AGE: Infants and Juniors (especially Juniors) |
THEME: Lent: The Temptations of Jesus, as told by Matthew the Writer |
PREPARATION: |
You will need:
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INTRODUCTION: |
| The Leader, dressed up as Matthew the Gospel writer, sits at the table with the scrolls and writing materials before him. The stone paper weight is clearly visible. LEADER (as Matthew) 'Hello! D'you remember me? I'm Matthew and we met earlier this term didn't we! I was writing about the Three Wise Men then, and old King Herod. Well, he's gone now, thank goodness, and Jesus has grown up and is about thirty. I've just finished my chapter on the Baptism of Jesus and now I've got this scroll ready. Look! (Matthew shows the scroll entitled 'The Temptation of Jesus'.) I've given a lot of thought to this chapter. Had to do some research into the old Books of Moses too. It's not easy writing about the Spirit of God and the Enemy of God - the Devil. But Jesus knew them both. It was the Spirit of God who told Jesus to go into the desert. Straight after John had baptized him, off he went. No-one knew where he was until he came back about six weeks later. His family told me he was really thin and weak when he came out of the desert. Just imagine! 40 days and nights without food. That's real fasting that is! And at the end of all that, the Devil came to tempt him, and try to make him doubt that he was God's Son. (Whisper in a sinister way, holding up the stone.) "IF you are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread" said the Devil. He knew Jesus was starving. But Jesus answered him back. He remembered the Book of Moses, which was God's Law, and said... "The scripture says, 'Man cannot live by bread alone but needs every word that God speaks.'" Then the Devil spoke again... (whisper) "IF you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from the Temple in Jerusalem. Go on! The angels will take care you aren't hurt!" Jesus knew that doing something dramatic like that might make people follow him, but for the wrong reasons. He wasn't a wonder-working magician - and he wasn't going to become one either! "The scripture says, 'Do not put your God to the test!'" replied Jesus. Well, you'd have thought the Devil would have given up, but no! That voice came again... (whisper) "IF you kneel down and worship me, I'll give you all the kingdoms of the world. Look!" Jesus was on a high mountain now, and could see miles and miles of countries stretched out below him. "Go away!" shouted Jesus. "The scripture says 'Worship the Lord your God and serve only him.'" Then the Devil left him and angels came and helped him. So, that's my Temptation Chapter. Powerful stuff. Scary too. You know it reminds me of the prayer we Christians say each day. Jesus taught us to pray it. Part of it is about not being led into temptation. Do you know it? I'm going to do a chapter on that later on. Can you remember what it says and I'll write it down.' Lead the children into the Lord's Prayer as Matthew writes it down. Matthew leaves the hall/room and returns as Leader. LEADER This is the time of year which the Christian church calls Lent. It's a time to think about the 40 days and nights that Jesus spent in the desert, and afterwards, when he said 'Go away!' to the Devil. Being tempted is something we all know about. It isn't easy to choose the right thing to do when our thoughts, or other people, try to make us do wrong things. We might think... 'if I do that is it really wrong? Why shouldn't I? No-one will know...' |
REFLECTION: |
| Ask the children to think of something they like doing but that they know is wrong. Perhaps give a few suggestions. Think of Jesus' words: 'Go away!' |
PRAYER: |
| Please, Jesus, help me to say 'No' or 'Go away!' when I am tempted to do wrong. Help me remember that you know what it is like to be tempted and not to give in. Amen. |
SONGS: |
| 'Jesus is the Son of God', (Children's Praise, 112) |
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