1) What new year's resolutions did you make this year?
Have you kept your resolutions?
Do you hear other people making resolutions, and do they keep them?
Why do people make resolutions?
2) Activity: I'm not touching you!
[Note: Everyone should get a turn of this.]
* Shuffle a deck of cards.
* One person stand in the middle of the room with the cards. Your job is to sort the cards in the deck and not react to your surroundings.
* Everyone else try to distract the person in the middle from their task but without touching them or the cards.
[Note: Encourage creativity without being inappropriate.]
Was it hard to focus on the task at hand?
How did you deal with the distractions?
3) Read: Matthew 4:1-11
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written: " 'He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'" Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.How many days was Jesus in the wilderness being tempted?
What kind of temptations did he face?
What gave Jesus strength to resist these temptations?
4) Read: 1 Kings 19:3-13
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"How many days does Elijah travel for?
Elijah is facing a difficult time. What helps keep Elijah going?
Why do you think God was in the gentle whisper and not in the fire or wind or earthquake?
5) This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday. It marks the beginning of Lent, which is the 40 days preceding Easter. These 40 days represent Jesus' fasting and temptations in the desert. In some Christian traditions, people will give up something or do something for Lent, often fasting. The purpose of this discipline is to remind us of Jesus' sacrifices for us.
How is following a Lenten discipline different from a New Year's resolution? (duration, purpose, etc)
What is something you could do as a discipline for the 40 days of Lent?
[Note: Encourage creativity here: Pray every day, not eat chocolate, anything that could function to remind one of God's presence in their lives.]
Ash Wednesday services will be on Wednesday at 12:00 and 7:00 for those interested.
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