Terribly Tempted

David C Cook COVID-19 Response

Upper Elementary

Lesson 11
Fall 2019
By: Jenn Joshua
November 10, 2019

Lesson Focus:

God provides a way out of temptation.

Bible Basis:

Joshua 7:1—8:22

Materials Needed:

Step 1:

Internet access

Step 4:

Internet access
Orange cardstock cut into 3-inch x 5-inch pieces (1 per student)
Permanent, fine-tipped, black markers
Bibles or smartphones with Bible apps
Optional: Whiteboard and marker

Summary & Links:

Students will talk about temptations they face and watch a short video showing foolish thieves caught in unsuccessful ways of escape.

Memory Verse:

God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
—1 Corinthians 10:13

Students will talk about temptations they face and watch a short video showing foolish thieves caught in unsuccessful ways of escape.

Materials Needed:

Internet access

There are a lot of differences in this room! You aren’t all the exact same age, and you come from different families. Some of you may have several siblings; others may have none at all. Some of you might have lived in this city all your life and others could have been born in another state or even another country. However, there are a few things that you all definitely have in common.

Can you think of something everyone in your class has in common? (Answers will vary but may include: Everyone is in the same grade, or everyone has a Bible, everyone loves summer vacation, etc. For fun you might poll your group to find out if everyone loves pizza or ice cream, etc.)

Definitely one thing everyone in this room has in common is that we all struggle sometimes with temptation. Everyone does.

Who can tell me what temptation is? (Temptation is when we want to do something that we shouldn’t do.)
Can anyone think of an example of temptation? (Possible answers might include: cheating, lying, stealing, or gossiping.)

Temptations come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes, we are tempted to do things that might be okay under certain circumstances but simply aren’t the right thing for us. Other times, the things we are tempted to do are very wrong. Watch the following video closely as you see what happened to some people who gave into temptation to steal something. Play this video for the students [3:18]:

Stupid thief Fails Funny Compilation 2018
https://dcc-web-1.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/RLD+Assets/Stupid+Thief+Fails+Funny+Compilation+2018.mp4

Why do you think the people in those clips gave in to the temptation to rob or steal? (Possible answers might include: They were greedy, they wanted something that didn’t belong to them, they thought they could get away with it easily, or they thought they needed the money.)

Whatever the reason they were tempted to rob or steal, it would have been much better for them to avoid or resist the temptation.

What does it feel like to try to resist temptation? (Possible answer: Like nothing else matters than whatever it is that I want.)
Can anyone tell about a time they successfully resisted temptation? (Answers will vary; be prepared to share your own experience.)

We all struggle with temptation every day, and it’s important to know how to handle it. It’s a good thing for us—we can always be sure there is a way out of temptation when it comes. Let’s find out more.

Looking for Steps 2 & 3?

You can find Steps 2 and 3 in your teacher’s guide. To purchase a teacher’s guide, please visit: Bible-in-Life or Echoes.

Materials Needed:

Internet access
Orange cardstock cut into 3-inch x 5-inch pieces (1 per student)
Permanent, fine-tipped, black markers
Bibles or smartphones with Bible apps
Optional: Whiteboard and marker

Before class, cut orange cardstock into 3 x 5 inch pieces (1 per student). Students will be making “Get Out of Temptation” Cards similar to “Get Out of Jail Free” Cards in Monopoly®. If you need a visual reminder of what those cards look like, you can view one here:

Get Out of Jail Free card
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Out_of_Jail_Free_card

As students are finishing their activities from the last step, bring them back to discussion of the lesson focus. In today’s lesson, we learned about the terrible impact of giving in to temptation.

What was the temptation of Achan in our lesson today? (Achan was tempted by a beautiful robe, 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold.)
Achan gave into temptation. He should have made a different choice! What other option did Achan have? (Achan could have obeyed God and participated in the next battle.)

We know that God will always provide us with a way out. However, the “better option” might not always seem like the better choice. Temptation has a way of focusing us on what we want, rather than on what God wants from us. The thieves we saw in the video earlier had the better option of turning around and walking away before they got caught up in the theft.

Whatever temptation we are experiencing, we know that God will always provide us with a way to make the right choice. Hand out orange cardstock pieces and permanent fine-tipped markers to your preteens. If you’ve ever played the game Monopoly®, you know there is a card called “Get Out Of Jail Free” that lets a player leave the “jail” inside the game. Today, you’re going to make your very own “Get Out Of Temptation” card. If students need a visual reminder of what this card looks like, show them this one:
Get Out of Jail Free card
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Get_Out_of_Jail_Free_card

Instruct the students to think for a few minutes about something in their lives that they are struggling with or that might be a temptation to them, then draw a picture that represents their temptation on one side of the card (alternatively they can draw something to represent temptation in general). Then, they should write a Bible verse on the opposite side of the card. The verse can be from this lesson (1 Corinthians 10:13, or it can be 2 Corinthians 12:9, Luke 22:40, or Matthew 6:13). You can direct students to look these up in their Bibles or on their smartphone Bible app; or, ask for a volunteer to write them on the whiteboard.

Play the following video for reflection while the students work.
Length of video: [3:52]
My Grace Is Sufficient

This week keep your “Get Out Of Temptation” card with you and use it as a reminder to make the right choice whenever you are tempted. Remember that no matter how difficult it seems, you will always have an opportunity to obey God and do the right thing!

Close in prayer.

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David C Cook COVID-19 Response

Upper Elementary