Thursday • September 02 • 2010

By Youth Workers for Youth Workers

Home » Discussion Starters » In the Heat of the Desert

In the Heat of the Desert

Jesus' Wilderness Temptation Resistance

Downloads for This Article: InTheHeatOfTheDesert.pdf

Brett Eastman has championed small groups and leadership development at both Saddleback and Willow Creek Community Church over the past decade. He is ...

Mandy wants to make some big changes in her life. She wants to start living for what she knows is right instead of her own selfish desires. But she's scared that her friends won't understand and will disappear once she begins to get serious about her commitment to Jesus and following his ways.

But after one Sunday morning at church, Mandy finally decided to trust the Holy Spirit's nudging in her life and made her decision. Her radical change left her friends frustrated—they didn't understand why she needed to change. Without her friends, Mandy felt empty walking down the school hallways.

Even though it was tempting, she didn't go back to her friends and their ways. Mandy decided she'd rather be alone and follow God than be with her friends and live selfishly. So Mandy spent a lot of time by herself—journaling, reading her Bible, listening, and praying. She sought guidance from her parents and her small-group leader at church, and they gave her some ideas of how to stay strong and remain faithful in the midst of loneliness and temptation.

One Saturday Mandy went to a homeless shelter with some other students from her church. She enjoyed it so much that she began serving there every week. As a result of her faithfulness, God blessed her with some wonderful new friends—people she had seen at school but had never really taken the time to meet. So not only is Mandy not alone anymore, she's hanging with a much better crowd for her spiritual walk—Christian friends who challenge her to follow God's ways.

Taking risks can feel like heading into the desert. At first you feel empty, dry, lonely, and scared. But if you let God do his work in your life during this alone time, it can be a great season for spiritual growth. In this session we'll look at the difficulty of facing temptation and how hard times can lead to a deeper commitment to Jesus.

Fellowship: CONNECTING Your Heart to Others'

Goal: To share about your life and listen attentively to others, caring about what they share
1. When you hear the word desert (not to be confused with a tasty dessert—remember, two s's for two scoops of ice cream!), what images come to mind? Write them down.

2. From among the images you wrote down for question 1, circle the positive ones. Were there any? If not, can you think of any positive images of the desert now?

3. What two temptations are the most difficult for you to resist?

Discipleship: GROWING to Be Like Jesus

Goal: To explore God's Word, gain biblical knowledge, and make personal applications
Before Jesus began his ministry, the Holy Spirit drove him into the desert. This wasn't a resort vacation experience. It was hot, dry, and lonely. While he was there, Jesus experienced significant temptation (Hebrews 4:15). Because of that experience, Jesus is able to relate to the temptations we face. In this session, we're going to see how Jesus handled real temptation from his enemy, Satan.

Read Luke 4:1-13.
1. Why do you think Jesus spent 40 days alone in the wilderness?

2. The first verse says that Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted by Satan. Does this mean God wanted him to be tempted? If God knows everything, wouldn't he know that Jesus wouldn't give in to temptation?

3. How did Jesus resist temptation in this passage? Why do you think this method works?

4. What phrase does Jesus repeat in each answer to the devil?

5. What are the three things the devil uses to tempt Jesus? What are some modern comparisons or parallels?

6. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

"Since Jesus' temptations were real, he could have fallen into sin; therefore Jesus couldn't have been fully God."
"Since Jesus was God, he couldn't have fallen into sin; therefore it wasn't really temptation."

Explain your answers.

7. In the third temptation, the devil quotes a promise from Scripture concerning Jesus specifically. Given Jesus' response, does this mean we're not to rely on God's promises? In your opinion, what's the difference between relying on God's promises and putting God to the test?

8. Let's get personal: As a small group, talk about what you can do to help protect each another from your worst temptations (you listed them under Fellowship question 3).