Week 8: Feb 23

Our theme for February is "Jesus Shows Us How to Love"

Week 8- Jesus Talks to Nicodemus: What You Can Say to a Friend (John 3:1-21)

I had planned on having the kids make friendship bracelets (with the popular loom band craze going on right now) and brainstorm ways that we can be good friends and how to encourage others, but instead I'm going to do the lesson that we missed when it snowed back in January, since it was prepared and has been sitting there, waiting for me to use it for a month now. So instead of Nicodemus, we'll be talking about how Jesus faced temptation when he was on this earth, and how we face temptation today. I will still try to toss in a few lines about how sometimes it's tempting to not be a good friend (gossiping, tattling, etc.) just so it won't be completely skipped over. 

Amended Week 8 (As planned for Week 3)-Jesus Faced Temptation, Just Like Us (Matt. 4:1-11)

All of us make mistakes; nobody is perfect. No one in the history of the world has EVER been sinless... except for Jesus. This is a main part of today's lesson. But even though we are going to slip up, we don't have to knowingly do things we shouldn't. 

To hep get this lesson across, I'm going to start out by giving students a fun size pack of m&ms or skittles. I'll tell them not to open/eat any while I'm handing them out. Then I'll ask them if they want to eat it (sorry, you can't!), Then I'll let them open the bag and pour them into their hands. I'll ask again (nope, not yet!). I'll tell them to smell the candy in their hand. Did any of them stick out their tongue for a quick lick?

Ask them if they can eat the candy (No). Why not? (Because you told us not to). Some kids might have by this point. Don't fuss... just continue the lesson. Talk a few minutes about how good M&ms taste and how they are messy if they stand in your hand too long, and how you love the feeling of them on your tongue, etc... Then tell them you'll be right back. Step out of the room for about 10 seconds. When you come back in, see if anyone has eaten their m&ms. Ask them if they like waiting and having to follow directions. Say something like, "Even though you know you're going to get to eat them eventually, it's really hard to not eat them right now, isn't it? Even if you're not supposed to. That's called temptation. Temptation is when you want to do something that you know is wrong."

Let them eat their candy as you tell students that Jesus faced temptation, just like we do today. I like to paraphrase the Bible stories so they'll flow better for little ears to hear. I'll type up the story the way I want, then print it out and stick it in my Bible, so it will give the appearance I'm reading from the Bible. This is a great example for kids to learn that reading the Bible is important and we learn about Jesus by studying the Bible. (Paraphrase below)

After reading the story, hand out the chart to each child, along with a pencil. Have them fill out the chart as you go over each thing Satan said, as well as Jesus' reply. Go into discussion here and answer any questions the kids might have about what each means. Here is what my chart looks like.

The Verses: 
Matthew chapter 4, we'll start with verse 1. When Jesus was an adult, he went into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil. He fasted, which means he didn't eat for 40 days and nights. He was VERY hungry. While he was there, the devil came to Him. He pointed to a pile of rocks and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become loaves of bread." 

That was temptation. Jesus was very hungry and would have enjoyed eating bread, but he knew he was supposed to be fasting and it would go against the fasting rules to eat. What do you think He did? Let's see.

Verse 4. But Jesus told him, "No! People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." Jesus knew that even though he was hungry, it was more important that He listen to God. 

Just like when I told you not to eat candy, you knew it was important to listen to your teacher, even if you really wanted to eat it without permission. Let's keep going.

Verse 5. Then the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem, to the very top of the Temple.

The temple is what the jews call their church. Could you imagine standing on the roof of our church? 

Anyway, verse 6. The devil said, "If you really are the Son of God, then jump off! You'll have angels to protect you, right? You won't get hurt!" But Jesus said, "You should not test the Lord your God." 

This meant that even though God can perform miracles, we shouldn't put ourselves in dangerous situations and expect God to protect us. We shouldn't pray for God to keep us in the car instead of using a seat belt. We have seat belts to protect us. We shouldn't jump off a roof and expect God to keep us from breaking a leg. Even though God could keep us from breaking it, that's not His job! We have to use good sense and not put ourselves in tempting situations.

The last temptation was when the devil took Jesus to the top of a very high mountain. He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and all of their fancy things. The devil said, "I will give it all to you, Jesus, if you will kneel down and worship me." But Jesus was too smart for that! He said, "Get out of here, Satan! The Scriptures say, 'You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him." Then the devil finally went away and angels came and took care of Jesus.

What do you think that lesson could teach us? Even though there are lots of fabulous things in this world (like money and nice clothes and big tv's), we need to make sure we are worshipping and serving God and not any of those other things. If we spend more time playing video games than we do learning about God, which are we serving? This is a big temptation for lots of people. It's easy to put other things ahead of God, but Jesus shows us that if we obey and worship God, then He will take care of us. Not because we listen to our friends, and not because we put ourselves in dangerous situations, and definitely not if we care about things more than we care about God, but because He loves us very much and wants us to listen and obey Him.

Here are a couple completed story maps and the kids who made them!