Beginning Activity

Say: Today, we are going to be talking about a time that Jesus was tempted.  To start our lesson, you are going to get 5 M&M’s on a napkin in front of you.

Pass out napkins and put 5 M&M’s on a napkin in front of each child.

Say:  Who thinks it would be good to eat your M&M’s right now?  They sure are tempting sitting there in front of you.  Well, this is the deal.  Listen to the whole thing first.  You may eat the M&M’s at any time during our lesson BUT if you have M&M’s left on your napkin at the end of the lesson, you will get MORE M&M’s.  If you have 5 left, you will get 5 more.  If you have 2 left, you will get 2 more.  If you don’t have any left, you won’t get any more.  The choice is yours.  You get to decide how many of the M&M’s you will eat and your neighbor gets to decide how many he or she will eat.

(This is the “real-life” application for the kids of what it means to be tempted.  Let the kids do what they choose but do not bring up the M&M’s again until the end of the lesson.) Continue on with lesson about Jesus in the Wilderness.