Faith means taking action. Preparing the ground. Planting the seed. Watering the seed. Pulling the weeds. That’s faith!
Our children can exercise faith in Jesus Christ right now, just like they can learn to water and nurture a tiny seed right now!
And, just like the thrill of seeing a plant spring up from the ground, our children can also experience the thrill of seeing their faith bear fruit! They can experience their faith being confirmed by the Holy Ghost!
Christ’s promises are sure. He invites all to come unto Him, children included!
LESSON BUNDLE DOWNLOADS:
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
You will need a small toy and a blindfold.
➤ 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 : "Faith"
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Ask for a volunteer. Give the toy to the volunteer, and ask them to hold it. Place the blindfold over the volunteer’s eyes. Now ask the volunteer to extend their arms forward and hold the toy out in front of them. Instruct the other members of the group to watch silently for the rest of the activity.
Ask the volunteer these questions:
If you drop this toy, what will happen when it hits the ground? (It will hurt the toy and it might break.)
When I count to three, I want you to drop the toy. I promise you it won’t break. Do you believe me? (Yes.)
Secretly place your hands just below the toy, so that you can catch the toy when the volunteer drops it. Try to do this slowly and silently, so that the volunteer won’t know your hands are there. Now count to three and instruct the volunteer to drop the toy (catch the toy when the child lets go).
Allow the other children to try it if they want to have a turn.
After you have completed the activity, invite the children to return to their seats and discuss the following questions:
Do you think it was a little scary for the volunteer to drop the toy? (Yes!)
Why was it a little scary? (They didn’t know for sure what would happen.)
Why did the volunteer drop the toy, even when they were scared? (They believed your promise so much that they were willing to do it!)
Explain: Today, we are going to learn what it means to have faith in Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ has made promises to us. If we believe Jesus Christ enough to do what he has asked us to do, that’s faith!
🎥 V I D E O : "Faith is Like Planting a Seed"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about faith! Victoria’s grandmother gives her some seeds. If Victoria really believes the seeds will grow, what do you think she will do?”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
Did Victoria know that the seeds would grow for sure? (No. She believed they would grow, but she didn’t know for sure.)
What did Victoria have to do to show faith? (She had to find a good spot to plant them, she had to water them, and she had to pull the weeds!)
What did Victoria do when nothing happened? Did she give up? Or did she keep taking care of the seeds? (She had strong faith and she kept caring for the seeds.)
If we believe Jesus Christ, what are some things we can do to show we have faith in Him? (Discuss.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following verses and discuss the questions that follow.
"As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving."
What do you think it means to “walk in Christ?” (It means to live our lives the way He taught us.)
What do you think it means to be “rooted” in Christ?” (It means that we trust Him to give us spiritual strength and to help us grow.)
Do you think having faith in Christ means following Him only for a little while, or for a long time? (For a long time! If we have faith in Jesus Christ, it means we always try to follow Him.)
What do you think will happen if we do these things for a long time? (He will keep His promises! We will have the Holy Ghost with us, our spiritual strength will grow, we will have peace, we will have joy, and we will be able to feel God’s love for us!)
“And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
Who is speaking in this verse? (Moroni is speaking.)
What do you think “trial of your faith” means? (It means we have to have faith and do some work first before we will see the result.)
What was the trial of faith when we did the toy activity? (The volunteer had to have enough faith to drop the toy, before they knew what would happen.)
What was the trial of faith for Victoria in the seed story? (She had to keep working even when the seeds weren’t growing yet.)
What are some things we can do to show our faith in Jesus Christ? (Discuss.)
➤ C O L O R I N G A N D A C T I V I T Y P A G E
For the first page: Instruct children to care for the seed by completing three tasks:
Cross out the weeds
Draw streams of water pouring onto the seed
Draw rays of sunlight shining on the seed!
For the second page: Instruct children to color the corn stalks, cut them out, and tape (or glue) them together. Cut a slit on the first page along the dotted line. Pass the giant corn stalk through the slit so that corn stalk is growing up from the seed! Use this opportunity to talk about what we can do to exercise faith in Jesus Christ.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
The small things make all the difference.
As parents, it’s easy to become overwhelmed with the task of shepherding our children’s hearts and setting the tone in our households. Sometimes we might wonder if our efforts are actually making a difference.
But no effort is wasted. Every effort counts. And the small efforts sometimes make the biggest difference! That’s a core belief over at Salt & Hart. They make it easy for you to set the tone and invite the spirit into your home in small and simple ways!
Their countertop card sets are a simple and beautiful way to make the scriptures a focus in your home (discussion questions are included on the back too!).
Salt & Hart makes card sets for weekly Come Follow Me verses (perfect!), but they also have many other sets available that emphasize specific scriptural themes (sets for missionaries, for mothers, names and titles of Jesus Christ, and more)!
This concept is very simple, but it’s so effective!
We invite you to try a “small” experiment: Take just a few moments and explore the Salt & Hart website. Look at the cards displayed in the photos, and see if you don’t come away feeling uplifted and inspired! (You will!)
The small things make all the difference: