Bible Study – First Sunday in Lent “Facing Temptation”
Share: Your highs (something that made you happy) and lows (something that made you sad) this week with others around you or write them down.
The Lord is full of compassion and mercy: Come, let us adore him. And what if, during this season of Lent, we sought a deeper understanding of this amazing gospel of grace? Will that image of grace energize us to do the spiritual housekeeping we need to be ready for the "new thing" God is doing in Easter?
Jesus, energized and equipped, goes to the wilderness where he faced-down three confrontations that challenge us to this day. The first: how do we make the distinction between what we "want" and what we "need;" "bread" really feeds us? Second: whom do we serve and what do we worship? Third: where are we smug, sure we are right, and putting God to the test? Jesus found his way through; Lent invites us to find our way through too.
This is the First Sunday in Lent. If you have any observations about the season, for example it is the time to give up chocolate, we will be looking at that and possibly even adding something. Lent comes from an old word for Spring, so we could think of Lent as Spring Training (like in baseball - a training that helps get us ready for the season ahead.).
Opening Prayer: Dear God, you are full of compassion and mercy. Help us to remember, experience, and know that you are there for us and we can trust you. Amen.
Please open your Bibles to Luke 4:1-13 and read or read the scriptures below.
Luke 4:1-13
Jesus Is Tested in the Wilderness
4 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 where for forty days he was tempted[a] by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
3 The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’[b]”
5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.”
8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’[c]”
9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:
“‘He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;
11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’[d]”
12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’[e]”
13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
Reflection Questions:
We are going to look at this passage to see what it might be saying to us about the kind of Spring Training we are being invited to begin.
- What do you think it was like to not eat for forty days?
- Verses 3 and 4:
- Wonder if Jesus could turn stones into bread? What would be cool about loaves of bread all over the place? (Crowds would show up, for sure, people would get food.)
- What would not be good about this? (Jesus was not sent to do magic tricks nor do people's work for them.)
- Wonder why he chose not to do this? (He knew he needed to help people see what is the right thing to do — not just dazzle them.)
- How do you go about making decisions between what you might "want" to do and what you "need" to do?
- Wonder what some of your "wants" are? Which things do you really "need?"
- Verses 5 through 8:
- The devil was pretty sure he had all the kingdoms of the world under his thumb and could put Jesus in charge of all of them. Why do you Jesus said no to the devil? (Jesus knew that he had not come to boss people around and be a fancy king. And he also knew he was not about to surrender to the forces of evil.)
- What forces of evil can get us into trouble? (Yes, drugs, alcohol, and things like that, what else?)
- What do we "worship?" What grabs our attention? Some possibilities, you may know of others from situations in your community: bHaving the latest CD. Wearing the coolest clothes. Finding big chunks of time to surf the Internet. Getting the lead in the school play. Getting on the best team. Being the most popular kid in the class.
- Do you think any of this is TOTALLY bad? What is the difference between "wanting" any of these and "needing" them?
- Verses 9 through11 –
- Jesus knew angels would rush in, if he called on them, so why do you think he decided not to do this? (Pretty flashy. Silly use of angels. Again, people would show up for all the wrong reasons.)
- Can you think of a situation where someone is putting God to the test? (an example could be a someone driving way too fast and being sure he or she will not crash the car.)
- Can you think of times you were "smug" — times when you were sure YOU have the right answer and are not open to listening to anyone else?
Click her for the young learner’s lesson
Videos (Click on the words or url)
Gospel of Luke Chapter 4:1-13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWvMMFfw7l8
Gospel of Luke Summary: A Complete Animated Overview (Part 1) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIb_dCIxzr0
Song: Every Move I Make - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPvnZILn6EY
Activities
Spring Training: You need a paper bag, paper and pencils. You are going to design your Spring Training kits — for your eyes only. At the end of this activity, today, you will put what you have been writing inside your bags, put our names on the outside, seal the bags, and place it where it will remain sealed until next week. The purpose is to develop individual Spring Training disciplines. Some options: finding a time during the week to read from the Bible, finding time during the week to pray for help with dumping something that is getting between you and God, giving up something that is getting in the way, or that will get you in better shape, etc. Then, write something to put in the bag. When you are finished, you can seal your bag and then place it where it will be remained sealed.
Temptations Match Game: Take a large piece of poster board with “THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS” written across the top. Write each of Satan’s temptations on one sheet of construction paper and Jesus’ response on another. Then tape Satan’s temptations to the poster and match it with Jesus’ answer.
Satan – “Tell this stone to become bread.”
Jesus – “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.”
Satan – “Worship me and all the kingdom of the world will be yours.”
Jesus – “It is written, “Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.”
Satan – “Throw yourself down from here and his angels will keep you safe.”
Jesus – “It is written “Do not tempt the Lord your God.”
The Temptation of Christ – Multiple Choice: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-temptation-of-christ-8
The Temptation of Christ - Word Search: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-temptation-of-christ-9
The Temptation of Christ – Crossword: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-temptation-of-christ-6
The Temptation of Christ – Decoder: https://sermons4kids.com/activities/the-temptation-of-christ-7
Prayer: Thank you, God for being with when we have temptations. Please show us what you want us to do and stay with us as we do it. Amen.
