Ordinances Archives - Teaching Children the Gospel

Ordinance Progression

Preparation

Print the stairs, labels and child progression pictures. Cut out the pictures and labels. (Optional: Cut out the stairs and attach it to a sheet of colored card stock.) Put the stair page into a page protector.
Items needed: tape to attach the labels to the stairs, and blocks – or some other kind of building material.

Activity

Show the family the saving ordinance labels and the stair page.

Ask which of the saving ordinances is performed first in a person’s life? Baptism (Have a family member attach that label to the front of the first stair.)
At what age is baptism usually performed? Eight (Have a family member put the picture of the eight year old child on the first stair.)
What ordinance is performed next and at what age? Confirmation/Holy Ghost, age eight (Have a family member put that label next to baptism on the first stair.)
What ordinance is performed after that, and at what age is it performed? The Aaronic Priesthood ordination is the next saving ordinance that a boy would receive. This usually happens at age twelve. (Have a family member put that label on the second stair, and take off the eight year old boy and put the twelve year old boy on the second stair. Explain that the Aaronic Priesthood is not a saving ordinance, but it is preparatory to receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood.) Girls do not receive the priesthood, so the next saving ordinance that a girl would receive would be the endowment.

Continue in the above manner until all the ordinances labels are on the stairs, and the final picture of temple marriage is on the top stair.

Why do we receive saving ordinances at different times in our lives? Do the following activity to help answer this question.

Activity

Direct the family to build a temple using the blocks or other building materials. Point out that when building a temple, it is necessary to start with the bottom foundation and build up. Just as there is a natural progression to building a temple, so is there a natural progression in participating in Saving Ordinances. We need to start with ordinances that lay a foundation and then add to that as we understand and are prepared to receive more.

Have the family look up and read 2 Nephi 28:30. (“I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more.” )

What does this scripture mean? We do not receive everything at one time. As we grow and develop in our understanding and knowledge of the gospel, and obey the covenants we have received, we are then given more.
After we receive the final saving ordinance of temple marriage is exaltation guaranteed? A temple marriage is necessary to gain exaltation, but it does not guarantee exaltation. In order to obtain exaltation we must continue to be obedient to all the covenants we have made, enduring to the end.

Identify the Saving Ordinances

Preparation

Print the pictures and labels and cut them out. Write an O on the back of each ordinance picture (baby blessing, father’s blessing, blessing the sick, baptism, confirmation/Holy Ghost, sacrament, Melchizedek Priesthood, temple marriage). Tape together three sheets of card stock along the middle edges of the back. Do the same on two sheets of card stock. Glue the Identify the Ordinances label to the three-fold board, and the Ordinances label to the two-fold board, and the Saving Ordinances label to a single sheet of card stock. For more durability, laminate the card stock, or put them in page protectors and cut off the excess plastic before taping them together.
Attach all the pictures to the three-fold board with either sticky back Velcro or non-permanent double sided tape. This will make the pictures movable from one board to the another while still being able to display them. If Velcro is used, attach the hook pieces to the pictures and the pad pieces to the three different boards as indicated in the sample picture above.

Why are temples an important and necessary part of the gospel? Because saving ordinances are performed in the temple.

Many different ordinances are performed throughout a person’s life, some are for comfort and guidance, but others are essential to salvation. (Do the activity below to identify the ordinances and the saving ordinances.) Hint: Ordinances are sacred ceremonies or acts that are performed by the proper priesthood authority.

Activity Directions

Have the family members take turns identifying the ordinances and moving them to the two-fold board labeled Ordinances. Have them check to see if they are correct by looking at the back of the pictures for an O. Next have the family members identify the saving ordinances and move them to the page labeled Saving Ordinances. The saving ordinance answers include: Baptism, Confirmation/Holy Ghost, Melchizedek Priesthood Ordination, and Temple Marriage/Sealing.

Inform the family that there is one additional saving ordinance. It is received in the temple before going on a mission or before temple marriage. It is called the Endowment.

Look up and read D&C 95:8. “I gave unto you a commandment that you should build a house, in the which house I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power on high.”

We also receive an endowment of divine power from other sacred ordinances that we receive in our life. For example, “remission of sins is extended through the ordinance of baptism, confirmation brings with it the promise of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, and ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood opens the way for “every man [to] speak in the name of God””. (Quote by Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander of the Seventy, Ensign August 2001)

As part of these saving ordinances we also make sacred covenants with God. We promise to serve God and keep his commandments. These covenants and endowments of power are meant to help us become more like our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ so that we can become worthy of and prepared for exaltation.

Note: This activity could be used for Primary sharing time if bigger pictures from the meetinghouse library are used and if bigger labels are made. Attach the pictures and labels to the chalkboard with magnets.