Purpose: To teach your family that no matter what happens in our life, Heavenly Father and Jesus have prepared a way for us to return to them.
Possible scriptures: Isaiah 1:18; Isaiah 53:3-12; Matthew 26:28; John 5:26; John 15:13; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 Nephi 11:32-33; 2 Nephi 2:8 (really the whole chapter); 2 Nephi 9:4-9 (once again, the whole chapter is good); 2 Nephi 25:26; Jacob 4:11; Mosiah 3:7-11; Mosiah 3:19; Mosiah 4:2; Mosiah 15:1-9; Mosiah 16:6-8; Alma 7:14; Alma 12:24; Alma 34:8-16; Alma 42:11-30; Helaman 14:15-19; 3 Nephi 11:14; Ether 3:14; Moroni 7:41; Doctrine and Covenants 20:22-27;
Possible Songs: God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son, Hymn 187; I Stand All Amazed, Hymn 193; Behold the Great Redeemer Die, Hymn 191; He Died! The Great Redeemer Died, hymn 192; How Great the wisdom and the Love, Hymn 195; Upon the Cross of Calvary, Hymn 184; He Sent His Son, Children’s Songbook page 34; I Lived in Heaven, Children’s Songbook page 4; The Third Article of Faith, Children’s Songbook page 123; To Think About Jesus, Children’s Songbook page 71; I Thank Thee, Dear Father, Children’s Songbook page 7.
Possible Materials: My stepping stones and puzzle pieces (you may have to trick your printer on orientation. Someday I’ll fix the document itself…); a blanket, blue if you have one; a picture of Alma the Younger; any picture you have of Jesus in Gethsemane; Scripture figures of the story of Lazarus.
Preparation: Begin with prayer. Ask yourself when the last time was that you thought about the Atonement. Is there some way you need to apply it to your life? Read the suggested scriptures, Mosiah 26-28 and Alma 36-38, 40-43, as well as Matthew 26:36-4; Mark 14:33-41; Luke 22:41-44. Read through the lesson, including any links, and carefully select the most relevant material for your family. Children: Watch the videos on Alma the Younger, Lazarus, and Jesus in Gethsemane. Ask a grownup to help you print and cut the stepping stones and puzzle and to find a blanket to be like a river.
Lesson:
Discuss how last week’s challenge went.
Introduction: Ask your family to recall what they know about the Plan of Salvation. When we were with Heavenly Father, we were so excited to come to earth and gain bodies and experiences. Lay out a blanket across the ground (blue for a river, if you can). Tell your family that in order to make it back to Heavenly Father we needed a way to overcome some problems: we needed to overcome death and we needed a way to repent of our sins. Those problems are like a big river we needed to cross. We want to get to the other side so that we can return to Heavenly Father. We can’t jump the river, it’s to big. Hold up a picture of Jesus and tell your family that Jesus our Older Brother agreed to make stepping stones so that we could cross. Pull out your pile of stepping stones with the puzzle pieces on the bottom. (If your family is older you could skip the “river” and just tell your family you are going to find the answer on how to get back to Heavenly Father by solving the puzzle. Have the puzzle pieces covering a picture of the Savior).
- Overcoming the Fall: 1 Corinthians 15:22. When Adam fell, our bodies became corruptible. In order to return to live with Heavenly Father again, we needed to have bodies that could be perfected like His. We also know that mercy requires that we aren’t trapped in the sins of our ancestors (see the 2nd Article of Faith)
- Breaking the Bands of Death: John 5:25-29. Because Jesus was the Only Begotten, He had the power to overcome death and be resurrected. He also suffered greater than any mortal man could withstand (see Mosiah 3:7). From the Scriptures: Jesus had this power long before he was hanging on the cross. Hold up he figures of Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters. Read or summarize the story in John 11 about Lazarus being raised from the dead. Christ testified that he was the resurrection and the life. Martha knew this was because he was the Son of God.
- Changing our Hearts: From the Scriptures: Hold up a picture of Alma the Younger. Summarize the story of his conversion. For older families read Alma 36:12-21 aloud. For younger families, just read verse 21. Talk about how Alma’s heart had changed. Once he understood the power of the atonement, his life was focused on being worthy of that atonement.
- Applying our Repentance: Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19. Because of the atonement, when we are sorry for what we did, there is a way to wipe it away like it never happened. That way is called repentance. We have to do our part to make it right; but once we do our part, Jesus makes up the rest. We must do all that we can in order to meet the demands of justice and to learn from our mistakes.
- Fulfilling the Demands of Justice: Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5. Christ lived the perfect life, and yet he paid for all of the sins of not only you and I but everyone that has or will ever live.
- Validating the Law of Mercy: Alma 7:11-13. Because Christ knows what we have gone, are going, and will go through, He knows what is in our hearts. He also knows how to help us! When we are to stand before God and be judged, Jesus will be there. He will reason with Heavenly Father and explain our case for us. He will know what the circumstances of each choice was and how we acted and felt.
- Offering His Help and Love: 2 Nephi 9:20-21. Christ knows everything we are going through. No one else will ever completely understand. If we ever feel alone or misunderstood, we can remember that the atonement applies to those feelings, too. He is there for us. He will help us. By giving all of our sins and sorrows to Jesus, our burdens may become light. See Matthew 11:28-30.
From Church History: Elder Orson F. Whitney relates how we are all like the Apostles of Jesus, and how by not applying the atonement into our lives, we are essentially “asleep.” Read the highlighted section of an address given in 1926. Ask your family how Elder Whitney felt. How would you have felt to see the Savior suffering and knowing it was for you?
Further Discussion:
Watch this video or read the parable given in the talk entitled The Mediator, by Boyd K. Packer (1977). Discuss the feelings you felt as a family. Ask them what we buy and to whom we owe the debt? How does the Savior qualify as our mediator? (He was perfect and willing. What are Christ’s terms to qualify for his mediation? (He asks us to repent and serve Him).
Read Doctrine and Covenants 29:39-44 and talk about how the Fall was a necessary step and how because of the Fall, we needed an Atonement. If we did not have the fall, the atonement would not have been necessary, because we would not have had agency; however, we also would not have made any progress or gained any knowledge.
Recent Conference talks to consider in your discussion: Click here to see a list of talks on the atonement.
Challenge:
Read Article of Faith #3 to your family. Explain any words your family may not know. Challenge them to memorize the article of faith. If they have already memorized the article of faith, memorize Doctrine and Covenants 19:16.
Giving due credit: as usual, I read and learned from Gospel Principles Chapter 12, and the Family Home Evening Resource Manual Lesson 9, and Gospel Topics on the Atonement.
