August 8-14
Psalms 1-2; 8; 19-33; 40; 46
"Th Lord is My Shepherd"
Materials: red washable paint or mud, soap & water, whiteboard and marker, scriptures, soap blocks, plastic knives, and a drop cloth or plastic table cloth, temple recommend or photo
Opening Song: "The Lord is my shepherd" (Hymns, 108)
Opening Prayer:
Attention Activity: Using a paint brush, brush family members' hands with red washable paint or mud on their hands. Have children take turns at the sink washing the paint off their hands. This may be a good time to review proper hand-washing skills with your kids. (Here is a link for a good optional video.)
Lesson:
For the next few weeks, we will be reading the Book of Psalms, Psalms is an interesting book because it is a collection of poems and songs that were inspired of God. A lot of them sound like prayers. You might notice as we start to read Psalms, that this poetry doesn't rhyme, but you might notice that the psalms will repeat certain lines or ideas.
Read Psalms 24 with your family. Then re-read verse 2-3. What is the hill of the Lord? The hill or mountain of the Lord is a nickname for the temple. In this Psalm, David is telling us that those who wish to be in the Lord's presence or attend the temple have to have 2 things. What are they? (clean hands and a pure heart.)
In this Psalm, David says that we need to have clean hands or be worthy to go to "the hill of the Lord." What does it mean to be worthy to enter the temple? Worthiness has to do with our cleanliness from sin--if we have kept the commandments and obeyed the laws God has asked us to obey. What are some of those commandments? (Write down answers on the white board.) The laws that are directly linked to worthiness to attend the temple have to do with moral cleanliness, the word of wisdom, tithing, and keeping the sabbath day holy. (Underline or star all of the commandments related to the temple interview questions). Remember that if you have broken any of these commandments you can always repent to become worthy to enter the temple.
Those who wish to enter the temple need to be interviewed by the bishop and stake presidency before going to the temple. What does the bishop give you at your interview, if he finds you are worthy to attend the temple? (If you have a temple recommend, show it to your family. If not, show a photo of a temple recommend). This is called a recommend. Just like when you recommend a favorite movie to a friend, this tells the Lord that you are recommended to Him to receive covenants in His house.
Having clean hands or being worthy is not the only thing required to have a recommend though. Remember we also need a pure heart. Purity of heart can mean that not only are we clean but we are also prepared to enter the temple. Read Psalms 27: 4. Personal preparation is vital before attending the temple. How can we personally prepare to "dwell in the house of the Lord?" (Write down answers of the whiteboard). The bishop will also ask in our temple recommend interview about our testimonies of Heavenly Father, the Holy Ghost, the Savior, the Book of Mormon, and the prophet.
Activity: soap carving
Using block soap (like ivory soap) and plastic knives, have your family carve a soap heart or another carving. This can get messy, so maybe do on a drop cloth or outside.
Even if you are not preparing to enter the temple right now, it is always important to remember what the Lord expects of us so we can set clear goals for ourselves. "One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life." That is a beautiful righteous desire that we can all share with David. As we mind our worthiness and prepare to enter the temple, we will come closer to Christ. "Seek ye my face, my heart said, Thy face, Lord, will I seek" (Psalms 27:8). Bear your testimony.
Closing Song: "If the Savior stood beside me" (Additional Songs For Children, Gospel Music App)
Closing Prayer:
Refreshment: White Chocolate truffles recipe here
