Faith Quest
The Baptism and Temptation
of Jesus
January 2 - January 30, 2005
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
Concept:
Objectives:
Procedure:
Welcome and Introductions:
Bible Story:
1. You will be reading the scripture passage using the attached version. Please practice reading this aloud several times before you teach. Practice will help you decide where to put the emphasis. You might want to mark words to emphasize. Before reading it to the children, you can tell them that this story comes at the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry—before most of the other stories we hear about Jesus.
2. Try to keep the Bible story to 5 minutes because this is a long lesson. After the first week, you might even just cover the baptism part of the Bible story.
3. After
the Bible story, ask the children some questions. Possible questions: In the baptism part of the story, Jesus goes
to the
Application:
Note: The skits for this lesson are interwoven with things for you to discuss with the children.
You have several options of who will read the parts during the puppet skits:
“When children of the Kirk are to use puppets, there will be a ceremony to wash their puppet hand. Put a large bowl between the puppet stage and the children. (Place the bowl or if already in place, point to the bowl.) Each child will come to the bowl and hold their puppet hand over the bowl. Pour clean water that has nothing wrong with it over the hand. Give the child a paper towel. Have the child dry their hand and put the paper towel in trash can outside the puppet area. Give the child a puppet. Have the child put the puppet onto the clean hand. When all children have washed and put on puppets, then they will be ready to perform a skit to please the audience. These things are to be done exactly as the lesson has commanded.”
(For the workshop leader’s
information only: These instructions are
similar to instructions to wash and prepare Levite priests during Old Testament
times as prescribed in Exodus 29:4, 40:12, 40:31; Leviticus 8:5-6, 16:23-24;
and Numbers 8:21, 19:9.)
Wrap-up:
Have the children put their puppets back neatly.
Reflection Time:
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 clean up.
Teacher
preparation in advance:
1. Pray: Ask God to give you clarity of this scripture and words to teach His children this lesson. Ask for time management.
2. Attend the Faith Quest Leaders Bible Study.
3. Prepare a closing prayer if you do not want to use the one included.
4. Check out the room before your first Sunday workshop so that you know where everything is located.
5. Make at least 6 copies of each script—one for each puppet in the skit and one for you and the shepherd. On the puppet scripts, highlight the parts for each puppet.
6. For this workshop, you will want the puppets out near the stage, but you will need to tell the children to leave the puppets alone because the puppets will be handed out a different way for this lesson.
Materials:
Large Bowl—the closet in the new kitchen has several.
Water (two pitchers)—the new kitchen has many pitchers.
Copies of the scripts
References:
Notes supplied by
Lori Houck for curriculum writers' Bible study in August 2004
BIBLE STORY FROM THE
CEV:
Matthew 3
The Baptism of Jesus
13Jesus left Galilee and went to the
15Jesus answered, "For now this is how it should be, because we
must do all that God wants us to do." Then John agreed.
16So Jesus was baptized. And as soon as he came out of the water,
the sky opened, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove. 17Then
a voice from heaven said, "This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with
him."
Matthew 4
Jesus and the Devil
1The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert, so that the devil could
test him. 2After Jesus had gone without eating for forty days and
nights, he was very hungry. 3Then the devil came to him and said,
"If you are God's Son, tell these stones to turn into bread." 4Jesus
answered, "The Scriptures say:
`No one can live only on food.
People need every word
that God has spoken.' "
5Next, the devil took Jesus to the holy city and had him stand on the
highest part of the temple. 6The devil said, "If you are God's
Son, jump off. The Scriptures say:
`God will give his angels
orders about you.
They will catch you
in their arms,
and you won't hurt
your feet on the stones.' "
7Jesus answered, "The Scriptures also say, `Don't try to test
the Lord your God!' "
8Finally, the devil took Jesus up on a very high mountain and showed
him all the kingdoms on earth and their power. 9The devil said to
him, "I will give all this to you, if you will bow down and worship
10Jesus answered, "Go away Satan! The Scriptures say:
`Worship the Lord your God
and serve only him.' "
11Then the devil left Jesus, and angels came to help him.
Skit
1
(Start with only Puppet 1
showing above the stage.)
Puppet 1: I need some help understanding sin. Can anyone help me?
(The other puppets pop up.)
Puppet 2,
3, 4: We’ll try to help! We’re from the Kirk of Kildaire!
Puppet 1: What is sin?
Is it only bad things like killing?
Puppet 2: Sin is all the things that God doesn’t like,
such as being selfish or not paying attention to God or not obeying the Ten
Commandments.
Puppet 1: What happens if I sin by mistake?
Puppet 3: Hopefully you do only sin “by mistake.” We all sin because we aren’t perfect. Jesus is the only person who never
sinned.
Puppet 4: But we don’t have to worry about sin because
of Jesus.
Puppet 1: What does Jesus have to do with sin? You said he never sinned.
Puppet 4: Jesus, who is the “Son” part of God, came to
earth as a human. He led a perfect life
without sin to show us how to do it.
Puppet 2: The most important thing that Jesus did is
that he came to die on a cross. His
death was the punishment for our sins.
It’s kind of like he came to do one big time-out for all the sins that
any human being has ever done or will ever do.
Puppet 1: Why did he do that?
Puppet 3: Because God loves us and does not want us to
have to pay for our sins.
Puppet 1: So I won’t be punished for sins I do?
Puppet 3: Not as long as you believe Jesus is the Son
of God and that you need his death to pay for your sins. What a gift God has given us! Someone to take the punishment for our sins!
Puppet 4: Of course, God still wants your parents and
teachers to discipline you here on earth to teach you how to behave.
Puppet 2: And if you really believe in Jesus, you will
try very hard not to do any bad things.
Skit 2
Sales Puppet 1: (Yelling) Buy my new sin cleanser. Buy my new sin cleanser…
Buyer Puppet 1 & 2: Oh, we’ve got some sins we’d like to get rid of.
Sales Puppet 2: No, please use this super sin cleanser.
Buyer Puppet 1: Hmmm, which one should we get?
Buyer Puppet 2: Let’s find out more about them.
Sales Puppet 1: Mine will clean almost any sin from your life.
Sales Puppet 2: Mine works on ALL sins.
Buyer Puppet 1: That sounds good. Let’s get that…
Sales Puppet 1: Mine is easy to use--just pour on, and repeat daily if you sin again.
Buyer Puppet 2: Easy to use and reusable…great!
Sales Puppet 2: Mine is once and for all. Do it once, and you’re done.
Buyer Puppet 1: Once and for all. How does that work?
Sales Puppet 2: It’s amazing. It works from the inside out. It gradually reduces the desire to sin while getting rid of your sins at the same time forever.
Buyer Puppet 2: Amazing, let’s get it…
Sales Puppet 1: (Yelling) Mine is only $5, and if you buy it today I’ll let you have two bottles for just $8.
Buyer Puppet 1: Ooh…I love deals.
Sales Puppet 2: Mine is free…everyday.
Buyer Puppet 2: Ooh free. We’ll take it.
Sales Puppet 2: OK, Here it is: just believe and say, “Jesus is Lord.”
Buyer Puppet 1: That’s it--easy to do and no cost. Why wouldn’t everyone want it?
Sales Puppet 2: They should. We’re trying to get more sales puppets on board to tell everyone. Would you like to be one?
Skit
3
Creation Waters, the
Puppet: Hi, I’m the Creation Waters. I wanted to share my story with you. A long time ago, in the beginning, God
created me. At first it was dark, and I
sensed the Spirit of God moving over me.
Then I heard God say, “Let there be light,” and there was!! Then God separated the light and the darkness
in “day” and “night.” Then God said,
“Let there be a dome to separate the water above and the water below,” and he
called this “sky.” Then God said, “Let
the waters be gathered together in one place,” so I bunched myself up and dry
land appeared. He called that “land,”
and then he called me “ocean.” Then God
went on to create plants, and stars, and the Sun and the Moon, and
creatures—some were swimming around inside of me! Then he made humans, like you, and you know
the rest of the story. But it was
amazing how God used water to do what he wanted to do.
Noah: I’m Noah. A long time ago, God wanted to cleanse away a
lot of sin from the Earth. He decided to
do this by letting it rain forty days and forty nights and let the rain flood
the earth. God told me to build an ark
because he was going to save my family and me.
And after it was over, God made a promise that this would never happen
again. God put a rainbow in the sky as a
sign of this promise. It was amazing how
God used water to do what he wanted to do.
Moses: I’m
Moses. God sent me to lead all the
Israelites out of slavery in
Baptism Waters: I’m baptism
waters. God uses me during baptism. He wants people to be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ. When you are baptized, you
will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is a promise for everyone whom
the LORD our God calls to him. It is
amazing how God uses water to do what he wants to do.
Skit 4
Puppet 1: The Bible says the Holy Spirit was there during creation.
Puppet 2: The Bible says that the Holy Spirit allowed prophets to prophesize.
Puppet 3: The Bible says that the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus when he was baptized, and he was filled with the Holy Spirit.
Puppet 4: The Bible says we receive the gift Holy Spirit when we are baptized. The Holy Spirit is poured into our hearts.
Puppet 1: The Bible says that if we ask God to fill us with more of the Holy Spirit, God will do this.
Puppet 2: The Bible says that the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of things about God.
Puppet 3: The Bible says that the Holy Spirit is an advocate for us. An advocate is someone who speaks up for you.
Puppet 4: The Bible says that the Holy Spirit will give you the words to talk about Jesus in certain situations.
Narrator: Thank you puppets for teaching us about the Holy Spirit.