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James

“Don’t Get ‘Hooked’ by Temptation”

Lesson #2 – October 12-13, 2013

Scripture: James 1:12-13

Memory Verse: James 1:17 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow or turning.”

Lesson Focus: Temptations are not from God – but He will help me fight them!

Activities and Crafts: Coloring page; Word Search

Craft for 1st & 2nd graders; “Don’t Get Hooked by Sin but Memorize God’s Word.

Tell the kids to color their pictures. Give them a brown chenille stem to cut into four equal pieces. Tell the kids to make four hooks to tape to their picture by the words of temptations that try to hook us.

Introduction: : “The Blame Game”

Select three volunteers to play this game. They come to the front of the classroom and stand behind the three bells. Tell them that you will give them “real life” situations and they need to come up with really good excuses, and or blame for their actions. The need to ring their bell when they are ready to share their situation. The rest of the kids will be our panel of distinguished judges and they will vote on who wins each round.

Situations:

1. You didn’t get all of your homework done, so you tell your teacher......?

2. Your little sister is really bugging you, so you yell at her and tell her to get out of the room......When your Mom comes in for an explanation you say.......?

3. There’s a kid at school that everyone picks on. You join in because......?

4. You are at a sleepover and your friends start to watch an “R” rated movie that you know that you are not suppose to watch. You watch because.....?

5. You get in a fight with your friend but it’s not your fault because.....?

6. You are only allowed to watch 1 hour of TV a night. You watch 2 ½ hours and then your Dad walks into the room and demands a reason....you say......?

When you guys came in we played the “Blame Game.” We live in a day when everyone has an excuse! When we do something wrong it’s never our fault.... someone or something has caused us to do the wrong that we did.

James addresses this issue in these verses:

Bible Lesson:

Before we begin our Bible lesson for today let’s talk about the meaning of two words.

1. temptation = the act of enticement or allurement – the fact or being “tempted” especially to evil – to give in

2. endure = to not give in – to not yield to something

Teachers Illustration: Put a piece of tape on the floor in front of where you are sitting. Tell the kids that this line represents a temptation. Write the word “temptation” on the line. Every day in many different ways we are tempted to do something that we should not do. When we come up to it we have a decision to make. Should we cross the line and do it. Or should we ask God for endurance to walk away.

James 1:12:

A. Remember to endure: 1:12 Last week we talked about endurance through hard times or “testing.” Verse 12 just reminds us that God blesses those who endure through the temptations.

It doesn’t say that God will take them away; it just says we will receive His blessings.

√ What is the man blessed with that endures temptation? (the crown of life.) We see throughout the Bible that there are rewards or crowns in heaven from Jesus. (1 Corinthians (9:25; 2 Timothy 4:8;) But we see that these crowns are given back to Jesus (Revelation 4:10)

James 1:13

B. Remember “no excuses!”

√ From 1:13 Who are we not to “blame” when we want to do wrong?

√ Why are we not to blame God?

What does verse 13 say that God would never do?

← God would never do wrong

← God would never tempt someone to do wrong

← God cannot be tempted by evil

James 1:14-15

√ Where does temptation come from? (own desires)

√ There’s a pattern or sequence that these verses seem to point out what is it?

• Evil desires = evil actions = death

Now I want you to look at where our evil desires come from...where does the Bible say that these desires come from? (Our Own Desires!) We are “lured” by our own evil desires that we have inside of us.)

Illustration: Tell me what’s the purpose of a “lure” when you go fishing? (Try to get a fishing lure and hook for a visual for this illustration. We have one if you need it, just give me a call.)

A lure is used to “bait” a fish, to entice them to get hooked, so that you can catch them. It is used to attract the fish.

That’s exactly what James is saying here. We are tempted to sin because of evil is naturally inside of us. It is the ‘hook” that tempts us and if we listen to this desire we will sin! Romans 5:12, “When Adam sinned; sin entered the entire human race...”

It just doesn’t “seem fair” that this temptation comes from within us, from within our very nature. But let’s look at temptation for a minute.

Do you think that God understands our temptations?

In Matthew 4:1-11, we are told about the temptation of Jesus! He was taken into the desert for 40 days and tempted by the devil.

• If you look at Matthew you will see that Jesus always answered the devil with ???? Jesus answered with Scripture. He used the Word of God as His sword, to battle Satan.

• Now look up Hebrews 4:15: “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same temptations we do, yet he did not sin.”

Jesus knows what it’s like to be me! Jesus knows what its like to be tempted and yet He did not sin? This should give us tremendous hope and courage! Because if Jesus understands what it is like to be tempted then He can help me to not sin! He really does understand!

It is when something looks good to us or something that we want on the other side of the line. We always have a choice to endure or to not cross the line or to not take the bait. We have a choice to be like Jesus!

James 1:16-18

The Right View on God, James 1:17-18

√ What comes to us from God according to these verses? (Everything good and perfect)

The Character of God: 1:17-18

a. The Giver: everything that we have and are was given to us from God. This is a truth of Scripture that we often take for granted. We see things as being earned. (I save this money and bought this item.)

John 3:27: John the Baptist said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him form Heaven.”

Psalm 115:16 “The heaven, even the heavens are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.”

b. He never changes, God has been and always will be the same. He doesn’t change from day to day, like the stars and moons of the heavens. He is God, and He has been the same from Adam until this day. It is part of who He is.

c. He chose us! (1:18) One very powerful truth of the Bible is that God chose you. You are very valuable to God. You are so valuable that He paid the price in order to secure your place in Heaven. (I hope that every single one of you have made the decision to know Christ as your Savior and Lord. If you have not, or are not sure, talk me after the lesson today.)

1 Peter 1:23 says, “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.”

Illustration: There was once an overweight guy who always stopped by a bakery on his way to work in the morning to pick up some goodies for the staff coffee break. He finally decided to go on a diet. In order to avoid the temptation to each rich sweets, he began taking a different route to work so he didn’t have to go by the bakery and be tempted. The entire office staff encouraged him as he dieted. One day, however, he had to do an errand in the neighborhood of the bakery on the way to work. As he approached the bakery he said to himself, “Maybe God wants me to stop by the bakery this morning and pick up some goodies for the office staff.” So he prayed, “Lord, if you want me to stop at the bakery this morning, make a parking spot available right in front of the bakery so there is no question in my mind.” And, sure enough, there it was, a parking spot, right in front of the bakery – on his sixth trip around the block.

Now this man was tempted to eat something that was not good for him. And he prayed to God, that God would provide the parking place if he was to go in there. Did God tempt him?

Remember that God never tempts you. Jesus Christ understands what it is like to be tempted, and He will help us to not sin through the power of His Word;

Psalm 111:19, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.”

Small Group Discussion Questions for James 1:12-18

1. Why is it so easy to give excuses when we do wrong?

2. Have you ever blamed other people for the wrong that you did?

3. Is it personally important to you to know that God does not tempt us to sin? Why or why not?

4. From these verses if God is not involved in the sin that we do who is?

5. Read Psalm 119:11, how does this verse tell us to avoid sinning? Do you think that this is true? Do you think that Scripture memory is important?

6. If we are going to try to avoid temptation, how does this effect the movies and TV that we watch? Do you think that these media sources affect us?

7. Are there some temptations that are harder for you to resist? Tell us how you think that you can avoid these temptations?

This week I will: _________________________________________________________

NAME:________________________________

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