The safety and protection of our Savior Jesus Christ is always available. Christ himself said "O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart." We are never too far gone to be out of his safety and reach. He will continue to beckon to us to come and find safety under His wings!
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(If you don't have colored ink, print the activity page in black and white or grayscale. )
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 O P E N I N G S O N G : "I Know That My Savior Loves Me"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need a bowl of water, some dish soap, and some pepper.
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Invite the children to gather around the bowl of water. Sprinkle some pepper all over the surface of the water. Tell children that the Pepper represents the people of the Earth. Next, invite one of the children to wipe a small amount of dish soap on the tip of their finger. Tell them that their finger represents Jesus Christ, then invite them to touch the surface of the water with their finger to see what will happen. (The pepper will quickly scatter to the edges of the bowl.)
After you complete the activity, discuss the following questions:
1) How did you feel when you watched the “people” in the bowl go away from Jesus Christ?
(Discuss.)
2) What do you think Jesus Christ feels when people choose to go away from Him? (Sad.)
3) Why do you think He feels sad? (Because He loves us and He wants to Help us be happy.)
Say: “Jesus Christ loves us very much! He wants us to come unto him so that he can teach us and bless us and heal us. But we have a choice to make. We can choose to receive Jesus Christ and follow Him, or we can choose to reject Jesus Christ and turn away from him. No one else can make that choice for us. We must each decide for ourselves.
🎥 V I D E O : "How Oft Will I Gather You | Animated Scripture Lesson for Kids"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about mother hen. The mother hen loves her baby chicks! When there is danger, she gathers her chicks under her wings. But, if they want to be protected, the baby chicks have to go to her! Let’s see if they choose to go to her, or if they choose to go away from her.
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) Why did the baby chicks go away from their mother? (They were curious and wanted to explore.)
2) Why did they turn around and go back to her? (They realized they were in trouble, and they wanted her to protect them again.)
3) Did the mother hen stop loving her baby chicks? (She always loved them and always wanted to gather them under her wings.)
4) How are we like the baby chicks? (Discuss.)
5) How is Jesus Christ like the mother hen? (Discuss.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures and discuss the questions that follow.
[Read 3 Nephi 10:4]
4 O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are
of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.
1) Did Jesus gather his people in the past? (Yes.)
[Read 3 Nephi 10:5]
5 And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.
1) Does Jesus try to gather His people sometimes? Or often? (Often.)
2) What does “often” mean? (It means many times.)
3) When Jesus tried to gather these people, what did they choose? (They would not.)
[3 Nephi 10:6]
6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.
1) What did Jesus Christ promise to do in the future? (To gather us unto Him often.)
2) What do we need to do in order to go to Him? (Repent, and return to Him with full purpose of heart.)
➤ C O L O R I N G P A G E
Pass out the activity page.
Cut out all the baby chicks along the dirt rectangle shape. Cut a slit in front of the mother hen’s wing by cutting along the dotted line. Pull the tab through the slit to help the baby chicks gather under the mother hen’s wings. Use this time to talk about Jesus Christ’s love for us and how he is constantly calling us unto Him.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
'Come, Follow Me' is a resource offered by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is designed to be used in the home to support personal and family scripture study to build faith in Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation and in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. Come, Follow Me is self-contained and adequate, when used properly. Products and materials designed to supplement this resource, though they may be helpful in some instances, are not necessary for a successful home study program.