JESUS BEGINS HIS MINISTRY

2022 Theme: “Doing Life with Jesus”
Week 2: Jesus Begins His Ministry
Weekly Bible Bite: Matthew 3:13-17

Video lesson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88JYcN2-FiQ (Kids on the Move – Jesus is Baptized)

Matthew 3:13-17 – “Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. 14 But John tried to talk him out of it. “I am the one who needs to be baptized by you,” he said, “so why are you coming to me?”
15 But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.
16 After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

The first thing Jesus did when preparing to begin his ministry was to go to the Jordan River where his cousin John was baptizing people. Why? John had been baptizing people as a sign that they were sorry for sins, but Jesus never did anything wrong. So, why be baptized? He was making a declaration that he belonged to God, and was committed to obeying Him. He knew what was coming, but he was determined to see it through. And what did God do? He confirmed to Jesus that he was pleased with him.

Immediately after Jesus was baptized, he headed into the wilderness and spent more than a month without eating, just being with God. Satan came and tried to trick Jesus into disobeying God, three times. But each time he came up with a new test, Jesus recognized the danger and eventually told Satan he needed to leave. (More of that story still to come!)

Family goal:
Jesus knew how important it was to obey and spend time with God. We will do something special for God this week: ____________________
[Be sure to pick a measurable goal involving a task so that children will know when they have completed it.]

Weekly verses:
Matthew 4:17, NLT – “From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.’”

Family activities:
• Colour the picture of Jesus being baptized.
• Print off the bird kite template, follow the directions to assemble, then enjoy flying your new dove kite.
• Choose a meal to fast from and/or if your family is not in the habit of praying before you eat, make a plan to thank God for the food at each meal. Have each member of your family take turns saying ‘grace’ (thanking God for the food).