Matthew 1:18–25. Certain qualities make good parents. (10–20 minutes) Ask two students to describe a characteristic they like about their parents. Invite a father or mother of a student to come to class and speak for three to five minutes and describe their feelings when their child was born, tell what the child was like […]

One day, as the Savior taught in a house in the lakeside village of Capernaum, four men worked to break open the roof above his head. They hoped to gain access to him in behalf of a friend sick with the palsy. Apparently, they could think of no other way to approach the Lord because […]

If you are teaching adults, you may want to remind your class that the lessons taught in Primary differ greatly from the material emphasized in the manual for children this week. What have the families in your class found helpful in discussing the things they learn during Sunday School and Primary at home? How can they learn from each other during these discussions? If they aren't studying together, how can they start?

"We should trust the Lord's mercy, not our own righteousness" is a great way to describe grace. Older church members may be confused about the role of grace in our lives. Be ready to teach the concept of grace in your classroom. Teachers of youth may find that some students are resistant to the idea of marriage. Be respectful and kind to those students, recognizing that some people choose to reject marriage because they fear rejection by potential spouses or because of negative experiences at home. Listen carefully to everyone's thoughts, and be ready to share gospel truths about marriage and your own experiences. Avoid sharing your opinions on homosexuality, do not make guesses about the meaning of church policies regarding homosexuality, and be ready to (kindly!) share the church's stance on homosexual marriage in a non-judgmental way. Remember that many youth are confused on these topics, and they need your love and support to help sort through conflicting messages. They will not turn to you if they recognize that you will not treat alternate viewpoints respectfully. Teachers of adults should be sensitive to the feelings of single and divorced members about marriage. For example, you should not suggest that finding a spouse in the hereafter should provide relief to the single who are lonely now. You need not shy away from difficult discussions, but talk with your Sunday School presidency if you need help preparing to teach this or any other controversial topic. Above all, be kind.

Lenses is a great teaching technique to help students read the scriptures from different perspectives. Try it if you decide to use the lesson manual activity where students try to think about the resurrection of Lazarus through the eyes of different people in the story. Primary teachers of younger children may find their students do not understand what death is. Be sure your students understand what death is before you talk about resurrection.

The Sunday School manual suggests that you split your class into three groups to study one section. Remember that groups that are larger than 3-4 people in size are usually ineffective for teaching. Large Sunday School classes should look for a different activity to teach this principle. Everybody Writes or Scripture Tweet might be better for your larger group.

The story of the Good Samaritan is a fun one for children to act out. Acting out a story is a good way for students to see the gospel in action, and practice choosing the right themselves in a pretend situation.

Sunday School teachers will be either skipping this lesson or combining with with three other Come Follow Me lessons. Even if you decide to skip this lesson all together, prayerfully consider if there are parts of this lesson that you can combine with your Easter lesson.

Sunday School teachers, the activity listed for John 5: "to help the class discover these insights, try dividing them into groups and giving them a few minutes to list as many truths as they can find in verses 16–47 about the character of God, Jesus Christ, and Their relationship" is an especially good one in my opinion. This type of activity is only good where groups can be in sets of 4 persons or fewer. If I were teaching this, I would use a technique like Everybody Writes or Chalk Talk. Click on the search widget and type in the name of these techniques at the top of the page to learn to use these techniques.

This lesson covers a lot of varying topics. Primary teachers, carefully select two or three to cover during class. Sunday School teachers, you will not be able to give this lesson the attention it deserves, as this lesson is combined with THREE others due to a fifth Sunday and General Conference. Prayerfully consider which material from this and the next three lessons will be of most value to your students. If you choose to do the activity where you "write on strips of paper several gospel truths and several false, worldly ideas or practices," be careful that you don't accidentally add in your own personal ideas of what is a worldly practice. Use the suggestion in the manual to select false, worldly ideas from General Conference addresses to avoid any difficulty.