page making sure there are copies for each child. The Shepherd will provide pens or pencils.

By 10:45 close with a prayer.

Closing:

Prayer: Thank you God for loving us so much that He calls everyone to be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Tidy and Dismissal: Ask children to help tidy up. Ask them to assist in cleaning up the experiment.

Teacher preparation in advance:

1. Read the scripture passages and attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.

2. Prepare a closing prayer for your lesson.

3. Purchase supplies – there is a voucher in your packet for reimbursement.

Suggested Supply List

Ø Poster paper with Bible memory verse

Ø Small table, piano bench or table cloth for the experiment materials

For each class you will need:

Ø ¼ cup table salt in a small clear bowl

Ø ¼ cup of sugar in a small clear bowl

Ø Oranges or grapefruit peeled and sectioned (one section for each child) OR Popsicle sticks that you have them to dip in a third bowl of water to get the stick wet

Ø One square of unsweetened baking chocolate – unwrapped and have shavings for them to taste

Ø One square of plain milk chocolate unwrapped (or a milk chocolate bar cut into a square) – unwrapped and have shavings for them to taste

Ø Paper towels

Reference:

Lori Houck, Kirk Faith Quest Bible Study Leader

Children’s Illustrated Bible by Parker and Dyson

Creative Bible Learning Science and Cooking by K. Henley