Lesson 11: Jacob 1-4

March 9-15
Jacob 1-4
"Be Reconciled Unto God Through the Atonement of Christ"

Materials: secret message worksheets, scriptures, construction paper, art supplies. 
Opening Song: "We thank thee oh God for a prophet" (Hymnal, )
Opening Prayer:
Scripture: Jacob 1:19 And we did magnify our office unto the Lord, taking upon us the responsibility, answering the sins of the people upon our own heads if we did not teach them the word of God with all diligence; wherefore, by laboring with our might their blood might not come upon our garments; otherwise their blood would come upon our garments, and we would not be found spotless at the last day.

Attention Activity:
Who is the leader of our ward? What is our bishop's name? Our bishop holds the keys of the priesthood for our ward. "He has overall responsibility for ministering the temporal and spiritual affairs of the congregation. " (Gospel Topics: Bishop) We also have other church leaders. Can you name some? (prophet, apostle, general authority, stake president, elders quorum president, relief society president, etc.)

Lesson:
Nephi's brother Jacob became the leader of the church after Nephi died. Jacob took his calling very seriously. Read Jacob 1:19. Jacob tried his very best to serve the Lord and to serve his people. Jacob loved his people and wanted to serve the Lord honorably. 

Activity: Secret Message
Print out the following worksheet. You can complete it as a group or individually. 

By reading these words and phrases it is obvious that Jacob loved his people, but he was also  their leader. His people started to rebel and make bad choices and that meant Jacob had to tell them to repent. He had chastise them for being wicked which was a very hard thing for him.

What have our church leaders done for us that shows they care about "the welfare of [our] souls"? In what ways do our teachers and leaders in the church show us they love us?

The secret message was "We should sustain our church leaders." What does that mean? Sustaining is more than just raising our hand to the square when their name is called during ward business. We sustain our church leaders by accepting them in their calling, showing our support for them, and doing things that they ask us to do. Can you share a personal experience about a time when you fulfilled a task a church leader asked you to do?

Activity: Thank you notes
Using construction paper and art supplies, have each member of your family make a thank you card for a church leader like their primary teacher, bishop, young women's leader, etc.

One simple but powerful thing we can do to sustain our church leaders is to keep them in our prayers. We can ask Heavenly Father to bless them and help them in their calling. If we  sustain our church leaders, we will be blessed. 


Closing Song: "Our bishop" (Children's Songbook, )
Closing Prayer:

Refreshment:
Strawberry Lemon Blondies recipe here