Fighting temptation
Children's sermon
Object:
some stones
Good morning! Jesus once spent forty days in the desert
without eating anything. Have any of you ever gone forty days
without eating? (Let them answer.) No, of course not. None of us
have done that, but if you did that, do you think you would be
hungry? (Let them answer.) Yes, you would be, and Jesus was
hungry, too. The devil came to Jesus and tempted him. The devil
showed Jesus some stones like these (show the stones) and he
said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become
loaves of bread." He was tempting Jesus to do something wrong.
Jesus was the Son of God, and he didn't need to do tricks to
prove it. How do you think Jesus answered the devil when he
tempted him? (Let them answer.) Well, Jesus told the devil, "It
is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.' "
Now what did Jesus mean when he said, "It is written"? Where
was it written? (Let them answer.) Yes, it was written in the
Bible. So we see that when Jesus was tempted, he fought against
the temptation with the Bible. What does that say to us? Do you
think we should fight temptation with the Bible also? (Let them
answer.) Yes, I think that would be a good idea, but we don't
always have a Bible with us. How can we fight temptation with
God's word if we don't have a Bible? (Let them answer.) Well,
Jesus didn't have a Bible with him, but he knew the word of God.
We need to know what it says in the Bible. We need to memorize
parts of the Bible so we can always have them with us when we
need them. Do you think you can do that? (Let them answer.) Let's
ask God to help us.
Dear Jesus: Please help us to read and remember your words so
that we can fight the temptations of the devil just as you did in
the desert. Amen.
without eating anything. Have any of you ever gone forty days
without eating? (Let them answer.) No, of course not. None of us
have done that, but if you did that, do you think you would be
hungry? (Let them answer.) Yes, you would be, and Jesus was
hungry, too. The devil came to Jesus and tempted him. The devil
showed Jesus some stones like these (show the stones) and he
said, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become
loaves of bread." He was tempting Jesus to do something wrong.
Jesus was the Son of God, and he didn't need to do tricks to
prove it. How do you think Jesus answered the devil when he
tempted him? (Let them answer.) Well, Jesus told the devil, "It
is written, 'One does not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.' "
Now what did Jesus mean when he said, "It is written"? Where
was it written? (Let them answer.) Yes, it was written in the
Bible. So we see that when Jesus was tempted, he fought against
the temptation with the Bible. What does that say to us? Do you
think we should fight temptation with the Bible also? (Let them
answer.) Yes, I think that would be a good idea, but we don't
always have a Bible with us. How can we fight temptation with
God's word if we don't have a Bible? (Let them answer.) Well,
Jesus didn't have a Bible with him, but he knew the word of God.
We need to know what it says in the Bible. We need to memorize
parts of the Bible so we can always have them with us when we
need them. Do you think you can do that? (Let them answer.) Let's
ask God to help us.
Dear Jesus: Please help us to read and remember your words so
that we can fight the temptations of the devil just as you did in
the desert. Amen.
