Song: The Fifth Article of Faith (CS. 125)
Thought: Nearly 70 years ago President David O. McKay, then serving as a counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, asked this question to a congregation gathered for general conference: “If at this moment each one [of you] were asked to state in one sentence … the most distinguishing feature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, what would be your answer?”
“My answer,” he replied, “would be … divine authority by direct revelation.”
That divine authority is, of course, the holy priesthood.
(Our Most Distinguishing Feature: Jeffrey R. Holland)
Object Lesson: Have the priesthood holder in your family hold up an open umbrella. Gather the family under it. Squeeze in tight so everyone fits under the umbrella. Tell your family that the umbrella is like the priesthood. When a worthy man holds it, his whole family is protected by that special gift from Heavenly Father. (found here)
Video: Restoration of the Priesthood
Lesson Activity: For younger children consider this coloring page while the older members of your family do the following activity.
Write out several scripture references about how and why the priesthood was restored (such as D&C 13; 27:12–13; Joseph Smith—History 1:66–72; Articles of Faith 1:5). Invite your family to read the scriptures and write on the board a summary of each passage. What do these scriptures teach them about the restoration of the priesthood? How has the restoration of the priesthood influenced their lives?
This Week's Challenge: Invite your family to memorize the 5th Article of Faith this week!
4.28.2013
4.22.2013
Week 16: The Organization of The Church
Song: Come, Sing to the Lord (H. 10)
Thought: We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. (6th Article of Faith)
Object Lesson: To explain the Apostasy build a church with blocks, labeling the blocks at the bottom “Apostles and Prophets,” then demonstrate how the church cannot stand without the foundation of apostles and prophets (see Ephesians 2:20). (Taken from Come, Follow Me)
Video: Elder Perry on the Priesthood, Part 4: Restoration Makes Authority Clear
Lesson Activity:
For younger members of your family (from Primary Manual 3):
Read Revelation 14:6–7 to the children. Explain that the angel in this scripture is the angel Moroni, who appeared to Joseph Smith and announced that the gospel would be restored. Have the children roll up sheets of paper into “trumpets.” Let each child have a turn pretending to be an angel announcing that the Church has been restored.
For older members of your family (from Come, Follow Me):
Invite your family to read together the four paragraphs of Elder Russell M. Nelson’s talk “Catch the Wave” beginning with “The Restoration fulfills many biblical prophecies.” Ask each family member to study one of the scriptures referenced in the notes for this section. Invite them to then role-play how they would use their assigned passages to teach a friend about scriptures that prophesy of a restoration of the gospel.
This Week's Challenge: Challenge your family to take some time this week to learn the names of the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Encourage them to find one talk from General Conference earlier this month by one of them and to study it.
Thought: We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth. (6th Article of Faith)
Object Lesson: To explain the Apostasy build a church with blocks, labeling the blocks at the bottom “Apostles and Prophets,” then demonstrate how the church cannot stand without the foundation of apostles and prophets (see Ephesians 2:20). (Taken from Come, Follow Me)
Video: Elder Perry on the Priesthood, Part 4: Restoration Makes Authority Clear
Lesson Activity:
For younger members of your family (from Primary Manual 3):
Read Revelation 14:6–7 to the children. Explain that the angel in this scripture is the angel Moroni, who appeared to Joseph Smith and announced that the gospel would be restored. Have the children roll up sheets of paper into “trumpets.” Let each child have a turn pretending to be an angel announcing that the Church has been restored.
For older members of your family (from Come, Follow Me):
Invite your family to read together the four paragraphs of Elder Russell M. Nelson’s talk “Catch the Wave” beginning with “The Restoration fulfills many biblical prophecies.” Ask each family member to study one of the scriptures referenced in the notes for this section. Invite them to then role-play how they would use their assigned passages to teach a friend about scriptures that prophesy of a restoration of the gospel.
This Week's Challenge: Challenge your family to take some time this week to learn the names of the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Encourage them to find one talk from General Conference earlier this month by one of them and to study it.
4.14.2013
Week 15: The Book of Mormon
Song: The Golden Plates (CS.86)
Thought: But why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1).
The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.
What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses. (The Book of Mormon—a Book from God by Tad R. Callister)
Object Lesson:
“The Book of Mormon,” Friend, Sep 2002, 24
Three years after Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the angel Moroni appeared and told seventeen-year-old Joseph about a book that was written on gold plates. As directed by Moroni, the boy went to the Hill Cumorah and saw the plates and the Urim and Thummim (“seer” stones fastened to a breastplate), but he was not allowed to remove them. Four years later, on September 22, 1827, Moroni told him to take them. Joseph Smith used the Urim and Thummim to translate some of the plates. (See JS—H 1:29–35, 44–53, 59–62.)
The Book of Mormon contains information from five sets of plates: the brass plates, the large plates of Nephi, the small plates of Nephi, the plates of Ether, and the plates of Mormon (see “A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon” in the front part of the Book of Mormon). You can make an imitation of these plates to remind you what contributed to the Book of Mormon.
Follow this link to find printables to help your family with understanding what each of the sets of plates contained. Either have one set prepared before hand that your family can share or print out enough copies for each family member to make their own.
Video: Book of Mormon Introduction
Lesson Activity: Play the game of Book of Mormon Pictionary with your family. Make sure to divide your family up equally with readers and non-readers. If there is an odd amount of players consider having one person be the helper for the younger ones on either team.
This week's challenge: Challenge your family members to begin reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning this week. Print off a reading chart for each family member (there are tons of them out there, but here is a free one that is fun!) and then help each member set a goal for when they will complete the Book of Mormon. For an added challenge encourage older members of your family to keep a study journal as they read and be prepared to share things that they have learned in a future family home evening lesson.
Thought: But why is the Book of Mormon so essential if we already have the Bible to teach us about Jesus Christ? Have you ever wondered why there are so many Christian churches in the world today when they obtain their doctrines from essentially the same Bible? It is because they interpret the Bible differently. If they interpreted it the same, they would be the same church. This is not a condition the Lord desires, for the Apostle Paul declared that there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5). To help bring this oneness about, the Lord established a divine law of witnesses. Paul taught, “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established” (2 Corinthians 13:1).
The Bible is one witness of Jesus Christ; the Book of Mormon is another. Why is this second witness so crucial? The following illustration may help: How many straight lines can you draw through a single point on a piece of paper? The answer is infinite. For a moment, suppose that single point represents the Bible and that hundreds of those straight lines drawn through that point represent different interpretations of the Bible and that each of those interpretations represents a different church.
What happens, however, if on that piece of paper there is a second point representing the Book of Mormon? How many straight lines could you draw between these two reference points: the Bible and the Book of Mormon? Only one. Only one interpretation of Christ’s doctrines survives the testimony of these two witnesses. (The Book of Mormon—a Book from God by Tad R. Callister)
Object Lesson:
“The Book of Mormon,” Friend, Sep 2002, 24
Three years after Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, the angel Moroni appeared and told seventeen-year-old Joseph about a book that was written on gold plates. As directed by Moroni, the boy went to the Hill Cumorah and saw the plates and the Urim and Thummim (“seer” stones fastened to a breastplate), but he was not allowed to remove them. Four years later, on September 22, 1827, Moroni told him to take them. Joseph Smith used the Urim and Thummim to translate some of the plates. (See JS—H 1:29–35, 44–53, 59–62.)
The Book of Mormon contains information from five sets of plates: the brass plates, the large plates of Nephi, the small plates of Nephi, the plates of Ether, and the plates of Mormon (see “A Brief Explanation about the Book of Mormon” in the front part of the Book of Mormon). You can make an imitation of these plates to remind you what contributed to the Book of Mormon.
Follow this link to find printables to help your family with understanding what each of the sets of plates contained. Either have one set prepared before hand that your family can share or print out enough copies for each family member to make their own.
Video: Book of Mormon Introduction
Lesson Activity: Play the game of Book of Mormon Pictionary with your family. Make sure to divide your family up equally with readers and non-readers. If there is an odd amount of players consider having one person be the helper for the younger ones on either team.
This week's challenge: Challenge your family members to begin reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning this week. Print off a reading chart for each family member (there are tons of them out there, but here is a free one that is fun!) and then help each member set a goal for when they will complete the Book of Mormon. For an added challenge encourage older members of your family to keep a study journal as they read and be prepared to share things that they have learned in a future family home evening lesson.
4.13.2013
An Introduction to the Book of Mormon
An introduction to the Book of Mormon courtesy of Jefferey R. Holland, an Apostle of the Lord.
4.08.2013
Week 14: The Restoration of the Gospel
Song: On a Golden Springtime (CS. 88)
Thought: The Great Apostasy was a time of spiritual darkness, but we now live in a time when we can partake of “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4; see also D&C 45:28). The fulness of the gospel has been restored, and the true Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again. No other organization can compare to it. It is not the result of a reformation, with well-meaning men and women doing all in their power to bring about change. It is a restoration of the Church established by Jesus Christ. It is the work of Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. (True to the Faith)
Object Lesson: Show your family some old pennies that are tarnished and no longer shiny and new as they once were. Discuss with your family why the pennies are not the same as they were and what they have lost. Then compare those old pennies to the gospel. How when Christ was on the earth the gospel he taught was pure and correct. Over time it got changed by the world and lost the proper authority (or shine). Then place the pennies in lemon juice or vinegar and let your family take a small brush and scrub the pennies to see if they can become clean again. Compare this to a restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. Discuss how the proper authority and true gospel principles have been restored through him. (Idea adapted from here.)
Video: What the Restoration Means to Me
Lesson Activity:
Discuss with your younger family members what a testimony is and what we say when we are bearing our testimonies. Prepare something beforehand that could represent a podium with a microphone and encourage them to be prepared to practice bearing their testimonies of the restoration of the gospel.
As a family read together the first six paragraphs of Dallin H. Oaks’s article “The Only True and Living Church.” Ask your family how we can testify of the only true Church in a way that avoids offending others. Divide the remaining sections of the talk among them, and ask them to read their sections and look for what Elder Oaks does to powerfully testify of the restored gospel while being respectful to the beliefs of others. Invite your family to take turns bearing their testimonies to each other about the restoration of the gospel.
This Week's Challenge: Encourage your family members to find ways to bear their testimonies of the restored gospel with their friends and associates this week. As an added challenge encourage them to be prepared to bear their testimonies in your next fast and testimony sacrament meeting.
Thought: The Great Apostasy was a time of spiritual darkness, but we now live in a time when we can partake of “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:4; see also D&C 45:28). The fulness of the gospel has been restored, and the true Church of Jesus Christ is on the earth again. No other organization can compare to it. It is not the result of a reformation, with well-meaning men and women doing all in their power to bring about change. It is a restoration of the Church established by Jesus Christ. It is the work of Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. (True to the Faith)
Object Lesson: Show your family some old pennies that are tarnished and no longer shiny and new as they once were. Discuss with your family why the pennies are not the same as they were and what they have lost. Then compare those old pennies to the gospel. How when Christ was on the earth the gospel he taught was pure and correct. Over time it got changed by the world and lost the proper authority (or shine). Then place the pennies in lemon juice or vinegar and let your family take a small brush and scrub the pennies to see if they can become clean again. Compare this to a restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. Discuss how the proper authority and true gospel principles have been restored through him. (Idea adapted from here.)
Video: What the Restoration Means to Me
Lesson Activity:
Discuss with your younger family members what a testimony is and what we say when we are bearing our testimonies. Prepare something beforehand that could represent a podium with a microphone and encourage them to be prepared to practice bearing their testimonies of the restoration of the gospel.
As a family read together the first six paragraphs of Dallin H. Oaks’s article “The Only True and Living Church.” Ask your family how we can testify of the only true Church in a way that avoids offending others. Divide the remaining sections of the talk among them, and ask them to read their sections and look for what Elder Oaks does to powerfully testify of the restored gospel while being respectful to the beliefs of others. Invite your family to take turns bearing their testimonies to each other about the restoration of the gospel.
This Week's Challenge: Encourage your family members to find ways to bear their testimonies of the restored gospel with their friends and associates this week. As an added challenge encourage them to be prepared to bear their testimonies in your next fast and testimony sacrament meeting.
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