Jesus is tested (Matthew 4:1-11)
Today's story talks about Jesus is tested in the desert, as the devil places three temptations before him.
The Marshmallow TestYou can also show them a clip like this Marshmallow Test.
Talk to the children about what temptation is. Talk about how our parents and teachers teach us what is right and what is wrong and sometimes it is hard not to do the thing we’ve been asked not to! See if they have a story to share about that. Is it hard not to eat more lollies from the packet when your Mum/Dad has said no? Activities
Temptation!What you need:
Lollies (enough for the whole group) A plate or serviette to put the lollies on A bread roll and a rock A map of the world or globe Legos or duplo to make a tower What you do:
The Story: After Jesus was baptised, he spent 40 days in the desert getting ready for the important work that God wanted him to do. During that time he didn't eat anything and so he was very, very hungry! The devil came to Jesus and said, "Why don't you turn these stones into bread? That way you can eat all you want! You don't need to be hungry." Jesus said, People don't live only on food!" Then the devil showed Jesus all the countries in the world (show the map or globe). The devil said, "You can have all the countries in the whole world. You can rule all of them if you just worship me instead of worshipping God." But Jesus said, "No! We're only supposed to worship God!" Then the devil brought Jesus to a tall tower (point to the duplo tower). "If you're really God's Son, throw yourself off this tower, and show me that you won't be hurt!" Jesus said that even though he knew that God's angels would catch him and keep him safe, we aren't supposed to test God like that. Jesus wouldn't do it. You know, Jesus was tempted with all three of those things; food, power and showing how much God loved him by getting angels to keep him safe. But he didn't yield to those temptations. He knew that even though those things might feel good for a moment, the plan to help the world wasn't about turning stones into bread or jumping off towers or being a ruler over all the countries. Jesus knew that he needed to do something else to change the world and bring God's love and forgiveness to everyone. Obstacle GameFor older children
You will need: Blindfolds and obstacles around the room like tables and chairs What to do: Divide the children into pairs. Get each pair to decide who will be blindfolded, and who will lead. (Note: this game can be repeated by getting the pairs to swap roles) Get the pairs to line up at one end of the room. Tell them the object of the game is for the person who is blindfolded to move around the room silently and letting their partner guide them. They don’t need to go in a straight line as the point of the game is to build up trust in the pairs. At the end of the game you might like to talk about what it was like, and then tie in how we need to trust and rely on God, even when we can’t see where God is leading us. For younger children Making it through the wilderness - a team blindfold game You will need: blindfolds and obstacles What to do: Get the children to line up, one behind the other. Get them all to put on blindfolds. Tell them that once their blindfold is on, they cannot speak anymore. Get them to put their hands on the shoulders of the person in front of them. The leader is at the front and doesn’t have a blindfold. Once everyone is ready, the leader will take the blindfolded children for a walk around the room, leading them around things, under things and over things as they wish. The point of this game is the same as the older children’s version. Cup Stack GameThis game can be played as an upfront game or everyone can participate, either at the same time or as a relay.
What you need:
What you do:
After the game is over, you can ask something like, "Was this an easy thing to do?" Some people might have found it easy, but for some it might have been hard to work so quickly. Ask, "Were you tempted to cheat by taking more than 1 cup at a time?". Say something like, "It's good that you didn't cheat! God doesn't want us to give in to temptation and cheat, even when things get hard!" We can remember how Jesus resisted temptation in the desert and we can try and do the same. |
Visio LectioAn illustration from Rev. Sarah West from Visio Lectio, a project from the Anglican Diocese of Auckland, shared here with permission.
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Gospel ConversationsThis week our panel of Steve, Nicki, and David tackle the strange and wonderful story of Jesus in the desert being tempted by Satan. They explore connections to our lives, to our world, and to the whole Gospel of Matthew. Watch this to learn, be challenged, and be encouraged!
SermonThe first in a sermon series from the Wellington Diocese, looking at the theme of repentance and freedom, from Bishop Eleanor Sanderson. (Length 14m26s)
Children's TalkCan anyone tell me what Season we are about to start? (pause) I’ll give you a clue, it starts this week on Ash Wednesday. Does anyone know? (pause). Well, the season is Lent.
The bible story we heard today told of Jesus spending forty days in the desert, and of how the devil tried to tempt Jesus into doing bad things during those forty days. Lent is the forty days leading up to Easter and is a time when we can take time out to think about what is really important, and to prepare for the celebration of Easter Sunday. One way that people mark Lent is to do what Jesus did and give up something for forty days. It could be eating chocolate, or watching TV. And every time during the forty days that you are tempted to eat chocolate or watch TV, you pray to God instead. Something else you can do, is instead of giving something up, you can commit to spending some time everyday doing something to help you think about what Jesus did for us at Easter. You may like to read the bible for five minutes each day, or light a candle and pray, or even paint a picture about Easter. There are lots of ways that you can prepare for Easter during Lent. So today, I challenge you to think about what you might do. The activity we are going to do – A Lenten Calendar- will be able to help you remember what you have decided to give up or do. Temptation Talk - Older KidsFor more detail around Jesus' time in the desert, read the passage in Matthew 4:1-11 together.
We often have this bible text at the beginning of lent. Who knows what lent is? What do we do in lent? Why? So why do we have this bible reading? Has anyone ever tried to tempt you to turn stones in to bread?! No? Ever been tempted to throw yourself off a building to see if the angels will catch you? No? I’m glad!! What do you feel tempted to do sometimes? So you might be wondering what was so hard about those temptations for Jesus. Very often with the bible we have to look a bit harder than just a quick read, to find how that passage is of use to us. Because I know the bible IS of use to us and everyone, but sometimes that can be difficult to get. Where is the connection to Jesus’ temptation and ours? Well the tests that Jesus faced were very specific to him, just like temptation is different for us all. I’m not tempted to eat loads of lollies but I might be tempted to eat lots of chocolate! But what is the same is that the very basic or underlying temptation that we share with Jesus, is the temptation to treat God as less than God. To treat God as less than God. We might never be tempted to try turning stones into bread, but we are constantly tempted to mistrust God’s readiness to help us through the difficult things. We might not be tempted to test God by leaping off a cliff but we are often tempted question God’s helpfulness when things go wrong for us. It is hard to only serve God and not be influenced by wanting to do what our friends are doing or what the world thinks is cool. That is the real temptation that we all, you, me, your parents, your friends, vicars, bishops, all of us. Jesus held firm and never doubted that God is God and can always be relied on. We must try to do that too, especially when things are hard or life is tricky because we need him then more than ever! |
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Jesus calls the disciples (Matthew 4:12-23)
Today we will hear about how Jesus chose ordinary, everyday people to help Him teach other people about God’s love. They weren’t special, or very clever, or very talented. They were just people! Can you think of some ways that you can be a fisher of men too?
Children's TalkIntroduction
This talk was shared with the children at All Saints Hataitai, by unpacking the story of Jesus calling the disciples piece by piece. As the story was unpacked, the children were engaged and responsive to the different props. Each prop is taken out the box and placed in a consecutive order on the floor. Once the story had been told, all the props were put back in the box and the children recalled the story and remembered the visual cues for each part. What you need
Tell the story
Take out the MONEY Once there was a man who had a job. Can you think of different jobs that you can have to earn money? (let children offer ideas) What job would you like to have when you're an adult? This man had a job -- can you guess what it was? Take out the CAN OF TUNA. This man was a fisherman! What do you think he would look like? What do you think he would smell like? He might have rough salty hands, and smell of the sea and fish? The man in this story was called Simon. Take out SIMON FOOTPRINT. He had a brother called Andrew. Take out ANDREW FOOTPRINT. Their job was to catch fish. Take out FISHING NET and put lots of FISH SHAPES into the net. One day they were out fishing and minding their own business when someone came walking along the shore of Lake Galilee. 
Take out CANDLE and light it.
Who do you think it was? Wait for answers until someone guesses it was Jesus. Jesus saw the two brothers out fishing on the lake, as they were casting their nets out and hoping for fish. Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” Take out FISHING NET and SMILEY FACE BALLS. Give a kid the net and throw the balls into the net for them to catch. And what did the two brothers do? Did they go back to fishing? Did they jump on Facebook to let the world know? No, at once the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him. Simon and Andrew followed Jesus. Place down two footprints — SIMON FOOTPRINT and ANDREW FOOTPRINT. Jesus walked on until he saw James and John. Their dad had a great name - his name was Zebedee! They were in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus asked them to come with him too. Straight away they left the boat and their father and went with Jesus. Place down two footprints — JAMES FOOTPRINT and JOHN FOOTPRINT. Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the Jewish meeting places and preaching the good news about God's kingdom. He also healed every kind of disease and sickness. These men became some of Jesus' closest friends, and Jesus even changed Simon's name — became known as Peter. Flip over the 2nd Simon footprint to show PETER FOOTPRINT And do you know what Peter stands for? Peter can mean Rock -- and he was called rock because he would become an important person on which God built the church. Even though he made some mistakes and made some funny choices, Jesus loved Peter and knew that he would be someone he could trust. Take out ROCK** Put all the props back in the box and see if the children can recall who the story unfolds. 
[Optional] **We used this talk the week of the 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake, and then went on to link the story of Peter being called a rock to how God can be our rock and our refuge. It says in Psalm 46:1-2 that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging". We printed out these two verses and gave each child a rock and the words from psalm 46 to take home. The kids decorated the rocks with stickers of road cones and building machinery, and wrote their prayers on it, asking God to keep us all safe.
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Activities
Fish CraftYou will need
Print out copies of the fish template and get kids to decorate with coloured tissue paper, pens, glue, sequins and anything they like! Tape on a length of string and tie to a stick, so they have a fish on their own fishing rod. 
Icebreaker Fishing GameYou will need
Family prayerLoving God,
Help us to become good fishers of people. Help us to share Jesus with them, in the words we use, the ways we love and care. Help us to tell others about you and to have the courage to speak about you. May our church be a community of welcome and belonging, and one we can invite our friends into. Amen Visio LectioAn illustration from Reverend Sarah West, from Visio Lectio, shared here with permission.
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