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Lead us Not
Into Temptation
a children's sermon based on Genesis 3:1-7
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Props: a bag of candy (tootsie rolls, etc)
Pick an attentive child and show him/her your bag of candy. Do
you like this kind of candy? What would you be willing to do for it? Could you be
tempted to do something bad? For instance, if I said, you can have the whole bag if
you play a trick on someone (toilet paper somebody's car, spray silly string into
someone's face, place a whoopee cushion on somebody's chair), would you do it? Are
you sure? What if I would promise you two bags? What's your price? Could
you be tempted at all?
Well, as you may have guessed, to day's lesson is on temptation.
Just as I tried to feel you out to see if you could be tempted, Jesus was tempted
by the devil. The devil was dangling all kinds of things in front of Jesus and
basically said: you can have all these things if you worship me.
What do think, Jesus told him? That's right, he told him to take a
hike. Actually, Jesus quoted Scripture at the devil. He said: "it is
written that you shall worship God alone, and nobody else." And when the devil
saw that he couldn't tempt Jesus,he left him alone.
Jesus was tempted, and even though he didn't give into the temptations by
the devil, Jesus knew that temptation was hard for people. That's why he taught us
to pray: "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
What do you think? Do we need to pray that prayer? I think you
are right. How about praying it right now:
"Dear God, there are so many temptations around us. Lead us
not into temptation, Lord; but if we should be tempted, please help us how to say
"no" to the temptation. Amen."
Hand out the candy after the prayer!
God's Polyfil
a children's sermon on sin and it's consequences
thank you to this anonymous DPSer
This is an idea about how to talk to the kids about temptation and the consequences
without adding any more guilt. I think there is enough of that already! This is based on
the story of the nails in the fence. I am going to partially build a simple box - four
sides and a bottom. During children's time, I will tell the kids that the nails are like
their words and actions - they can be used to build a useful and fulfilling life like when
we build a box.
At this point I will let them finish nailing the bottom onto the box.
Sometimes though our words and actions can be hurtful and can damage what we are trying to
build. At this time I will ask them to nail some nails into the box. at first the damage
may not look so bad because all you can see is the nail or your hurtful words or actions,
Now when you realize that that those words or nails aren't helping to build we need to
pull them out.
As we pull the nails out we can see the holes left. Even when we take away
the nails we can still see the holes. That's what its like in our life. When we do or say
something without first thinking about whether it will be helpful or hurtful to the kind
of life we want. We can take out the nails but the holes remain. The good news is that
God's love can fill those holes. Take a tube of polyfil and fill the holes. We can still
tell there were holes, but at least the emptiness that was left by the hurt is filled.
Scene from the Jungle Book
Media idea to connect to Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1
suggestion by Rev.R in Seattle
Just in case you are still struggling for a children's time, the Jungle Book video has
a great scene where the serpent is singing to the man cub, "Trust in Me." The
video will work well to introduce where we are tempted to put our trust.
