Bill and Joe were walking down the street and Bill saw a wallet barely hanging onto the drain cover. He grabbed it, and both he and Joe were amazed at what was inside. There were 5 one-hundred-dollar bills and 10 fifty-dollar bills. How much money is that?
Bill knew immediately how much that was. It was a lot.
Joe: What are you going to do with that wallet?
Bill: Nothing. I don’t care about the wallet. I care about what’s inside the wallet.
Joe: What are you talking about Bill? You know that you can’t keep that money. It belongs to somebody else.
Bill: Yeah, right. Somebody else who should have been a little bit more careful with their stuff. Finders keepers….
Joe: I’m outta here. I’m not going to have anything to do with this. (EXIT)
Bill: See ya. (EXIT the other direction)
Deep inside, Bill knew that what he was about to do was wrong, but man that was a lot of money...
James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone…
Life is about growth. It’s about growing up and becoming mature. I want to read a few verses in the book of James that talks about this:
James 1:1-8,12-17
About the book of James –
How many of you have a friend who will tell it like it is. If you are wrong, they will let you know. If you have hurt them or someone else, they will tell you?
James is that type of a person, and that’s what his book is like. He doesn’t really mix words or beat around the bush. He takes the basic elements of faith and shows you what it looks like played out in life.
He makes it very clear in the first few verses that if you are going through a trial or a difficult time, then you need to reach out to God for wisdom. Then he says, if you are going to ask, then ask and trust. Don’t ask and then cower in the corner just hoping that maybe God might answer your prayer.
TEMPTATION:
Did your mom ever bake cookies, and tell you not to eat any? You smell those cookies, and you want one. You’re even a little angry with your mom. As if she baked those cookies just to tempt you!
Some people feel the same way about God. They want something they know is wrong, and they wonder why God is tempting them. But God doesn’t tempt anyone! Their own evil desires makes them want what is wrong. Like the cookies. If that were spinach would you want any?
When you’re tempted, it’s because something inside you likes to do the wrong thing you know you shouldn’t do. The problem is in you, not in the thing you want to do.
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Breakout Session Guide B.S.L. stands for Breakout Session Leader -
What would you do if you were in Bill and Joe’s situation? Have you ever been in a situation like that? What did you do?
BSL – Just ask and let them answer. This isn’t necessarily a right vs. wrong discussion,
but feel free to have some dialog around it.
What does it mean to be tempted?
BSL – This is a general question. Allow the youth to answer the question. Encourage
them to say it in their own words (not churchy).
Experiencing the desire to do something that you know would be an unwise decision.
What are some things that tempt you?
BSL – Some examples: food, doing something (dumb, mean, foolish) so that someone
will like me, sex, cheating on the test, skipping school to go do fill in the blank?, stealing,
lying to parents or friends to cover up some thing (even little white lies)
What do you do about things that tempt you?
BSL – They may need a little bit of help with this one. Some examples: pray about them.
Get away from them. Jesus used scripture in the wilderness. Give in to it. Ask for help.
Where does temptation come from?
BSL – Some examples: my friends, TV (media), parents, Satan, myself
James 1:13 When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be
tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone…
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