Tempted!
Children's sermon
Object:
A stone of some type, and some bread. I have used a stone about the size of a baseball, and a small loaf of unsliced bread.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.” (vv. 3-4)
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) Great. But first, I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of a man called Moses? (Let them respond.)
A long time ago, the people who believed in God were slaves in Egypt. They didn’t have enough food, or good places to live, and were very unhappy. They prayed that God would help them, and God sent a man called Moses to help them. Moses got the people out of Egypt and started leading them to a new land where they could be free.
Does anyone remember how long it took Moses to lead them to the new land? (Let them respond.) Yes, they traveled for 40 years, most of the time through the desert. And they didn’t find very much food or water while they traveled, so they were still very hungry and unhappy. Some of the people said, “Heck, we ought to just forget about the new land God promised us and go back to Egypt.” They were getting really frustrated because they were so hungry. Have you ever been really, I mean REALLY hungry like that? (Let them respond.) Well, the people started arguing about it. Some wanted to go back to Egypt, and some wanted to trust God and keep traveling. They were just really hungry.
Then, one day, Moses told them that God had talked to him and said that if they would just trust God, when they got up the next morning, they would have all of the food for breakfast they would want. But they needed to trust God and stay there, and not give up and go back to Egypt.
Well, they all grumbled a bit, but decided to stay there, and they all went inside their tents and went to sleep. When they got up in the morning, do you know what they saw? (Let them respond.) They woke up the next morning and looked out of their tents and there was bread everywhere. Just imagine you got up tomorrow morning and looked out your window and there was bread all over the place! It was blowing around in the yard, in the streets, everywhere! That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, that’s what happened when the people trusted God and did what God asked them to do and not give up. God gave them what they needed.
In our story today, Jesus was way out in the desert, too. He had been there for 40 days, praying and thinking about what God had asked him to do to help the people. He was really hungry and thirsty. So, while he was out there, he started thinking.
“You know, if I just went back home and didn’t do what God asked me to do, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.” And he thought, “And I’ll bet if I just went back home and didn’t do what God asked me to do, I could end up with a pretty good job, and have all of the nice things I could want.” And then Jesus looked around and picked up a rock he saw on the ground (show the stone) and thought, “Since I am God’s son, instead of going and helping other people and getting in a lot of trouble, I could just ask God to turn this rock into some bread (show the bread) and I could stay here as long as I want too and be just fine!” What do you think happened next? (Let them respond.)
I think that’s when Jesus remembered the story about Moses and the bread from heaven. Jesus looked around the desert and he thought, “But, if I trust God and do what God asked me to do, I know that God will take care of me for sure!” (Drop the stone on the ground.) And, Jesus picked up his walking stick and started going out to preach and do the other things God asked him to do to help us all.
Sometimes we have a hard time doing what God wants us to do too, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we are promised things if we do what someone wants us to do, even though we know God doesn’t want us to do them, aren’t we? (Let them respond.) We might not be promised bread, but maybe money, or maybe we are told that if we do those things, the people will like us and let us be a part of their group. And just like Jesus was, we might be tempted to forget about what God wants us to do and do something else. It happens, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
But just like Jesus did, I hope we can remember that we will be given whatever we need if we do what God wants us to do. And does anyone remember what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.)
God wants us to remember that God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, and promises to take care of us. And God wants us to do what we can do to help each other and let everyone know that we care about them just like God does.
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love other people and help them know how much God loves them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) Great. But first, I have a question for you. Have you ever heard of a man called Moses? (Let them respond.)
A long time ago, the people who believed in God were slaves in Egypt. They didn’t have enough food, or good places to live, and were very unhappy. They prayed that God would help them, and God sent a man called Moses to help them. Moses got the people out of Egypt and started leading them to a new land where they could be free.
Does anyone remember how long it took Moses to lead them to the new land? (Let them respond.) Yes, they traveled for 40 years, most of the time through the desert. And they didn’t find very much food or water while they traveled, so they were still very hungry and unhappy. Some of the people said, “Heck, we ought to just forget about the new land God promised us and go back to Egypt.” They were getting really frustrated because they were so hungry. Have you ever been really, I mean REALLY hungry like that? (Let them respond.) Well, the people started arguing about it. Some wanted to go back to Egypt, and some wanted to trust God and keep traveling. They were just really hungry.
Then, one day, Moses told them that God had talked to him and said that if they would just trust God, when they got up the next morning, they would have all of the food for breakfast they would want. But they needed to trust God and stay there, and not give up and go back to Egypt.
Well, they all grumbled a bit, but decided to stay there, and they all went inside their tents and went to sleep. When they got up in the morning, do you know what they saw? (Let them respond.) They woke up the next morning and looked out of their tents and there was bread everywhere. Just imagine you got up tomorrow morning and looked out your window and there was bread all over the place! It was blowing around in the yard, in the streets, everywhere! That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? (Let them respond.) Well, that’s what happened when the people trusted God and did what God asked them to do and not give up. God gave them what they needed.
In our story today, Jesus was way out in the desert, too. He had been there for 40 days, praying and thinking about what God had asked him to do to help the people. He was really hungry and thirsty. So, while he was out there, he started thinking.
“You know, if I just went back home and didn’t do what God asked me to do, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.” And he thought, “And I’ll bet if I just went back home and didn’t do what God asked me to do, I could end up with a pretty good job, and have all of the nice things I could want.” And then Jesus looked around and picked up a rock he saw on the ground (show the stone) and thought, “Since I am God’s son, instead of going and helping other people and getting in a lot of trouble, I could just ask God to turn this rock into some bread (show the bread) and I could stay here as long as I want too and be just fine!” What do you think happened next? (Let them respond.)
I think that’s when Jesus remembered the story about Moses and the bread from heaven. Jesus looked around the desert and he thought, “But, if I trust God and do what God asked me to do, I know that God will take care of me for sure!” (Drop the stone on the ground.) And, Jesus picked up his walking stick and started going out to preach and do the other things God asked him to do to help us all.
Sometimes we have a hard time doing what God wants us to do too, don’t we? (Let them respond.) Sometimes we are promised things if we do what someone wants us to do, even though we know God doesn’t want us to do them, aren’t we? (Let them respond.) We might not be promised bread, but maybe money, or maybe we are told that if we do those things, the people will like us and let us be a part of their group. And just like Jesus was, we might be tempted to forget about what God wants us to do and do something else. It happens, doesn’t it? (Let them respond.)
But just like Jesus did, I hope we can remember that we will be given whatever we need if we do what God wants us to do. And does anyone remember what God wants us to do? (Let them respond.)
God wants us to remember that God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, and promises to take care of us. And God wants us to do what we can do to help each other and let everyone know that we care about them just like God does.
I hope you will remember how much God loves you, and how much God wants us to love other people and help them know how much God loves them, too.
Let’s have our prayer and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
