Here is the link to my sunday school lesson that I will be teaching to the twelve and thirteen year old teens in my ward.
In our premortal life we shouted for joy because of the opportunity to progress to our second estate (see Job 38:4, 7). We were aware that during mortality we would experience sorrow, pain, disappointment, problems, and trials, as well as happiness and joy. With all this knowledge we felt peace and security, because we knew that our Father in Heaven would always be mindful of us. Help class members see Christ’s admonition to “be of good cheer” as a reminder that, regardless of our circumstances, we can find peace and joy in life. Jenny Hatch The Natural Family Company
Healthy Families Make A Healthy World! The Natural Family BLOG
Here are the links to the sunday school lessons I have taught to the 12 and 13 year olds in my ward these past few weeks. Todays lesson has been taught over the past two weeks, as so much material about Moral Cleanliness had to be covered. The teens in my class handled the uncomfortable information really well, although it is always difficult to discuss sexual morality with a combined group of girls and boys at this tender age. I’m planning to share this talk with them today, The Message: You Promised by Elder M. Russell Ballard. Quotes from the article:
“We understand the struggles you face every day in keeping the commandments of the Lord. The battle for your souls is increasingly fierce. The adversary is strong and cunning. However, you have within your physical body the powerful spirit of a son or daughter of God. Because He loves you and wants you to come home to Him, our Father in Heaven has given you a conscience that tells your spirit when you are keeping the Lord’s commandments and when you are not. If you will pay more attention to your spiritual self, which is eternal, than to your mortal self, which is temporary, you can always resist the temptations of Satan and conquer his efforts to take you into his power.
You must be honest with yourself and remain true to the covenants you have made with God. Do not fall into the trap of thinking you can sin a little and it will not matter. Remember, “the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance” (D&C 1:31).
Some young men and women in the Church talk openly about sexual transgression. They seem to forget that the Lord forbids all sexual relations before marriage, including petting, sex perversion of any kind, or preoccupation with sex in thought, speech, or action. Some youth foolishly rationalize that it is “no big deal” to sin now because they can always repent later when they want to go to the temple or on a mission. Anyone who does that is breaking promises made to God both in the premortal life and in the waters of baptism.
The idea of sinning a little is self-deception. Sin is sin! Sin weakens you spiritually, and it always places the sinner at eternal risk. Choosing to sin, even with the intent to repent, is simply turning away from God and violating covenants.
Gratefully, many of you young men honor your priesthood and many young women “stand for truth and righteousness” as stated in the Young Women’s motto. We commend you for your fidelity and integrity.”
“Charity, the pure love of Christ, involves a desire to serve. For us to become more Christlike, each of us must be willing to serve others. Jesus taught, “Whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant” (Matthew 20:27). Help class members understand that they have the ability to serve, and encourage them to look for opportunities to help others.”
The Worth of a soul is the lesson I taught last week, and the lesson I will teach tomorow is Love Thy Neighbor.
I used Jeffrey Hollands wonderful talk of Souls, Symbols, and Sacraments in my lesson last week. Here is the link.
QUOTES:
“It is peculiar to the theology of the Latter-day Saints that we regard the body as an essential part of the soul. Read your dictionaries, the lexicons, and encyclopedias, and you will find that nowhere [in Christianity], outside of the Church of Jesus Christ, is the solemn and eternal truth taught that the soul of man is the body and the spirit combined.”
[CR, October 1913, p. 117]
“So partly in answer to why such seriousness, we answer that one toying with the God-given–and satanically coveted–body of another, toys with the very soul of that individual, toys with the central purpose and product of life, “the very key” to life, as Elder Boyd K. Packer once called it. In trivializing the soul of another (please include the word body there), we trivialize the Atonement that saved that soul and guaranteed its continued existence. And when one toys with the Son of Righteousness, the Day Star himself, one toys with white heat and a flame hotter and holier than the noonday sun. You cannot do so and not be burned. You cannot with impunity “crucify Christ afresh” (see Hebrews 6:6)”.
