Product Description
The Heartbeat of LIVE FAST
Lent is a time of preparation. In the 40 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday, Christians throughout the ages and across traditions have fasted as a way to prepare the way of the Lord in their lives.
Fasting, both during Lent and at other times, is a way of preparing ourselves to resist temptation. In this series, we’re going to discover how to Live Fast and how doing so can help us resist the temptations that the devil used against Jesus and uses against us – the temptations of appetite, ambition, and affirmation.
This downloadable teaching series includes:
Teaching Materials:
Master Teacher’s Guide
Small Group Leader’s Guide
Gathering Tool
Video Materials:
HD/SD Animated Series Intro Video
HD/SD Animated Series Countdown Video
Promo and Media:
11×17 Poster Art (PDF and JPG)
Screen Slides (Widescreen and Fullscreen)
Letterhead (Word Doc and JPG)
T-Shirt Artwork
Web Banners
Content samples and additional information can be found in the TEACHING GUIDES, SERIES ART, and VIDEO tabs
Session Outlines
Session One :: Resisting Temptation
Matthew 4:1-11
The point: Resist the right things
When the devil tried to tempt Jesus, he did so in terms of three temptations of identity. The way Jesus responded to these temptations shows us how we can resist the right things. Fasting is indirect effort that helps us resist temptation, and in the process it attracts us to God.
Session Two :: The Temptation of Appetite
Exodus 17:1-7
The point: Hunger to produce instead of to consume
The temptation of appetite leads us to seek to consume what we want when we want. But this is not the way God wants us to live. Instead, he wants to resist the temptation of appetite so that we hunger to produce instead of to consume.
Session Three :: The Temptation of Ambition
John 7:1-10
The point: Compete for instead of against
Jesus’ brothers offered him the temptation of ambition, but Jesus resisted this temptation. As we look to his example, we see why it’s dangerous for us to let ambition lead us into competing against others. Instead, we should be competing for something – God’s Kingdom mission.
Session Four :: The Temptation of Affirmation
Matthew 6:1-8
The point: Forget fame and seek significancee
Our culture often confuses fame and significance. But Jesus teaches us that there is another way. Instead of being beholden to affirmation from others, we can rest in the affirmation that comes from God our Father. When we do, we discover that we can forget fame and seek significance.
Teaching Guides
Master Teacher’s Guide [ view sample ]
The Master Teacher’s Guide is designed for use in large-group settings such as Wednesday night gatherings, combined Sunday School classes, summer camps, and other worship gatherings. It contains background information, explanation and application points, opening illustrations and stories, prompts for personal stories, and life-changing Turning Point activities.
Leader’s Guide [ view sample ]
The Small Group Leaders Guide is perfect for use in Disciple Now settings, in-home small groups, individual Sunday School classes, and other settings with one leader and 10-15 students. It contains background information, explanation and application points, group activities, discussion questions, and life-changing Turning Point activities.
Gathering Tool
The Gathering Tool is designed to provide an opening illustration for groups that meet together in a large group before dividing into small groups or Sunday School classes. This will allow small groups to experience the series video and will add to the overall experience of going through the series.
Supply List
About the Art
What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don’t want to discourage it completely.
-Franklin P. Jones
I can resist anything but temptation.
-Oscar Wilde
When I was a kid I loved Lent. I gave up vegetables, cleaning my room, washing the dishes – the possibilities were endless! Now as an adult, my tendency is the same, only more “grown up.” I want to give up paying my mortgage, changing diapers, and picking up after myself. (My wife would say I gave up the last two a long time ago.)
Let me be clear: I don’t really try to give up things like that for Lent (no matter how much I hate taking out the trash). While the possibilities may still be endless, I understand that using fasting as a vacation from the things I don’t like to do would cause me to miss out on many opportunities to better prepare myself for the life and faith challenges that are headed my way. Because they are coming.
So I can give up things for Lent, because I can resist anything, right? When the Tempter starts dangling lures and pulling strings, will I take the bait? Will I eat from the Tree of Knowledge or from the Tree of Life? Do I prepare to produce or continue to consume? Am I for myself or am I for God’s Kingdom? Shouldn’t this be easier than it is? Is it something that I really need to practice? Can’t I just give up the vegetables for a while? I can resist anything… can’t I?
Then again, maybe I need the practice. Maybe we all do. It’s like the student who once asked the master teacher, “Why do you spend so many hours practicing the violin? You are already a master.”
The master teacher replied, “Because I’m starting to see some improvement.”
-Blake Berg, artist
