This week's FHE lesson topic comes from the Come, Follow Me reading in Acts 1-5. Check out this week's Come, Follow Me study ideas on LDS Living for additional resources and suggestions.
Thought
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is not easy for us to recognize the love of Heavenly Father when we look around with our temporal eyes, because we see inconvenience, loss, burdens, or loneliness first. On the other hand, we can see the blessings beyond when we look up.”
(Yoon Hwan Choi, “Don’t Look Around, Look Up!”, Ensign or Liahona, May 2017)
Scripture
“Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus” (Acts 3: 12-13).
Lesson
If you have a pair of binoculars in your home, take turns looking at an object that is out of focus. Teach your family how to focus the binoculars and then have them look at the object again. Allow everyone to share feelings about the difference it makes to see an object in focus. (You could also have family members look through a pair of eyeglasses that were prescribed for another person.)
Ask your family to keep that demonstration in mind as they read the following scripture story. Take turns reading Acts 3:1–17 aloud. Have family members look for all the action words they find in the story. Discuss the following:
Who did Peter ask the lame man to focus on? (Verses 4 and 6) Why do you think the lame man was to focus on Jesus Christ instead of on Peter? After the man was healed, where was his focus? (Verse 8) Who were the people focused on? (Verse 12) Who did Peter tell the people they should be focused on? (Verse 13) What did Peter say that he and John were witnesses to? (Verse 15–16) To what and to whom did Peter give credit for the healing of the lame man? (Verse 16)
Ask your family why it is important to focus on the Savior. What blessings has faith brought in your life? Share your testimony regarding faith in the power of Jesus Christ to heal.
(Dennis H. Leavitt and Richard O. Christensen, Scripture Study for Latter-day Saint Families: The New Testament, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006])
Story
Read Elder Yoon Hwan Choi’s story about the importance of looking to God and Christ:
One day, a few months after my baptism, I heard some members criticizing each other in church. I was very disappointed. I went home and told my father that maybe I should not go to church anymore. It was difficult to see members criticize others like that. After listening, my father taught me that the gospel had been restored and it is perfect but members are not yet, neither himself nor me. He firmly said, “Do not lose your faith because of the people around you, but build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t look around, look up!”
(Yoon Hwan Choi, “Don’t Look Around, Look Up!”, Ensign or Liahona, May 2017)