Jesus lived with Heavenly Father before He was born.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “John 1” John taught that Jesus Christ lived with God before His mortal experience. We too lived with God before we were born (see “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129). How will you teach the children this truth?
Even before He was born, Jesus Christ played important roles in Heavenly Father’s plan. As you read John 1:1–5, what impresses you about Christ’s premortal work?
- Explain that “the Word” in John 1:1 refers to Jesus. Read the verse aloud, and ask the children to say “Jesus” each time you read “the Word.” Show the line drawing Premortal Life (LDS.org). Explain that Jesus Christ lived with Heavenly Father before He came to earth.
Ask the children if they know anything about what Jesus did before He was born. Invite them to look for answers in John 1:1–5. It might help to look in Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:1–5 (in the Bible appendix).
Joseph Smith Translation, John 1:1, reads: “In the beginning was the gospel preached through the Son. And the gospel was the word, and the word was with the Son, and the Son was with God, and the Son was of God” (in the Bible appendix).
- Teach the children that we also lived with God before we came to earth. You may want to use “Introduction: Our Heavenly Father’s Plan,” New Testament Stories, 1–5; the corresponding video (LDS.org); or Guide to the Scriptures, “Premortal Life,” scriptures.lds.org. Ask the children what they learn about Jesus Christ
Birth of Jesus
See Birth of Jesus
Friend December 2019 “In the Footsteps of Jesus” Mary and her family live in Israel and have had many special experiences walking where Jesus walked. Article includes images of their visits to Bethlehem, the River Jordan, the Sea of Galilee, and Jerusalem. Friend December 2019 “Family Night Fun” We can get to know Jesus no matter where we live. Song, scripture, and discussion ideas.
Friend April 2019 “The Miracle of Easter” Each section includes information about a certain part of Jesus’ life, and includes a scripture and song to go with it.
Childhood
Jesus was once a child like me.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 2; Luke 2” Learning about the Savior’s childhood may help the children you teach relate to Him. Ask the children what they can learn from these verses about how they can be like Jesus now.
- Invite one of the youth in the ward to visit your class and share the story of Jesus teaching in the temple when He was a young man.
Young Jesus Teaches in the Temple video
What is the “Father’s business”? (Luke 2:49; see Moses 1:39; General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1.2, ChurchofJesusChrist.org). What do we learn about that business from the story in Luke 2:41–49? Consider writing down some ways your family can participate in the Father’s business and placing them in a jar. During the coming week, as your family looks for ways to help with Heavenly Father’s work, they can select ideas from the jar. Plan a time when you will share your experiences. Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 2, Luke 2”)
Friend January 2019 “Jesus Learned and Grew”
Friend February 2017 “When Jesus was a Child” Jesus found teaching in the temple as a child.
Friend January 2011 “Jesus as a Child”
Friend May 2009 “Jesus Christ Teaches at the Temple”
Primary Visual Aids Cutouts Set 6 “Jesus as a Young Child” Church use only
Media Library “In Favour with God (Jesus Praying with His Mother)” Image (church use only)
Media Library “Jesus Teaching the Elders in the Temple”
Media Library “Jesus Teaches in the Temple”
Media Library “The Young Jesus Coming Out of the Temple with Mary and Joseph”
Media Library “Childhood of Jesus Christ”
Media Library “Jesus and his Mother”
New Testament Coloring Book “Jesus’s Childhood”
- Ask several children ahead of time to bring pictures of themselves as babies to share. Ask them how they have grown. Share some of the ways Jesus grew (see Luke 2:40, 52). Sing with the children “Jesus Once Was a Little Child” (Children’s Songbook, 55) or another song about the Savior.
Friend March 2018 “Jesus was a Child Too!” Action poem
- Read Luke 2:52, and explain what “wisdom” and “stature” mean. You might ask the children to perform actions that show what it means to increase in wisdom and in favor with God and other people. For example, they could act out reading a book or helping someone in need.
Friend January 2019 “Family Night Fun”
“Lesson 5: The Childhood of Jesus Christ,” Primary 7: New Testament
Jesus grew “in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 2; Luke 2” Like Jesus, the children you teach have an important mission to prepare for. What can they learn from Jesus’s example?
- As you read Luke 2:40, 52, tell the children to listen for the things Jesus did. Invite the children to share ways in which they have grown since they were little. Share your own experience of learning the gospel little by little. Bear your testimony of the Savior.
Friend January 2020 “Growing Like Jesus” Growing like Jesus did spiritually, physically, intellectually, and socially by setting goals in the Personal Development: Children’s Guidebook. (“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52).)
- Complete activities that illustrate phrases in Luke 2:40, 52. For example, you could measure each child’s height (“Jesus increased in … stature”) or ask the children to share their favorite scripture (“waxed strong in spirit”). Help the children notice ways they are growing and share these with their families.
- After reviewing Luke 2:40, 52, invite the children to share what they think Jesus would have been like when He was their age. How would He have treated His mother? His brothers and sisters?
I can follow Jesus’s example.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 2; Luke 2” Even as a young man, Jesus was teaching the gospel in the temple. Similarly, the children in your class have much to teach those around them.
- Invite a child to come prepared to summarize the story in Luke 2:41–52. To help the children understand the story, teach what the “Father’s business” (verse 49) means. For example, you could tell the children what you or your parents do for a job. What was the job or “business” of Joseph, Jesus’s earthly father? (see Matthew 13:55). What is the business of His Heavenly Father? (see Luke 2:46–49; see also Moses 1:39).
What is the “Father’s business”? (Luke 2:49; see Moses 1:39; General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1.2, ChurchofJesusChrist.org). What do we learn about that business from the story in Luke 2:41–49? Consider writing down some ways your family can participate in the Father’s business and placing them in a jar. During the coming week, as your family looks for ways to help with Heavenly Father’s work, they can select ideas from the jar. Plan a time when you will share your experiences. Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 2, Luke 2”)
- With the children, read Luke 2:46–49, and ask, “How was Jesus doing His ‘Father’s business’?” Help the children list or draw on the board ways they can help do Heavenly Father’s business too.
- To help the children build their confidence that they, like the boy Jesus, can teach the gospel, help them practice teaching each other a principle from For the Strength of Youth.
Friend February 2016
Friend December 1991 “I Have a Testimony of Jesus Christ”
Friend March 2018 “Jesus was a Child Too!” Action poem
Friend January 2020 “Growing Like Jesus” Growing like Jesus did spiritually, physically, intellectually, and socially by setting goals in the Personal Development: Children’s Guidebook. (“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52).)
Jesus Calls His Twelve Disciples (Apostles)
A Disciple is Someone who Receives God’s Law and Obeys it.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: Doctrine and Covenants 2021 “Doctrine and Covenants 41–44”
- Write Doctrine and Covenants 41:5 on a piece of paper, leaving blanks where the word “disciple” should be. Ask the children to fill in the blanks, looking in Doctrine and Covenants 41:5 if they need help. What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? A disciple is someone who receives God’s law and obeys it. Share how you are striving to be a better disciple of Christ.
- After discussing Doctrine and Covenants 41:5, ask the children to think of laws we have received from the Lord. Invite them to take turns acting out obeying one of those laws while the rest of the class tries to guess what it is.
- Give each class member a strip of paper, and ask them to write on it one way they can be a better disciple. Invite each child to share what they wrote, and then tape the strips together to create a paper chain.
Friend January 2023 “Catching Fish” Some of Jesus Christ’s disciples were fishermen. Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). Can you find which child is about to catch which fish?
For the Strength of Youth February 2023 “Who Were Jesus Christ’s Early Apostles?”
Jesus Teaches
Sermon on the Mount
Matthew CHAPTER 5 Jesus preaches the Sermon on the Mount—Its teachings replace and transcend some aspects of the law of Moses—All are commanded to be perfect like their Father in Heaven.
Luke CHAPTER 6 Jesus heals on the Sabbath—He chooses the Twelve Apostles—He pronounces blessings upon the obedient and woes upon the wicked. Sermon on the Mount
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 5; Luke 6” As you read Matthew 5:3–12, what words and phrases stand out to you? How will these teachings bless the lives of the children you teach?
Explain that the beginning of Jesus’s sermon includes what is known as the “Beatitudes.” Beatitude means to be blessed or happy. In these verses, Jesus identified attributes that He and His Father possess that lead to true happiness in this life and in the life to come. Developing these attributes will help you become more like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
- Create a chart on the board with two columns labeled Blessed are … and Blessing. Invite the children to search Matthew 5:3–12 looking for the qualities of those Jesus said would be blessed and the blessings He promised them. Then fill in the chart with what they find. Discuss with the children what each quality and corresponding blessing mean.
Lesson 34: Jesus Teaches the Beatitudes (Click on link for instructions and printouts for this activity.)
- Write each quality from these verses on a card and its corresponding blessing on a card. For example, one card would say “meek,” and another would say “inherit the earth” (verse 5). Let the children match the qualities and the blessings. Ask the children to pick one of the qualities in these verses that they want to develop.
Friend March 2019 “Sermon on the Mount” The scriptures teach us about a special talk (or “sermon”) that Jesus gave called the Sermon on the Mount. Look up the scriptures below and match them with what Jesus taught.
Friend April 2004 “If I Choose to Obey, I’ll Be Happy All Day!” In the Sermon on the Mount (see Matt. 5; 3 Ne. 12) Jesus taught us how to live so we can be happy. Some of these teachings are known as the Beatitudes. Beatitude means “happiness” or “blessing.” To make a Beatitude Book, glue page 29 onto a sheet of paper. Cut on the solid lines. Glue the second strip to the tab on the first strip. Fold back and forth on the dotted lines.
Friend March 1984 link includes instructions
Friend February 2023 “Scripture Toss” Put this page on the ground. Take turns tossing a beanbag onto the paper. When the beanbag lands on a square, read that scripture verse. If someone has already read that verse, tell what it means to you. Or you can tell how you can do what it teaches.
Friend February 2023 “How to Have Joy” When we follow Jesus Christ, we are blessed even in hard times. Read what Jesus promised us in Matthew 5 and fill in the blanks.
Friend February 2023 “Come, Follow Me Activities for Little Ones”Tell your little ones that we are happy when we choose the right like Jesus did. Hang up a paper with a smiley face drawn on it. Add a smiley face each time your little ones make a “happy” choice.
Liahona February 2023 “Building on the Teachings of Jesus Christ”
In Matthew 5, the Savior teaches His disciples a higher law to live by so they can become like Him.
- Read the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1–12. Talk about each characteristic and the promise that goes with it.
- Write each person’s name on a separate sheet of paper.
- Give each person a paper, making sure they don’t get one with their own name written on it.
- Have everyone draw a picture of a time when the person on their paper exemplified one of the beatitudes. Write a sentence about it. For example, “Hannah is a peacemaker because she shared with her sister.”
- Look up the blessing associated with that beatitude and write it at the bottom of the page.
- Take turns sharing what was written.
Jesus Taught About Prayer
Friend March 2019 “Jesus Taught about Prayer” Jesus taught the steps of prayer in the Sermon on the Mount”
Parables
Parable of the Talents
For the Strength of Youth February 2023 “The Talents”
Parable of the Sower
Liahona January 2023 “Prepare Your Spiritual Soil” Lesson ideas
Parable of the Good Samaritan
The Savior is our Good Samaritan, sent “to heal the brokenhearted” [ Luke 4:18 ; see also Isaiah 61:1 ]. He comes to us when others pass us by. With compassion, He places His healing balm on our wounds and binds them up. He carries us. He cares for us.
(Neil L. Andersen, “Wounded,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2018,
Liahona April 2023 “Finding Ourselves on the Road to Jericho” Taking a closer look at some possible symbols in the parable of the good Samaritan allows us to see how the story could apply to us today. (Interpretations come from John W. Welch, “The Good Samaritan: Forgotten Symbols,” Liahona, Feb. 2007, 26–33.)
Parable of the Good Shepherd
See above link for lesson ideas about the good shepherd.
Jesus Blesses the Children
Friend May 2019 “Family Night Fun”
- Before home evening, put a picture of Jesus on one side of the room. (You could use the picture on page 69 of *CFM.) Then sit on the other side of the room and read “Jesus Blesses the Children” on page FJ4. How can we “come unto Jesus” like in the story?
- Have everyone stand up and take turns saying what they can do to come unto Jesus by following Him.
- With each idea, take a step toward the picture of Christ. Keep helping each other think of good things until everyone is with Jesus together! Then talk about what it means that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. (See *CFM, page 66.)
Jesus’s Miracles
Raising the Dead
Jesus Feeds
Friend February 2021 “Jesus Shared the Gospel” People are hungry when their body needs food. They are hungry in a different way when they need to hear the gospel. One day thousands of people came to see Jesus. Jesus fed them all with just five loaves of bread and a few fish. The next day, the people came to Jesus again. Jesus told them to look for a different kind of bread. “I am the bread of life,” He said. If people find Him and His gospel, their spirits will never be hungry again.
Jesus Calms the Storm
Friend September 2013 “Jesus Calms the Tempest”
Friend September 2021 “Singing for Jesus” Songs about Jesus can bring us peace and comfort
Friend August 2022 “Bright Idea”
Jesus Heals
A Woman Touches Jesus’s Clothes
Friend February 2023 “Jesus Heals a Woman”
Jesus has power to perform miracles.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 8; Mark 2–4; Luke 7” As you read about the Savior’s miracles of healing, ponder which miracles to share. How can you help the children you teach understand the role of faith in the miracles Jesus performed?
- Share the account of the man with palsy from Mark 2:1–12. For help, see “Chapter 23: The Man Who Could Not Walk” (in New Testament Stories, 57–58, or the corresponding video on ChurchofJesusChrist.org). Explain that the man with palsy could not walk. Help them recognize that this man was healed by the Savior.
- Invite the children to talk about a time when they were sick. Tell one of the accounts of Jesus healing the sick, such as Matthew 8:1–4, 5–13, 14–15; Mark 3:1–5; Luke 7:11–16. Invite the children to retell the story in their own words. Testify that Jesus’s power can heal, bless, and comfort us.
Friend May 2016 “Bad Day in the Badlands” Topher and his classmates get sick on a school trip. Topher gets a priesthood blessing.
- “Jesus Heals the Sick” (April 2015 Liahona and Friend)
Figures to tell stories from New Testament about Jesus Healing the Sick.
Matthew 8:1–4 ; Mark 1:40–42 Jesus heals a leper.A leper would have been shunned from society because leprosy was a painful, contagious, and sometimes deadly disease. Most people would have avoided approaching or touching him.
“Lesson 13: Jesus Christ Heals the Sick,” Primary 7: New Testament Explain that lepers suffer a terrible form of skin disease. Because leprosy was thought to be highly contagious, those with the disease were often not allowed to live in the cities and they were shunned by those without leprosy.
After Jesus healed the leper, what did He ask him to do? (Mark 1:43–44.) What does this tell us about how we should help others?
Matthew 8:5–8, 13 Jesus heals a centurion’s servant.A centurion was a commanding officer of about 100 men in the Roman military. Many Jews in Jesus’s day hated Roman soldiers because of religious differences and because they represented the nation that had conquered them.
Jesus healed man with withered hand on the Sabbath.
What do you learn about Jesus Christ from these miracles?
Jesus can perform miracles in my life as I have faith in Him.
Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 “Matthew 8; Mark 2–4; Luke 7” Jesus performed many miracles during His mortal ministry. How can you help the children be aware that miracles happen today?
- Ask the children to pick one of the following miracles to read about and draw: Matthew 8:1–4, 5–13, 14–15; Mark 2:1–12; 3:1–5; Luke 7:11–16. Invite the children to explain their drawings to the class. What do we learn about Jesus from these stories?
- Ask the children to act out how they feel when they are sick, sad, afraid, or worried. How can Jesus help us when we have these feelings? Testify that Jesus can help the children in all of these situations.
Friend March 2019 “Missing Mom and Dad” Dylan’s mom and dad were going on a trip, and he was going to stay with his grandparents. He loved staying with his grandparents, but for some reason he was scared about being away from his mom and dad for so long. He decided to pray for help, and he received comforting thoughts and feelings.
- Invite the children to share experiences when they or someone they know received a priesthood blessing. How was that person healed or blessed?
Friend May 2016 “Bad Day in the Badlands” Topher and his classmates get sick on a school trip. Topher gets a priesthood blessing.
The Last Supper – Sacrament
Friend April 2017 “Jesus Gave Us the Sacrament”
“The Sacrament Helps Us Remember Jesus” Friend September 2015
Life of Jesus
Friend April 2017 “Jesus Gave Us the Sacrament”
After Jesus’ Resurrection
Paul
Friend August 2019 “Paul Repents”
Friend September 1986 “Saul Becomes Paul” Story
“Paul Testifies of Christ” – Link includes story of the prison earthquake miracle, and it also includes lesson ideas.
Friend October 2019 “Paul’s Missionary Journeys”
Coloring Page: Jesus Can Help Me Do Hard Things
Friend November 2019 “James Taught the Gospel” James, the brother of Jesus, taught the gospel and helped lead the church when he grew up. One of his teachings in James 1:5. says that if we have questions, we can ask God. Many years after James wrote this scripture, a boy named Joseph Smith read it. He prayed to know which church to join. Joseph’s prayer was answered!When I have questions, I can ask God, like James taught. (Memorize James 1:5 as a family. Talk about how this verse led Joseph Smith to receive the First Vision.)
Coloring Page: I Can Learn From the Scriptures
