Lesson 47: 1-3 John; Jude

December 2-8
1-3 John; Jude
"God is Love"

Materials: bicycle video (link below), handout, scriptures, scorpion video (link below)
Opening Song: "Choose the Right Way" verse 2 (Children's Songbook, 160)
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 

Attention Activity:
Watch "The Shiny Bicycle" video found on churchofjesuschrist.org.. What mistake did the boy make? What did he have to do to make it right? The boy in this video had to confess to his parents in order to make things better. Then he had to do hard work and fix up his bike to make it all shiny again. When we make mistakes, we have to confess them to our Heavenly Father. With the help of Jesus Christ, we can repent and our mistakes will be like they never happened. 

Lesson:
Today, we are going to talk about repentance. What does it mean to repent? Show the handout below. 

(**For young children have them hold up the appropriate number of fingers for every step of repentance.)  
The first thing you have to do to repent is have faith in Jesus Christ. Faith is the first principle of the gospel. Belief in Christ and His atonement enables you to start the repentance process. 

Second, your must realize you did something wrong. Paul describes this as godly sorrow. "For godly sorrow worth repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." ( 2 Corinthians 7:10)This mean you have to feel bad for what you did not because your being punished or because you go caught. You have to feel sorry because you know in your heart that you did something wrong. Steps to repentance. Paul also says, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive [or lie] to ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)

The third thing we do when we repent is confess our sins--saying sorry. Who should we sorry to? We need to say sorry for anyone we hurt or disrespected when we made our wrong choice. We also need to say sorry to our Heavenly Father in our prayers. We have to beg for our forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) If the sin is very serious, sometimes we also need to confess our sins our bishop so he can help us through the repentance process.

We must also stop making the same wrong choice again. Sometimes this is easy because it was a one time mistake. Other times, it is much harder when we have developed a bad habit. What are some examples of bad habits you might have a hard time stopping after you've confessed? (back talking, swearing, substance abuse, pornography, gossip) Read the JST of 1 John 3:6-9 below. 
"6 Whosoever abideth in him ^asinneth not: ^bwhosoever continueth in sin hath not seen him, neither ^cknown him.
7 Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8 He that continueth in sin is of the devil; for the devil ^csinnethfrom the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the ^ddevil.
9 Whosoever is ^aborn of God ^bdoth not continue in sin; for the Spirit of God remaineth in him: and he cannot continue in sin, because he is born of God, having received that holy Spirit of promise."

We must try our very best not to continue to make the same wrong choice again. If you do slip up and make the same wrong choice, remember that the Lord knows your heart, he knows your sincerity. He will always forgive those who are willing to come unto Him. 

The other thing we have to do when we make a mistake is to try and correct it. If you were to steal a candy bar from the store, you have to go back and pay for it to make restitution. If you hit your brother, giving a hug to try and make them feel better would show that you are trying to make it right. It is important to note that some sins like murder and adultery cannot be made right. This is why these sins are so serious. 

The last thing we must do is to try to live a righteous life. We should NOT live by the mantra "it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission" or "have fun today and repent tomorrow." We need to consciously try to be choosing the right and seeking good. 

Remember the video at the beginning of the lesson? Did the boy in the video go through all the steps of repentance? The boy realized he did something wrong when the paint would not stick to the bike; he confessed to his parents; and he made it right by cleaning the bike to make it look shiny again. 

Have your family watch the following video "The Sting of the Scorpion" (found on churchofjesuschrist.org)

Bear your testimony of repentance and the joy and peace the repentance process has brought to you in your life. 

Closing Song: "Help me, Dear Father" both verses (Children's Songbook,  99)
Closing Prayer:

Refreshment:
Chunky Monkey Bits recipe here (Peanut butter could be substituted with cookie butter or caramel)

Lesson 46: 1 & 2 Peter

November 25- December 1
1 and 2 Peter
"Rejoice with Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory" 

Materials: Picture of Christ, pencils and paper, coloring page, scriptures. 
Opening Song: "I'm trying to be like Jesus" (Children's Songbook, 78)
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: 2 Peter 1:4 "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious ^apromises: that by these ye might be ^bpartakers of the ^cdivine^dnature..."

Attention Activity:
Show a picture of Jesus Christ like the one below. Throughout this year, we have learned a lot about Christ. What are some words we could use to describe Christ? These are all Christlike attributes. 


Lesson:
Jesus is not only our Savior, He is our elder brother. We are all Heavenly Father's children. This means that we have a divine nature. As spirit children of our Heavenly Father, we come from divine royal parentage. Read 2 Peter 1: 4. 

The scriptures tell us that if we are faithful, we will be joint heirs with Jesus Christ inheriting all that Heavenly Father has. Our inheritance will not come easy however. In order to receive all of the blessings Heavenly Father has in store for us, we have to become perfect. Or in other words, we have to become like Jesus Christ. 

Ask one of your family members to enact their favorite dance move or action (rolling hands, the disco point, the floss etc.) As I read the next set of scriptures, I want you to do your dance move every time I read christlike attribute. Read 2 Peter 1: 5-7. So Peter lists diligence, faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance (self control), patience, godliness (reverence), brotherly kindness, and charity. How are you doing on this list? Are you patient? Kind? Do you practice reverence and self control? 

Peter also said that all these characteristics "add" to one another. That means as you have practice your brotherly kindness, you'll also develop your charity. Elder Hales taught, "The attributes of the Savior... are interwoven characteristics, added one to another, which develop in us in interactive ways. In other words, we cannot obtain one Christlike characteristic with also obtaining and influencing others. As one characteristic becomes strong, so do many more" ("Becoming a Disciple of Our Lord, Jesus Christ" April 2017). 

A few minutes ago we sang, "I'm trying to be like Jesus." The purpose of our time here on Earth is to become like Jesus. Perfection seems like an impossible task at times. In the Book of Mormon, Moroni invites us to "come unto Christ, and be perfected in him." (Moroni 10:32) This means if we try to be like Christ, He will help us through His grace, become perfect. 

As we strive to be more Christlike, we will develop our divine nature. The Family Proclamation to the World affirms that our time on earth is to“gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”

Give each family member a peace of paper and pencil. Have them write down one the attributes that Peter listed to work on developing this week. 

Activity: Coloring Page "Jesus Says, Come Follow Me" 

Closing Song: "I am a child of God" (Hymnal, 301)
Closing Prayer:

Refreshment:
White Chocolate Raspberry Bars

1 box yellow cake mix
1/3 c. oil
2 eggs
Seedless raspberry jam
1 bag white chocolate chips

Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Press 1/2 of mixture into bottom of 9x13 pan. Spread jam over crust and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Press sections of remaining cake mixture in hand and set on top till covered. Bake at 350 for 28 minutes. (mom's oven cook at 340 for 23 minutes)