Doctrinal Topics, Nov 12, Youth lesson helps

Sorry these are late. I'm finding out that with these youth lessons, it take a lot more pondering. My brain needs to marinate for a couple of days(: I'm Hoping those that are preparing this lesson have taken the time to also think about it....marinate. And maybe by the end of the week these ideas will just be small helps to your already planned lesson.

Nov 12, 2023 Doctrinal topics, Youth lesson helps, Ordinances

I would start by showing a picture of this foundation of a house. Explain that the metal poles are cemented into the foundation in order to tie the home to the foundation.

Show another picture of a home that was blown off it's foundation, discuss the destruction (because those poles were never installed or were broken). Ask the students what those metal poles can represent in the gospel. What things bind us to Jesus Christ?

(They will likely say commandments, which is one of our baptismal covenants, so if needed you can easily lead the conversation to covenants. Our covenants bind us to God.)

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Some people learn or feel the spirit through music. I often think of this song when I think of covenants "Here is my heart take and seal it." It also makes me feel so blessed and loved to have these covenants and a "Savior who rescued me from danger"...Much like the broken house.

Points to help discussion:

(Hebrews 9:23; 10:1)The Israelites didn't understand that what they were doing in the tabernacle/temple was significant with their relationship with God or "shadow of good things to come." Do we ever make that mistake when we take the sacrament and covenant with God every week? This question isn't to shame anyone, I know I am guilty of treating the sacrament like a snack, but there are other times when I have felt so strongly my Savior's love. God loves our effort, and will send His spirit when we seek it. If you feel inspired you can challenge your students to prepare spiritually to take the sacrament the following week.

So the students can better understand Ordinances and covenants, you can play this sorting game with them.

(see Gospel Topics, “Ordinances,” “Covenant,” topics.ChurchofJesusChrist.org). They can check their own answers at this link.

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Black and White

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From The Doctrinal topics 2023 (Underlined)

• You could invite the youth to read Doctrine and Covenants 84:19–22 and discuss questions like these: What does the “the power of godliness” mean? How have ordinances and covenants helped us experience that power? What difference do ordinances and covenants make in our lives? How do they help us stay connected to the Savior? To help answer these questions, youth could read the first four paragraphs of Elder Kent F. Richards’s message “The Power of Godliness” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 118) or Elder Bednar’s message “Let This House Be Built unto My Name” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2020, 84–87), especially the section “From the Inside Out.”

You can slice these and number them if you *want to spread out the reading or only have certain parts read.

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• Consider asking those you teach how they would explain the ordinance of the sacrament to someone who doesn’t know anything about it. The section “Experience and Testimony” in Elder Taniela B. Wakolo’s message “Saving Ordinances Will Bring Us Marvelous Light” (Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, 39–41) provides an example. The youth may also find important teachings in the video “Always Remember Him” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org). How does the sacrament bring us closer to Jesus Christ? What opportunities do we have to teach others about this?

This is Jefferey R. Holland speaking, which is always wonderful.

(Click on the image to be taken to the movie from the churches website.)

• Reviewing the five suggestions in Elder Peter F. Meurs’s message “The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy” (Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016, 85–87) could help the youth understand how to better prepare for the sacrament.

There are a couple of things you can do here. You can listen to the talk as an entire class and have them write notes under each section. Or you can send it home as homework, tell them they are in-charge of the next FHE, and they can teach this to their family members. I think it's a wonderful to sum up what is written in the first part of the lesson:

Hebrews, had been diligently participating in ordinances connected with the tabernacle and the law of Moses. And yet many of them did not realize that these things were “patterns of things in the heavens”—“a shadow of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:23; 10:1). The ordinances were all intended to teach them about Jesus Christ. This is what Paul explained in his Epistle to the Hebrews. His message is also important to us today because we too have sacred ordinances with the same purpose. So it’s worth asking ourselves these questions: Are these ordinances helping us remember Jesus Christ? Is there more we could do to experience the power of Jesus Christ through gospel ordinances? Or are we, like the ancient Hebrews, missing their deeper significance?

Review that again.... a conclusion to the lesson.

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There is so much more to this beautiful lesson, go by your inspiration, you were set apart specially for this calling and these individual students. These are only ideas to help your own personal revelation.

Love

Crystal