Resources
(Select one from each category)
Children’s Songbook
The Books in the New Testament (116)
Book of Mormon Stories (118)
Hymns
Truth Eternal (4)
The Iron Rod (274)
Gospel Art Book
Mormon Abridging the Plates (73)
Moroni Hides the Plates in the Hill Cumorah (86)
Scriptures
Psalm 12:6
1 Peter 1:25
D&C 84:45
Lesson:
Do you like getting mail? How do you feel when you read a letter from someone you love? It’s exciting to read a loved one’s words and find out about his or her day or read about how much you are loved, especially if he or she lives far away.
The scriptures are like letters from Heavenly Father to us. Even though we can’t see Him, He still loves us and wants to speak to us. Heavenly Father told the prophets of old what He wanted us to know, and the prophets wrote down His words. But how do we know that these are God’s words and not the prophets’? In Doctrine and Covenants 18:34–36, God told Joseph Smith that the scriptures are His words. He said,
These words are not of men nor of man, but of me; wherefore, you shall testify they are of me and not of man;
For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them;
Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words.
Discuss
What is the word of God?
What did Heavenly Father mean when He said, “[The scriptures] are not of men nor of man, but of me”?
Activity
Younger Children: Before family home evening, write a message for each child with white crayon on a piece of paper. For the activity, have the children paint with watercolors on the message. When they paint over the white crayon, the message will appear. Explain that the scriptures are full of messages for us, but we have to make the effort to find them.
Older Children: Write a letter to someone you haven’t seen in a long time. Tell him or her what you have learned about the scriptures being the word of God.
Challenge
Read the scriptures together as a family every day for one week. After you’ve read every day for the entire week, do something fun together to celebrate. Then continue to read the scriptures together each day.
For more lessons, check out I Know the Scriptures Are True.
Lead image via iStock.
