I wanted to teach the children about the 4th article of faith and how these principles and ordinances can help us build and strengthen our personal testimony. To do this I needed to build a small table. I was able to cut a piece of particle board into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle. Then I found some wooden doweling and cut four, four inch lengths. I then drilled an appropriate size hole that the doweling would squeeze into, and made the depth of the hole about half way into the wood and placed these holes at the four corner locations. Now I was ready to install and remove the legs as needed.
I showed the rectangular piece of wood to the children and asked them what it was. Of course, I received answers such as ‘a piece of wood’ and so forth. I told the children that this was a testimony table. They all looked at me kind of funny, but that was ok. I explained that if I set this table down, I could still eat from it. I could set things on it, but, it did not yet look like a table as it was missing legs. This is kind of like the testimony of our parents (or of other members of the church). It can work for us, but our own testimony is still not yet developed.
I then asked the children to recite the first principle of the gospel. Of course the kids already knew the 4th article of faith and in no time I had the answer of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I explained to them that this is the first leg of the testimony and I placed the first wooden dowel into one of the holes. I demonstrated that the table was starting to take shape but it would not yet stand on its own. We talked about the importance of faith and so on before moving on.
I then asked in order for each of the other principles and ordinances upon each correct answer placing another leg of the table in place. We would discuss as we went about the importance of each. Pretty soon, we had a table built that was sturdy and strong. I placed the completed table and related each of the principles and how our strong it made our testimony table.
Then we talked about how life brings challenges to us that will try our testimony. To demonstrate I had a series of fishing weights weighing from one ounce all the way up to 48 ounces. I was able to stack almost 5 pounds worth weight on this table (I had to use a plate to keep all weights from rolling off). I also placed books and other items to demonstrate that no matter what I threw at this table, if it was properly supported on the foundation of these principles in the 4th article of faith, that it withstood the challenge.
Then I removed all of the weight and told the children that sometimes, people became over confident in their abilities and would not maintain their testimony. Say they would not repent of some wrong doing such as getting in a fight with a brother or sister and not apologize, or say their personal prayers. I then removed one leg of the table. I set the table down and it still stood on its own. I talked about how this appeared on the outside to still be a testimony but really it was weakened. Then I talked that if a person stopped repenting that the gift of the Holy Ghost would leave us and I removed a second leg from the table (diagonally across from the first removed leg). Then I set the table back down and it still stood. I showed the kids that some people would still be prideful and say that, of course I still have a testimony. See, it is still standing and looks like any other table or testimony. Then I placed my smallest challenge or trial fishing weight on one of the corners of the table and of course, the table fell over. The simplest of challenges caused this problem. We then talked about how to maintain our testimony. I asked them to recite the entire 4th article of faith and we discussed the importance of living these principles every day.
a medium to large ( framed if possible) picture on an easel, covered with fabric
Prepare your lesson on not judging. When setting up your class to teach, have a medium to large ( framed if possible) picture on an easel. Cover the picture with pretty fabric before anyone gets to see who the picture is of.
At the beginning of your lesson, point out the covered picture and explain that you have a picture here of someone in your class who has been judged wrongly, and that you will reveal at the end of the lesson who it is.
Give your lesson and bear testimony of what you have taught, then remind the class of the picture and tell them you will now reveal who it is that has been judged unfairly. Remove the fabric to reveal a picture of the Savior and simply say..."Even as ye have done it unto the least of these my (sisters, daughters, brethren--who ever it applies to) ye have done it unto Him". And then close with song and prayer. This is very powerful and it is especially important that you prepare so the Spirit is there and can bear witness.
Matthew 25:40
Three circles cut out of heavy paper
To teach children that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can return to live with heavenly father, our own efforts are not enough. Place two circles of card stock on the floor, far enough apart that none of the children will be able to jump from one to the other in one jump.
Explain that one circle represents us here on earth, and the other the celestial kingdom where heavenly father lives. Place a treat on the 'celestial kingdom' circle and challenge the children to jump from the 'earth' circle to the other without touching the floor, in order to gain the treat.
When they have tried unsuccessfully, place a third circle in the centre between the other two with a picture of Christ on it. Ask them to try again using the middle circle to help them make it across without touching the floor.
After they have all had a treat, explain that without Christ we can not possibly make it back to our father in heavenly no matter how hard we try. The 'jump' is just too far. We have to rely on the saving grace of Jesus Christ to get us there.
Bake 2 batches of cookies or other simple treat. Make one batch 1/2 the size individually to the other.
Before you start the lesson give each class member a small cookie (ideally on a napkin) and tell them not to eat it yet. The other batch is kept well hidden. Tell the class that they are not to eat that cookie until the end of class (I gave them a code word to avoid confusion). Tell them that they must not eat the cookie no matter what is said. The trick is that they must hold the cookie in their lap (or in reachable view).
Throughout the lesson, throw in the odd "Why don't you eat that cookie?" "That cookie smells nice!" "Man, I'm hungry! Are you?" "Go on, eat the cookie, you get to eat it eventually anyway, why not now?" etc.
At the end of the lesson, when the class is finally permitted to eat the cookie, reward those who have passed the test with a second, bigger cookie.
Explain that their are two lessons to be learned here. Ask your class if they think it would have been easier if they were able to put the cookies out of sight? Explain that when we keep temptation out of sight that it's much easier to avoid wrongdoing. Secondly, if we can avoid temptations, Heavenly Father has a much bigger reward to give us than anything we may feel will satisfy us in this life.
I've posted both the full lesson and the object lesson part here in case Seminary Mom's (rather long) lesson doesn't fit with the message you're trying to get across in your lesson:
I brought out a muffin tray with muffin liners, but no actual muffins inside the liners. I explained I'd planned on baking muffins for them during class, but had forgotten the necessary eggs for the batter. Oh, well. Sorry.
Was my excuse good enough? Did the result fill their tummies? Obviously not.
I suggested that living a life full of justifications will leave us just as empty as the empty muffin tin is - when we stand before the Lord with all of our excuses, rationalizations, and justifications.
I suggested to [the class] that instead, by living a life hungry for the word of God, and filling ourselves full of it through our obedience, we instead will appear before the Lord ready to be greeted by him and content in the joy which will rightfully come.
I suggested that [the students] stretch themselves in preparation for this coming General Conference and to analyze whether they are ready to receive the counsel which will be prayerfully given. Will they listen and implement, or will they rationalize and justify not hearkening to anything that isn't "convenient?" There is a reason Elder Holland once called Christ "the Inconvenient Messiah."
Today we covered all of 3 Nephi 26, but I mostly emphasized the following topic:
I gave a journal question similar to: Are there times when you don't follow gospel principles? If so, do you justify those choices? The students wrote their responses in their journal, including specifics on what areas they will improve if needed.
I then shared my excitement for the lesson for today, saying it was perfect for getting ready for General Conference (we have spring break next week, so today was the last class prior to General Conference).
To start off, I asked them if they had any unanswered questions, such as how the earth was specifically created, questions about any other unexplained mysteries they may have encountered in their science, history or other classes at school, or even about dinosaurs (to get their attention). :0)
After letting them think about that for a moment, I guided them to 3 Nephi 26:1-4. We read how Christ expounded all things unto the Nephites, both great and small. Mormon tells us Christ explained all things, "even from the beginning until the time that he should come in his glory." (vs. 3)
How wonderful it would be to have the Savior as your teacher, expounding all things regarding this life. Can you imagine having such a perfect instructor, teaching in such a way?!
3 Nephi 26:6 states that there "cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which Jesus did truly teach unto the people."
Mormon had wanted to record these things. He almost did. But he experienced a roadblock. I said, "OK, class find the roadblock. It's somewhere in 3 Nephi 26."
They found the answer in verse 11: "Behold, I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi, but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people."
I followed that up with a quote from the institute manual for this section, on page 126:
[The above quote also was in the seminary student manual, although shorter.]"Now the Lord has placed us on probation as members of the Church. He has given us the Book of Mormon, which is the lesser part, to build up our faith through our obedience to the counsels which it contains, and when we ourselves, members of the Church, are willing to keep the commandments as they have been given to us and show our faith as the Nephites did for a short period of time, then the Lord is ready to bring forth the other record (JUST IMAGINE - ALL THOSE ANSWERS CHRIST GAVE, WAITING IN THAT RECORD!) and give it to us, but we are not ready now to receive it.
"Why? Because we have not lived up to the requirements in this probationary state in the reading of the record which had been given to us and in following its counsels" (Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, Sept.-Oct. 1961, 20).
Thus, to receive all that the Lord has, we need to live according to the light we've already received. No justifying allowed.
To prepare ourselves for additional scriptures in the future (as taught by President Joseph Fielding Smith and mentioned in 3 Nephi 26: 9), we need to live by the teachings we've gained today. We additionally need to hearken to the living prophets and not excuse ourselves when we don't. To gain further light, we need to live by the light we already have. And we have the perfect opportunity coming up in eight days - General Conference!
So again the question to the class, "Am I justifying my lack of response to any particular commandment?"
In preparation then for counsel received in General Conference, I played a clip of the DVD "Standard Night" (CES instructor John Bytheway). The students watched him quote the section from the youth's pamphlet For the Strength of Youth on Movies. Then Brother Bytheway read a quote from Elder Clark from a recent General Conference, who also gave plain instruction about the movies we watch.
I asked the class: Do we turn a deaf ear to counsel which is just too inconvenient? Or to counsel that requires sacrifice? For example, if the movie has nudity in it, do we excuse it - "Hey, it's not R. It's only PG-13. It must be ok to watch nudity."
I asked again, do we justify ourselves in so doing? It's a dangerous place to be.
I brought out a muffin tray with muffin liners, but no actual muffins inside the liners. I explained I'd planned on baking muffins for them during class, but had forgotten the necessary eggs for the batter. Oh, well. Sorry.
Was my excuse good enough? Did the result fill their tummies? Obviously not.
I suggested that living a life full of justifications will leave us just as empty as the empty muffin tin is - when we stand before the Lord with all of our excuses, rationalizations, and justifications.
I suggested to them that instead, by living a life hungry for the word of God, and filling ourselves full of it through our obedience, we instead will appear before the Lord ready to be greeted by him and content in the joy which will rightfully come.
I suggested that they stretch themselves in preparation for this coming General Conference and to analyze whether they are ready to receive the counsel which will be prayerfully given. Will they listen and implement, or will they rationalize and justify not hearkening to anything that isn't "convenient?" There is a reason Elder Holland once called Christ "the Inconvenient Messiah."
I suggested that they think about stretching their spiritual souls to be able to receive that which will be offered in Conference. They could do this by approaching conference in a new way - whether it would be in watching all *four* sessions if they've never done that, or writing in a journal *every* counsel given over the pulpit to work on over the next six months. Whatever it would be they decide, by approaching conference this way, they can know that they are proving themselves as eager children of God, ready to receive the things of God.
And in summary, in so doing, they will prove themselves worthy to receive the future scriptures Mormon speaks of. What a blessing to be found diligently striving in this way.
This post originally appeared on the Scripture Mom Seminary Class Notes blog. I've archived it so it doesn't get lost.
As a prelude to the lesson, I began by calling a student volunteer to the front of the room. As it happened, it turned out to be the tallest student in the class. I asked him to show how high he could reach. He went over to the wall and rested his verrry long arm at a very tall spot on the wall.
Then when it appeared he had reached as high as he could, I asked him to reach a little higher. Invariably, even though the student thought he was reaching as tall as he could, he still was able to stretch more - even without standing on his toes!
A few years back, President Hinckley asked that we all reach a little higher, to do a little more. Not a lot more, just a little more. I shared this with the class and asked why President Hinckley asked this of us.
I then drew a small bucket on the board and asked the class to imagine the room were filled with rocks. That being the case, would all those rocks fit in such a small bucket? What if the rocks were candy bars? Financial blessings? The class could see the bucket still was too small to hold a room full of much of anything.
I asked the class to read D&C 111:11 (the five "11"s verse).
"Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen."
I asked the class again why they thought President Hinckley had asked everyone to stretch a little farther. They started thinking much more deeply about this, realizing that the prophet wanted them to have more and more blessings.
As a prelude to the lesson, I began by calling a student volunteer to the front of the room. As it happened, it turned out to be the tallest student in the class. I asked him to show how high he could reach. He went over to the wall and rested his verrry long arm at a very tall spot on the wall.
Then when it appeared he had reached as high as he could, I asked him to reach a little higher. Invariably, even though the student thought he was reaching as tall as he could, he still was able to stretch more - even without standing on his toes!
A few years back, President Hinckley asked that we all reach a little higher, to do a little more. Not a lot more, just a little more. I shared this with the class and asked why President Hinckley asked this of us.
I then drew a small bucket on the board and asked the class to imagine the room were filled with rocks. That being the case, would all those rocks fit in such a small bucket? What if the rocks were candy bars? Financial blessings? The class could see the bucket still was too small to hold a room full of much of anything.
I asked the class to read D&C 111:11 (the five "11"s verse).
"Therefore, be ye as wise as serpents and yet without sin; and I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them. Amen."
I asked the class again why they thought President Hinckley had asked everyone to stretch a little farther. They started thinking much more deeply about this, realizing that the prophet wanted them to have more and more blessings.
Following are some quotes by president Hinckley relating to the theme of this object lesson:
“Brethren, you hold the priesthood of the Almighty. I hope that we honor it, that we live worthy of it, that we are the kind of men who are deserving of the inspiration of the Lord as we serve in His work. Are we what we ought to be? Are we good husbands—thoughtful, kind, respectful? Are we good fathers—gentle with our children, with love for them, respecting them as sons and daughters of God? Are we worthy to ‘speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world’? [D&C 1:20]. I ask you, my brethren, to ponder that question in your hearts; and if there be any who do not measure up, change, turn around, and stand a little taller and be a little better as a son of God, as a husband in Israel, as a father of a family, that faith might increase in the earth” (creation of the Canterbury England Stake, 27 Aug. 1995).
"Try a little harder to be a little better."— Gordon B. Hinckley
“The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” ( “This Is the Work of the Master,” in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 95.)
This post originally appeared on the Scripture Mom Seminary Class Notes blog. I've archived it so it doesn't get lost.
a picture of a bird and a quarter
Display a picture of a bird and a quarter. Then tell the following story:
Two men were walking down a busy city street. The one asked the other, "Listen to that bird." "I don't hear a bird," the other replied. "No, you must listen harder." The second individual listened very carefully and after a few seconds, he finally heard the bird amongst the hustle of the street.
The first individual asked, "Do you think THEY hear the bird?" The second man looked around at the rushing pedestrians racing past them. "No, probably not." "Now watch this." The first gentleman flipped a quarter, allowing it to fall to the ground. Scads of people stopped and looked for the fallen coin. "Amazing," came the reply of the second man.
How often do we walk through life, with our minds and hearts attuned to the material things of life? (i.e. worries about money or prestige?) Or perhaps better worded, how often do we listen for the things of God? Are our ears attuned to hear His voice? (http://seminaryclassnotes.blogspot.com/2006_03_07_archive.html)
I saw a similar object lesson to the toothpaste. The teacher gave the students a small pillow filled with feathers. The teacher tore it open and told him scatter the feathers. After he had done that, he then told him to go and pick up all the feathers and not come back until he had them all. Of course that was impossible. Gossip is like scattering the feathers, hurtful words or shared confidences cannot be taken back just like you can't find all the feathers. Think before you speak!
a picture cut into 20 pieces to create a puzzle. (The picture can be any picture of Christ, but a picture of his birth would work great.)
Cut a picture into 20 pieces to create a puzzle. (The picture can be any picture of Christ, but a picture of his birth would work great.) Give all the kids in your class an even number of puzzle pieces.
Ask each child to tell the class something they know about Christ’s birth. Once they share one thing, have them put a puzzle piece up on the board.
Keep going until they finish the pieces, or until they can’t think of anything else. If they don't finish putting up the pieces, share any other important details about Christ’s birth until all the pieces are up on the board. Give the kids time to arrange the pieces so that they know what the picture is.
Especially help the children understand who Jesus’ parents were. (Mary and Heavenly Father, not Joseph) Discuss why it was important for his mother to be mortal and his father to be immortal. Compare how Christ’s birth was different from ours because of who his parents were.
Provide a feather for all those in the lesson. Have them tickle each others' ear with the feather. The first time they are able to respond by rubbing or scratching their ear. The second time have them restrain or show restraint and with hold from pushing the feather away or not rubbing their ear. Fasting helps us to show restraint or to strengthen our control over circumstances and temptation.
