The Lord speaks through His servants, including latter-day prophets.
Section 1 begins and ends with the Lord’s declaration that He speaks through His chosen servants (see verses 4–6, 23–24, 38). Write down what you learn from this revelation about:
The Lord and His voice.
Why prophets are needed in our day.
My idea is to play the game "Who Said it?"
But before you do, I would read this scripture together with your class.
Ask them what they think it means. What do they learn from it?
I think this is a good time to discuss this topic:
You might be interested to know that when a council of elders met in 1831 to talk about publishing Joseph Smith’s revelations, some people opposed the idea. They were embarrassed by Joseph’s weakness in writing, and they worried that publishing the revelations might cause more problems for the Saints (see Saints, 1:140–43). If you had been a member of this council, how would you have addressed these concerns? What insights do you find in section 1 that might have helped? (see, for example, verses 6, 24, 38).
Talk about this as long as your students are interested. Then introduce the 'Who Said it?" game. Your board will be set up like this:
PSST.. Everything the Lord says is from Doctrine and Covenants section 1. If you want to encourage searching the scriptures you can, tell them that this is totally open book. I would talk about this more, how often do we actually hear the Lord's voice in scripture? We will hear it so much this year in D&C.
You will pass out these cards, they will have an extra hint from the picture on the side where their card will go. But they get to make the educated guess if it is the Lord's voice or the voice of His servants. Bonus if they can guess who the servant (Prophet or apostle is who is speaking)
Example: If a student read a (bandaid) repentance card that is obviously the voice of the Lord, I would ask if anyone had a (bandaid) repentance card that is the voice of His servants, that they can read next. Just to not make it too confusing to follow. Or you can have everyone who has the same picture read those first and move through them in order.
Hopefully this isn't to confusing. These pictures might help:
This is how these cards fit, but we aren't done yet, I want to give you plenty of cards and lots of information. You can go through and select the ones that meet the needs of your students best.
If you use all the cards your board will look something like this:
What do you feel impressed to do as a result of what you find?
When have you heard the Lord’s voice through the voice of His servants? (see verse 38).
You could also imagine that a friend who doesn’t know about living prophets is reading section 1 with you. What questions might your friend have? Which verses would you want to discuss with your friend to help him or her understand how you feel about having prophets in our day?
Consider including a hymn like “Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice” (Hymns, no. 21) in your study and worship. Look for phrases in the hymn that teach the same principles as verses in section 1.
See also Topics and Questions, “Prophets,” Gospel Library.
End with this scripture and your testimony:
There is a Black and white option in the zipped files.
This is already included in the lesson bundle, but you can purchase it separately here:
The Restoration helps me face the challenges of the latter days.
In Doctrine and Covenants section 1, the Lord explains why He restored His gospel. See how many reasons you can list as you read verses 12–23. In your experience, how are the Lord’s purposes for the Restoration being accomplished?
The Lord knew that our day would have serious challenges (see verse 17). What do you find in verses 17–30, 34–36 that helps you feel peace and confidence despite these challenges?
See also Russell M. Nelson, “Embrace the Future with Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 73–76.
The Lord uses “the weak and the simple” to accomplish His work.
As you read Doctrine and Covenants 1:19–28, you might ponder what it means to be a servant of the Lord. What characteristics does the Lord want His servants to have? What is the Lord accomplishing through His servants? How are the prophecies in these verses being fulfilled throughout the world and in your life?