Children's Church lesson: Temptation in the Wilderness


       Luke 4:1-13 Yes to God - No to Satan / Sin  - LENT


Basic Children's sermon idea: Tell the children about the importance of saying NO to sin. Make up YES and a NO signs on cardboard. Present some situations to the children and ask them to respond (Yes or No) in unison. Highlight the importance of firmly saying “NO!” to what we know to be wrong.
 
Objects needed: A piece of cardboard with the word “YES.” And a piece of cardboard with the word “NO!”
 
Full children’s sermon:
Good morning children. Today our bible reading is about the time when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. Jesus knew it was important to say YES to God the Father’s truth in the bible but that he needed to say NO to Satan. As followers of Jesus it is important for us to say YES to God and NO to what is not of God. I’ll show you what I mean. I brought two signs with me today. What does this sign say? (Hold up the YES sign) That’s right, it says yes. I’m going to hold the sign up again and let’s say it all together loudly – YES! Good. Now, let’s use our imagination:
 
-If you’re parents asked you to help them bring in the groceries from the car it would be good to say…(Hold up the YES sign) YES! …That’s right. Say it loudly.
-If you felt God was asking you to help encourage your friend who was sad, it would be good to say….YES.
(Give some more situations)
 
Now I want to tell you about using another word. (Hold us the NO! sign) It’s the word “No.” Sometimes we are tempted to do things that are wrong. At those times it’s important to use the word NO. Let’s practice saying this word all together like we really mean it. (Hold up the sign…) NO! – That’s great.
 
-What if you were in a candy store and someone said to steal a candy off the shelf. What should we say? (Hold up the NO sign) NO! – Good! That’s the right thing to say.
- What if you were walking home from school and a stranger said “come into my care I have a special gift for you.” What would you say…NO! (I agree, that is the smart thing to say)
- What if someone said, “Let’s go over there and make fun of that person over there?” What are you going to say? (Hold up the NO! sign). Well done. That’s the right word to use when we are being tempted to do something we shouldn’t do.
 
(Get the congregation to give them a cheer for giving such wise answers)
 
Children. I want you to know that those two words; YES and NO, are very important words. When God leading us in the way he wants us to go we always want to say YES. However, when we are tempted to do something that’s wrong we want to say NO! That word can help us stay out of trouble and can help us follow Jesus.
 
Children’s prayer: Thank you God that Jesus always said NO to Satan and his ways, and YES to you and your ways in times of temptation. Help us to always say yes to you and to have the courage to say NO! to Satan and his ways that so often lead us into danger. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Copyright sundaychildrensfocus.com   Andrew Hewlett   Feel free to use this story on Sunday morning but please give credit to Sundaychildrensfocus.com and consider linking to this site. Thank you -- A.H.





Sorry - couldn't resist inserting this picture: Lead us not into temptation!