December 27- Jan 2
Moses 1; Abraham 3
"This is my work and my glory"
Materials: a mirror with a crown (see below), whiteboard and marker, scene pages printed out.
Opening Song: "I know my Father lives" (Children's Songbook, 5)
Opening Prayer:
Attention Activity: Before FHE, cut out a crown shape out of some gold paper. Tape the crown to the mirror so that a person looking at their reflection will see a crown on his or her head. Tell your family that the person in the image has a divine destiny.
Lesson:
Ask a family member, "Who are you?" For millions of years mankind has sought to answers questions like Who am I? Why am I here? and Who is God? What is God's purpose? (Write these questions on the whiteboard). This week we are going to learn answers to these questions as we study sections of the books of Moses and Abraham. These books were revealed and translated by Joseph Smith and included in the Pearl of Great Price.
In the first chapter of Moses, Moses describes an experience he has conversing with God and Satan. To learn more about what happened we are going to perform a short scene.
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Activity: Moses 1 Scene
Directions: Print out scene below. Cast 4 people to act as narrator, Moses, God, and Satan.
Scene: Moses is on a high mountain when God appears to him. Moses is temporarily transfigured so he can endures God's presence. They speak face to face.
God: Behold, I am the Lord God, Almighty. I am endless without beginning or end. You are my son. Look and I will show you some of what I have created. But not everything, because my works and my words never end. To see all that I have created you must become more than a mortal man. (Looks at Moses lovingly) I have a work for you Moses. Your life is patterned like mine Only Begotten. He is the Savior full of grace and truth. Moses I want to show you the world you are in.
God shows Moses the world upon which he was created. Moses sees the world and the ends thereof and also the people who are and were created for the earth.
Moses: (in wonder) Wow!
God leaves Moses and Moses falls to the earth. Moses is worn out and tired after talking with God.
Moses: Now I know that man is nothing compared to all of God's creations. My eyes have now seen God--not my natural eyes, but my spiritual eyes. I was transfigured in order to withstand His glory.
After Moses had said these words Satan came unto him.
Satan: Moses, son of man, worship me!
Moses: Who are you? For I am a son of God, patterned after the Only Begotten. Where is your glory? Why should I worship you? I had to be transfigured to be in God's presence but not with you. Blessed be the name of my God for I can still feel His Spirit! You don't have glory but darkness. I can judge between you and God, and God said serve Him. Get thee hence Satan! Don't deceive me. For God said unto me, 'thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten. He gave me commandments, and I will not stop calling to Him in prayer. I can judge between Him and you. Depart hence Satan!
Satan: (angrily) Arggh! (commanding) I am the Only Begotten, worship me!
Moses begins to fear as he see the bitterness of hell. He falls to his knees praying.
Moses: God give me strength. (He stands.) Depart from me Satan, for I only worship one God--the God of glory.
Satan begins to tremble with fear. The earth shakes. Moses appears mighty.
Moses: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan.
Satan: (throwing a temper tantrum) Argh!
Satan leaves. Moses looks up to heaven and feels the Spirit. He sees God again.
God: Blessed are you Moses. I have chosen you and you will be stronger than many waters for they shall obey your commands. I am with you, even until the end of your life. For you will deliver my people out of bondage.
God shows Moses all the earth and all of the souls on the earth. He sees many lands and peoples.
Moses: (in wonder) What is the purpose of all this? How did you make all of this?
God: For my own purpose have I created them. I have created worlds without number through my Son, my Only Begotten. I created the first man called Adam. I have created many worlds that have passed away and worlds that are.
Moses: Be merciful and tell me more about this earth, its people, and the heavens and then I will be content.
God: The heavens are many. This earth shall pass away and another shall come, for there is no end to my work. For my work and my glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. And now Moses, my son, write down my words. They will be put in book which will be read by all that believe.
Moses does as God commands and writes about God in the Books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
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Refer back to the whiteboard from the beginning of the lesson. Did we answer all these questions in the play? What lessons can we learn from Moses interactions with God and Satan? How does Moses feel towards God? Moses is humbled by being in God's presence and he is eager to learn from God and keep His commandments.
How does Moses react to Satan's presence? Moses recognizes Satan's lies and deceit. He tells him to go away.
In the first chapter of Moses, we get a glimpse of how Heavenly Father feels about each of us. He calls Moses, my son, multiple times. He explains Christ's role as our Savior and that He has a plan for each of us. Heavenly Father's purposes is to enable us to have immortality and eternal life.
Satan on the other hand does the opposite. He calls Moses a "son of man" and demands Moses worship him. He tries to deceive Moses and acts out in anger when he does not get his way.
We are all like Moses, each of us is a child of God with a divine destiny. We can each have a special relationship with our Father in Heaven. We each have the potential to inherit eternal life. Tonight for our closing song, we will sing, "I am a Child of God." As we sing, think about the words and how they relate to what we learned tonight.
Bear your testimony.
Closing Song: "I am a child of God" (Hymns, 301)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: New Years Pretzel Sparklers
