It's Easter time! This week, as we approach Easter, is a wonderful time to gather as a family and reflect on the last week of Christ's life. We have created a lesson bundle and video that will assist your family in reflecting on the gifts of the atonement and resurrection.
Download this week's Lesson Bundle HERE!
➤ 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 : "Did Jesus Really Live Again?"
➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
Gather some seeds to use as a prop (something familiar to the children would be ideal). If you don’t have any seeds, you can simply cut out small seed shapes from a piece of paper. Also prepare a small container with some dirt or soil inside (for “planting” the seeds).
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Give a seed to each child, then discuss the following questions:
1) What is this that you are holding? (a seed)
2) What can this seed become? (a plant)
3) What has to happen in order for the seed to become a plant? (planted in the earth, water, sunlight, etc.)
4) When the plant starts to grow, what happens to the seed? Will the seed still be there? (not the original seed - it gets destroyed as the seed turns into a plant)
Explain that “sacrifice” means to give up something valuable for something else that you want more. If we want to grow a plant, we have to sacrifice the seed.
Ask the children to “plant” their seeds in the small container of dirt. As they do this, explain: “If we want the plant to grow, we must be willing to sacrifice the seed. This is what sacrifice means.”
🎥 V I D E O : "The Atonement of Jesus Christ"
Say: “We are going to watch a video about Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice that He made for all of us. See if you can tell what Jesus had to sacrifice, and what was the thing He wanted more.”
Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) What does it mean to sacrifice something? (Discuss)
2) What sacrifice did Jesus Christ make? (Discuss)
3) What sacrifice did Heavenly Father make? (Discuss)
4) What blessings do we receive because of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice? (resurrection, cleansed from our sins, live with Heavenly Father again)
5) Why did Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ make this sacrifice? (Discuss)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
Read the following scriptures, then discuss the questions that follow. Explain that this is when Jesus Christ was visiting the people in the Book of Mormon after He was resurrected.
1) What is a bitter cup? (Jesus’ suffering)
2) Who gave Jesus the bitter cup? Who wanted Him to make the sacrifice? (Heavenly Father)
3) Why do you think Heavenly Father wanted Jesus Christ to make the sacrifice? (Discuss)
1) What did Jesus want the people to do? (Feel the nail prints in His hands and feet, and the wounds in His side)
2) Why did Jesus want the people to do this? (They didn’t know if it was really Him, and they didn’t know if He was really resurrected, this helped them to know it was him)
1) What did the people do after they felt the nail prints and saw Jesus up close? (they rejoiced and shouted “Hosanna!”)
2) Why do you think they were so happy? (Discuss the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ)
➤ A C T I V I T Y
Option 1: Color and assemble the scene with the sliding tabs (so that Jesus can move up and down, and the stone can move from side to side).
Option 2: Color the coloring page.
Use this time to talk about the blessings of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
➤ 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.