2016 Sharing Time Outline Theme: "I Know the Scriptures Are True"
March 2016 Sharing Time Topic: Heavenly Father Speaks to Us through His Prophets
March 2016 Scripture: “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, … whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (D&C 1:38).
March 2016 Song: “Stand for the Right” (CS, 159)
March Week 1 Topic: Prophets speak for Heavenly Father.
March Week 1 Topic: Prophets speak for Heavenly Father.
Preparation:
Prayerfully study and think about what the specific needs of your primary are and how you can teach them this doctrine.
Sharing Time Instruction:
Begin sharing time by placing the following pictures on the the board: Noah, Nephi, Moses, Joseph Smith, Moroni and Enos. Ask the primary children the following question, "If I was going to go somewhere far away from my home and my father wanted to to talk to me and give me some instructions, what are some ways he could do this?" Some answers could be: He could send a messenger, he could call me on the phone, he would write me a letter, he could send me an email, he could come and visit me, etc.
Explain that we really did leave our home, Heaven, and travel away from our Heavenly Father. Invite the primary children to share some ways that Heavenly Father can give us instruction. Answers might include, (He gives us the scriptures, he speaks to us through prophets, he answers our prayers, etc.) Show the primary children the scriptures, ask the children what they are? Explain that in the scriptures are words or instructions given to the prophets from our Heavenly Father, for us. Show the primary children the week's theme poster and invite them to recite, "Prophets speak for Heavenly Father". Explain that this week we are going to discuss the messages and instructions given to those prophets in the scriptures, next week we will focus on the more recent prophets.
On the table in the front of the room have a mail box. (See the instructions below) Beforehand place some envelopes inside which have the following scripture references: Noah: Genesis 6:12-22; Nephi/Lehi: 1 Nephi 2:1-7; Moses: Acts 7:30-34; Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith- History 1:14-20; Enos: Enos 1:4-9; Moroni: Moroni 10:1-5
Invite a primary child to come up and open the mail box and pull out one of the envelopes and open it (you might want to just seal it with a sticker, so it is easy to open). Invite them to read the scripture reference. For Senior primary they can have a scripture chase to see who finds the scripture first, then can read it. For Junior primary it can be a scripture chase among the teachers (the kids can help them ;)). When the scripture is found, have that person read the scripture. Then invite the primary child who chose the envelope to place the scripture reference underneath the picture of who it would go with. Discuss the scripture as a primary and point out what message it is that Heavenly Father sent to us through that prophet. Invite another child to come up and continue with the above steps until all prophets messages have been discussed.
Share your testimony on Prophets speaking for Heavenly Father.
Messages from the prophets:
- Noah: God loves His children, when we are living righteously we will be protected and blessed. He is also a God of justice and can not tolerate sin.
- Nephi/Lehi: The message would be of Obedience and Gratitude to our Heavenly Father. Lehi obediently left all behind except for his family and when they had stopped to pitch their tents he gave thank to God.
- Moses: God is mindful of our Afflictions and is there to help deliver us from them.
- Joseph Smith: The message is that of the restored gospel. God and his son Jesus Christ both appeared to a young boy in the latter-days. We learn to both God and Jesus are two distinct beings and that the Savior is the son of God. We learn that if we ask in sincere prayer that our prayers will be answered.
- Enos: We learn of repentance and forgiveness. We learn that God is merciful. We also learn to think of our brothers and sisters and the desire for their welfare.
-Moroni: We learn that if we read and ponder over the Book of Mormon and then come to Heavenly Father asking in faith that He will let us know of the truthfulness of the scriptures by the power of the Holy Ghost.
On the table in the front of the room have a mail box. (See the instructions below) Beforehand place some envelopes inside which have the following scripture references: Noah: Genesis 6:12-22; Nephi/Lehi: 1 Nephi 2:1-7; Moses: Acts 7:30-34; Joseph Smith: Joseph Smith- History 1:14-20; Enos: Enos 1:4-9; Moroni: Moroni 10:1-5
Invite a primary child to come up and open the mail box and pull out one of the envelopes and open it (you might want to just seal it with a sticker, so it is easy to open). Invite them to read the scripture reference. For Senior primary they can have a scripture chase to see who finds the scripture first, then can read it. For Junior primary it can be a scripture chase among the teachers (the kids can help them ;)). When the scripture is found, have that person read the scripture. Then invite the primary child who chose the envelope to place the scripture reference underneath the picture of who it would go with. Discuss the scripture as a primary and point out what message it is that Heavenly Father sent to us through that prophet. Invite another child to come up and continue with the above steps until all prophets messages have been discussed.
Share your testimony on Prophets speaking for Heavenly Father.
Messages from the prophets:
- Noah: God loves His children, when we are living righteously we will be protected and blessed. He is also a God of justice and can not tolerate sin.
- Nephi/Lehi: The message would be of Obedience and Gratitude to our Heavenly Father. Lehi obediently left all behind except for his family and when they had stopped to pitch their tents he gave thank to God.
- Moses: God is mindful of our Afflictions and is there to help deliver us from them.
- Joseph Smith: The message is that of the restored gospel. God and his son Jesus Christ both appeared to a young boy in the latter-days. We learn to both God and Jesus are two distinct beings and that the Savior is the son of God. We learn that if we ask in sincere prayer that our prayers will be answered.
- Enos: We learn of repentance and forgiveness. We learn that God is merciful. We also learn to think of our brothers and sisters and the desire for their welfare.
-Moroni: We learn that if we read and ponder over the Book of Mormon and then come to Heavenly Father asking in faith that He will let us know of the truthfulness of the scriptures by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Want more Ideas that could be used for this week....
- LDS Sharing Time Ideas for March 2015 Week 3: There is safety in following the prophet.
- LDS Sharing Time Ideas for March 2015 Week 4: God speaks through prophets.
- LDS Sharing Time May 2014 Week 1: God speaks to us through prophets.
- LDS Primary Sharing Time May 2014 Week 4: The prophet speaks to us at general conference
- LDS Sharing Time May 2014 Week #3: My family will be blessed as we follow the prophet.
- LDS Sharing Time May 2014 Week 2: The prophets in the scriptures are examples to my family.
- LDS Sharing Time Ideas for March 2015 Week 2: Prophets testify of Jesus Christ
- LDS Sharing Time Ideas for March 2015 Week 1: Prophets are called by God.
- LDS Sharing Time Ideas for October 2015 Week 1: Following the prophet will help us come unto Christ.
- Family Home Evening on the First Presidency Message: "Follow the Prophets"
Click this link for past Sharing Time post: LDS Primary Sharing Time Ideas
***Basic ideas for this sharing time came from the 2016 Outline for Sharing Time, you can find a link here: 2016 Outline for Sharing Time
Great idea Kim! I like how you recommended adaptations for Junior and Senior Primary and I love the mailbox.
ReplyDeleteThanks Camille!! I was thinking your fun 14 days of Valentines would be so fun with the mailbox too :) I think I am going to have my kids leave fun little messages for each other in it too.
DeleteThank you so much! I have been preparing for this lesson all week but it wasn't coming together for me or fitting with how I would like to teach our primary this Sunday until I saw your post. I think it will be perfect!
ReplyDeleteYay! I am so glad it is useful :)
DeleteAnother great idea, Kim:). I like the mailbox spin on this lesson. Although in the UK people usually don't have mailboxes like this (mail is just thrown inside the whole through the mail slot), I think it would be interesting to teach the kids about how it works in the US:)
ReplyDeleteThank you Lyana!! It would be fun to do it that way too!!! You could have one of your the primary presidency or teachers, slide the mail under the door :) Thanks so much for your comment :)
DeleteGrr:)) Didn't see your comment until after Sunday:)) Awesome funny idea:)
DeleteThanks so much for all your ideas. I truly appreciate them so much. I live in Luxembourg and we have zero resources (and currently no ward building) so I am always struggling to think of things to do with our ward. We speak both English and French in our ward which can sometimes complicate things even further. I have been able to use your site and find the things that will work for us and it takes some of the stress out of planning sharing time. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteThank you Megs for your comment!! I love'd hearing that some of the resources are useful. The reason why I started the site was because we were living in an area where there were limited resources, too. I'm so glad you've found the site and it's so exciting to hear you are using it in Luxembourg :)
DeleteThank you so much for all your fabulous ideas!! I appreciate all the time that you spend. What a great service!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Anne-Marie for your comment!! It really means so much and was just what I needed today :)
DeleteI use your site every month for my Sharing Time and have recommended it to several friends and my Presidency. Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into each lesson!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Cyd!!! You just made my day :)
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ReplyDeleteThank you again for helping me prepare a sharing time I felt good about. The children and leaders were engaged.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I love to hear how things go :)!!
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