Jesus Temptation

Computer Workshop

Summary of Lesson Activities:

Uses the software programs Life of Christ (Sunday Software) and Kid Pix 4 or the newer "3D" version Software.

Preparation and Room Set Up:

• Review the background information sheets and lesson materials.
• Preview the software.
• Insert the CDs and have computers on prior to children’s arrival.

Note: Children will use pictures taken during the Drama Workshop as part of this lesson.

Materials List:

• Life of Christ Software
• Kid Pix 4 or the newer "3D" version Software
• Scissors
• One poster board
• Glue sticks

Presentation

Opening-Welcome and Lesson Introduction:
Start on time! Sunday School begins at 9:30 a.m.

Time Guidelines:
Introductions/Opening Prayer: 10 minutes
Bible Passage/Discussion Focus: 10 minutes
Computer Time 30 minutes
Reflection/Closing Prayer: 10 minutes

Welcome the children and introduce yourself. Remember that all of the children may not know who you are! Make sure you are wearing your name tag and that the children have picked up their nametags. Always begin each class with introductions. Tell the children that today you will be learning about what happened to Jesus, right after he was baptized. Jesus spent a long time in the desert, being tempted by the devil.

Opening Prayer: Pray something like this: “Dear God, Thank you for this day and for all the people who are here today. Thank you for sending Jesus and the Holy Spirit to show us the best way to deal with temptation. Help us to grow more like Jesus every day. ” AMEN

Dig-Main Content and Reflection:

Bible Passage: Gather the children at the center table with their Bibles. If children did not bring a personal Bible, use the classroom Bibles. Encourage children to bring their Bibles to Sunday School each week.

Each workshop begins with the Bible passage. One of our primary goals is to improve the children’s Bible literacy! Always tell the children where in the Bible the story is found. This rotation’s story is found in three gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) Be sure to walk the children through the process of locating the scriptures. The handout “Helping Children Use Bibles in the Classroom” will help you guide them through this part of the lesson.

For Younger children: Read the story “Jesus is Tempted in the Desert,” on pages 295-296 of The Little Kids’ Adventure Bible. Be sure to read the Did You Know and Let’s Live It notes on those pages and discuss with the children. Use the classroom maps to point out some of the important locations for this rotation. (Jordan River, Jerusalem, picture of Temple) Make sure children understand the meaning of the words: fast and temptation.

For Older children: Tell the children that this Bible story is found in three places (Matthew, Mark and Luke). Choose either the Matthew or Luke version to read, but older children can practice locating both stories. Have the children locate the scripture and follow along as you read, or let the children take turns reading aloud. After reading the text, find the Let’s Live It note in Matthew 4:1-11 and the Did You Know note in Luke 4:4. Read these together and discuss briefly.
Use the classroom maps to point out some of the important locations for this rotation. (Jordan River, Jerusalem, picture of Temple) Make sure children understand the meaning of the words: fast and temptation.

NOTE: as the rotation progresses, the children will become more familiar with the story. Use your discretion, but encourage the children to tell YOU what they know of the story. You can then fill in the gaps and take the discussion to a deeper level using the discussion questions below.

Discussion:
Definitions - Make sure the children know the meaning of the following words:
fast - to go without food in order to devote time to prayer
tempt - to try to get someone to do something wrong, an attraction to do the wrong thing

Choose from some of the following questions for discussion:

Grades 1-6:

• Place the story in a time context. Jesus went straight from being baptized to the desert to be tempted.
• Review from previous rotation: What came down to Jesus when he was baptized? (Holy Spirit like a dove)
• Who is the Holy Spirit? (God’s presence with us)
• Where did Jesus go after being baptized by John in the River Jordan? (wilderness, desert)
• How much time did Jesus spend in the desert? (40 days)
• What happened to Jesus there? (fasted, prayed, tempted by devil)
• Why did Satan tempt Jesus? (tried to stop God’s plan for Jesus’ ministry)
• How did Jesus respond to the temptations? (resisted them, quoted scripture, let Holy Spirit strengthen him)
• Who strengthened Jesus in the desert? (Holy Spirit within Jesus)
• What else helped Jesus resist temptation? (his knowledge of the scriptures)

Grades 3-6 In addition to the above questions, choose from some of these questions for older children:

• Does Satan know the Bible? (Yes, he quoted scripture, but twisted its meaning)
• Which Old Testament book did Jesus quote scripture from when resisting the devil? (Deuteronomy)
• Which temptation do you think was the most difficult for Jesus to resist? (no right answer, just explore their answers)
• What were the three temptations told in this story? (food/physical desires, power/bowing down to Satan, miracles/testing God)
• What did Jesus mean when he said “man does not live by bread alone, but on every world that comes from the mouth of God?” (physical things are not as important as spiritual, we need to depend on God, not try to do everything on our own)
• What did Satan show Jesus he could be in charge of? (all the kingdoms of the world)
• What would Jesus have to do to have that power? (worship Satan)
• Jesus knew that only God should be worshiped and put first in his life. What types of things do we “worship” today by giving them priority in our lives and making them more important than God? (toys, TVs, money, gameboys, video games, computers, etc.)
• What are you most tempted to worship?
• What did Satan do to try to get Jesus to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple? (quoted scripture to tell him he wouldn’t be harmed)
• Why do you think God allowed Satan to tempt Jesus? (to test his human nature, to strengthen him and prepare him for his ministry, to give us an example to follow)
• How can temptation be a positive or good thing? (strengthens our faith, helps us lean on God, shows us where we need to grow, helps us become better disciples)
• What kind of temptations do you face?
• What can you do to resist temptation?
• Jesus decided to obey God rather than take the easy way out. Why do you think even Jesus had to obey God? (to fulfill his plan, to prepare for his ministry, to live a sinless life)
• Whom should you obey? (parents, teachers, Bible, God)

Memory Verse: Have the children locate the scripture memory verse. Review it with the children. Our goal is for the children to memorize one memory verse each rotation.

“It is written: Worship the Lord your God. He is the only one you should serve.” Luke 4:8

If you have extra time at the end of the workshop, review the memory verse by using Wordy, the computer scripture memory and review game.

Activity: Jesus’ Temptation in the Desert Computer Exploration - All Grades

Divide the children into groups of two to three at computer stations. Each child should have a turn at the mouse -- you may need to divide the time period to facilitate sharing. This is important! One of the biggest complaints the kids have about the computer workshop is that they don’t get equal opportunity at the mouse! Christians share!

Encourage the children to SLOW DOWN when searching through the software. They tend to skim through quickly, without reading and absorbing the information. Encourage them to talk together in their small groups about the questions posed in the various links. Remind them that they will see this information later in the computer game and they will do better on the game if they pay attention now.

Software and Navigation Tips
(Spend about 10 -15 minutes on this part of the activity.)

Life of Christ CD

• Insert Life of Christ CD and click on the icon on the desktop.
• Click on New Exploration
• Type in your name/name of your group
• Click on file crate (labeled King’s) in the office.
• In Lesson index, click on Introducing the Son of God
• Click on Lesson 12 - Three Temptations
• Listen to the lesson carefully.
• Answer question asked by narrator in your group. What Bible verses do you know by heart? Do you memorize our Rotation Memory verses? How can you prepare yourself to fight off temptation? Click Yes to take quiz.
• Answer questions and click on the arrow to advance to the next question.
• After the quiz, return to office and quit program.

Activity: Personal Temptation Stories - Grades 3-6
(Spend about 15-20 minutes on this part of the activity)

In this activity the children will use the digital photos from their earlier drama workshop. They will describe the temptation story and use the photo to illustrate it. Once completed, the illustrated stories will be hung in the hallway. Print an extra copy for each child to take home.

Preparation:
Preview the CD and make sure you can copy and paste the pictures of the children and the Bible pictures.
Make sure a CD is placed at each computer station.

To Begin:

• Insert the CD with photos taken from the drama workshop.
• Open Windows notepad
• Show children how to locate their picture.
• Copy and paste the picture into Notepad.
• (If children were not present during the drama workshop and do not have a picture, they may use another group’s picture, or they may use the Bible pictures also on the CD)
• Have the children discuss the temptation situation that was being shown in the picture.
• Have them write a description of the situation. Include:
• • What the temptation was
  • What the person being tempted chose to do
  • Did they do the right thing?
  • What scripture would help the person being tempted to resist temptation in the future (a concordance is available in the room if children need to refer to it -- or encourage them to use the concordances in the back of their Bibles)

Print out the illustrated Temptation Stories
Return to the large group and share.

If you have extra time, children may review the Memory verse and illustrate it (using Kid Pix 4) or return to Life of Christ CD and allow them to pursue some of the clues in the castle.

Activity: Temptation Poster - Grades 1-2
After listening to the lesson on Life of Christ, the children will create Temptation Posters.

Supplies:
KidPix CD
Scissors
One posterboard
Glue sticks
Younger children will also listen to Life of Christ lesson on the Three Temptations.

Preparation:
Set out the glue, scissors and poster board on the center table.

To Begin:

• Discuss with children situations or things that tempt them.
• Insert the KidPix CD and open the program.
• Make sure children share the mouse time. Everyone should have a chance to use the mouse. (you may have to set time limits and then have children switch places)
• Have each child at the computer station use the drawing, painting and stamp tools to illustrate a temptation that they face.
• Have the children enlarge their designs and use a large size font for text.
• They may also write out a word or two telling what the temptation is (for ex: CANDY)
• Have them type out a simple heading or title for the story.
• After they are satisfied with their pictures or text, print out the pages.
• Children should then cut out their pictures/text. Each group will glue their temptation pictures and text to one large poster board. (one poster board per class)
• The group that finishes first can write a sentence saying, “The Holy Spirit helps us fight temptation.” (a second grader can do this with help)
• Cut out the sentence and glue across the poster as a title.

If you have extra time:
Have children use KidPix to type in the Rotation Memory Verse.
They can click audio to have the verse read back to them.

Notes for Teacher:
As much as possible, try to sit with your students as you go through the software together. Remember that the most important part of the lesson is not what’s on the computer. It’s what you and the students do with what’s on the computer. Guide your students through the content, sharing with them and facilitating their sharing with each other. Model your enthusiasm for the Word of God.

Reflection and Journal Time (All Groups):

The last 10 minutes should be reserved for Journal Reflection time. This is an opportunity for processing and reflection about what the children have learned. Ask the shepherds to pass out the journals and pencils/pens and the journal question sticker for the day. Workshop leaders and shepherds should sit down with children in small groups to facilitate discussion and writing in Faith Journals. Memory verse stickers are also included for each lesson. Children may copy the memory verse and illustrate it as an alternative to journal questions.

Grades 1-2: Jesus prayed when he was in the desert. Draw a picture of Jesus praying.
Grades 3-4: Jesus fasted and prayed while in the desert. Have you ever gone without eating for a whole day? How did it feel?
Grades 5-6: Jesus showed us that we should put God first in our life. What other things are you tempted to give more priority than God in your life?

Closing:
Encourage the children to come back next week for another workshop, and to invite their friends. Remind them to bring their Bibles. Ask for prayer requests and pray together.

Clean-up: Help the Shepherd collect Journals and nametags and put away. Clean up computer stations replacing CDs in correct cases. Return glue and scissors to Art Room. Once dry, hang up Temptation Poster outside classroom door.

Release children only to parents, older siblings, or by prior arrangement with parents. Make sure parents sign their children out on class clipboards.

Temptation Story Worksheet (Grades 3-6)

Answer these questions when writing your description of the temptation situation.


In this picture I was tempted to


I chose to

I did the right thing. That makes me feel


I didn’t choose to do the right thing. Next time I should


This scripture helped/would help me resist temptation

A lesson written by Jaymie Derden from: State Street UMC

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