CRAFT: I want them to make sand pictures. It is an extremely messy proposition of putting down a glue outline of what they intend to draw, and then putting sand on the paper to fill in the glue.
SNACK: Wilderness food (gorp.)
LESSON PLAN: Jesus went into the wilderness, after His baptism and led by the Spirit. He was tempted by Satan. For us and in the flesh He defeated Satan, so that once again, our flesh would be holy. You should try a playing a game of solitaire with them. When that moment come and you lose, ask them if it is okay to cheat, maybe just a little. Be sure to explain the difference between a goofy card game and real life
MEMORY WORK: Romans 10:8b The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.
THEME:
Called by Jesus
We will learn how our brother Jesus beat Satan and the temptations.
We will understand the difference between godly goals and our evil or selfish struggle for power.
We will thank God that in winning over Satan and temptation Jesus freed us from sin and provides us with
abundant life now and in eternity..
Preliminary considerations: The overall theme for today is really all about how God fulfills our needs. The subtext is then our attempts to control or have power. In the Introit we are reminded to make God the only power in our life because He fulfills our life. The Collect asks that we would only be directed by God for His power and will. The Old Testament Lesson is Moses teaching the people what to say in response to God's fulfilling all their need. The Gradual tells us where our flesh obtained the ability to have faith, the ability to know the good of God from the evil of sin. The Epistle Lesson is Paul teaching us how to respond to God's guidance and direction in our life. Defeating sin and keeping us in salvation. The Gospel Lesson is the temptation of Jesus. The main event in the defeat of sin and Satan in our flesh, giving us the opportunity to come to eternal life.
THE OLD TESTAMENT LESSON: Deuteronomy 26:5-10
Using an account of the temptation of Jesus as the lesson for the First Sunday in Lent is a very old tradition. Using the account of deliverance from Deuteronomy 26 is just as old. These two lessons have been paired to be read to the church for almost as long as there has been a church. In our lesson, Moses instructs the nation on how they are to bring the flrstfruits after the arrival in the promised land. This offering was to be accompanied with the words of wonder that told of the Lord's deliverance. All of this would be a picture of the salvation which was to be completed by Jesus, when He won the victory over Satan in the wilderness. What then the nation could not accomplish because of their sin (keeping themselves only to God,) Jesus fulfilled for them.
THE EPISTLE LESSON: Romans 10:8b-13
By the proclamation of the Gospel, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, is brought near to those who hear that proclamation. Jesus, the Word of God is inseparable from the Word the people will confess. Christ came down to the depths of humanity and has been raised from the dead. To then obtain this same status, the status of righteousness we are asked only to accept in Faith what has been accomplished for us. And we are able to accomplish this Faith only when we relinquish control and are free to allow God to live in us.
THE GOSPEL LESSON: Luke 13:31-35
Jesus is not caught by surprise. His way is to be the way of the cross. He must perform all the tasks which humans have previously tried and failed. He must be tempted. It is impossible for Jesus to fail, He could not sin as He is God. Yet endure it He must, to make our flesh perfect. Satan comes with the formula, everything that has ever worked in the hearts and minds of men, is offered up to Jesus. There is an interesting wonder going on in the temptations that we rarely consider in our own. First, they occurred after the baptism. We are made perfect in the water and Word and able to resist temptation because of it. Second the Holy Spirit was with Jesus in the wilderness, to assist, guide and enliven Him, the same for us
STUDY SHEET
The Home Base stores around here are all closed now. Probably for the best. When we were building the addition to our house Home Base was our worst temptation. Almost every time we made a purchase they would forget to ring something up, or somehow the price would come up ridiculously low and they wouldn't notice they had seriously undercharged themselves.
On almost every occasion we would stop the checker and make it right by showing what they hadn't run or by having them check the price. We weren't always successful in noticing what they had not charged or even in getting them to fix the price.
On one occasion a checker argued with me for so long that I finally gave up. She had only charged for half of a purchase and didn't see any reason to charge for the other half. I suppose I could have called over a manager to try and straighten it out, but that wasn't even always successful. I had previously tried to stop at the service desk to explain to them I had not been charged, but they didn't want to know it as they would have to punish the checker for making a mistake.
I don't think they went out of business on my dollar, but who knows. I was unhappy when they closed because they did have good prices and they were close to our house, but sometimes the temptation of not telling them they had made a mistake was pretty overwhelming.
1. What were some of the lies Satan used to tempt Jesus?
2. What are some of the lies Satan uses to tempt us?
3. How can Satan us our desire for power against us?
4. What one statement of Satan do all of us say at one time or another?
5. Are you a needy or a needed sort of person?
6. How do you react to temptation?
7. Why was the Holy Spirit given to Jesus?
8. Why is the Holy Spirit given to us?
9. What makes us able to resist temptation?
10. How did Jesus respond to the temptations?
11. How are we able to respond?