Category Archives: Scriptures: Songs

Oct 17 2020

Scriptures: Songs

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Table of Contents

Liken the Scriptures

Friend October 2024 “Liken the Scriptures” I Can Play It!

I may not be asked to build a great big ship, Or sail my family ’cross the ocean blue, But if I had the faith and courage Nephi did, Imagine all the great things I could go and do!

Chorus: The Lord has a special message for me In every scripture story I read, And I can become who I’m striving to be When I liken the scriptures to me.

I won’t raise a tent to hear the prophet speak, But I can listen when he speaks today. And I don’t have a sword to bury ten feet deep, But I can cast my selfish words and deeds away. Chorus

Bridge: Like Enos I will fervently pray. Like the stripling warriors, I will obey. Like Abish I will share what I know, And like Ammon I’ll go where I’m called to go. Chorus

Search, Ponder, and Pray

As I Search the Holy Scriptures

Scripture Power

Teaching Scripture Power Verse one and chorus

Teaching Scripture Power Verse 2

Sing together a song about the scriptures, such as “Scripture Power” (music.ChurchofJesusChrist.org), and ask the children to listen for how the scriptures help us.

If I Listen with My Heart

If I Listen with My Heart Song Teaching Ideas

Dec 22 2015

If I Listen With My Heart

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 If I Listen With My Heart – Verse One

 Preparation:


  • Items needed: a lamp or lantern, and a large display board (dry erase board, or poster/foam board). Optional item: a recording of the song from http://lds.org/cm/display/0,17631,7206-1,00.html

  • Print all the verse one pictures and words, pictures of Jesus with the children, and a child reading the scriptures. Note: Be sure to print the three black-and-white pictures, and the large picture of the Savior onto light weight paper. Put all the pictures in page protectors, and slide the picture of the Savior behind the picture of the scriptures. Cut out the two sets of the song words, and cut out the round song notes. Tape the three pictures from the flipchart onto the display board and a set of the cut out words next to their corresponding  picture

  • Tape one set of the song words, in random order, under  the children’s chairs before Primary starts. Put a few in each row. Count how many rows there are, then put a number in a container for each row you have.

  • (Optional idea is to put the words that go under the chairs on hearts, and put magnets on the back of each one to make them easier to attach to the chairs.)

Introduce the name of the song, and then tell the children that the song has three verses and a short chorus. Post the two chorus picture pages on the board. Explain that each of the three verses of the song tells a way we can hear the Savior’s words if we listen with our hearts (with the spirit and with love in our hearts). Verse one tells us that even though we weren’t on the earth when Jesus was, we can still hear his words through the scriptures. (Put the picture of the scriptures on the board.)  The second verse explains that the living prophet tells us what the Savior wants us to know. (Put the picture of the prophet on the board.) In the third verse we learn that the Holy Ghost also tells  us what the Savior wants us to know. (Put the words “Whisperings of the Holy Ghost” on the board.)

Tell the children that when we read the scriptures, listen to the prophet, or listen to the whisperings of the Holy Ghost we can imagine that the Savior himself is telling us those words because they are his words and what he wants us to know. (Put the picture of the scriptures  in front of a lamp so the picture of the Savior can be seen through the scriptures.) Explain to the children that they are going to learn the first verse of the song which is about the scriptures being a way we can hear the Savior’s voice. (Take down the other two black and white pictures from the board.) Show the display board, or put it to the left of the chorus pages on the board.

Go over each line of the verse with the children and explain the words “search” and the word “peace”. Also tell the children that the word peace is in each verse. Play a recording of the first verse for the children, or sing the verse for them so they can hear how it sounds. Have the senior children sing the verse (you may have to review and sing one line at a time with junior primary). Point out that the melody in the third phrase builds up to emphasize the word peace. Also point out to the children that there are a lot of words in the song where they have to slide their voices up or down a note. (Put the eighth notes under or above the words that do this. Angle them up or down slightly for more emphasis.) (Personal note: I do realize that some of the notes are backward. I didn’t have time to make new ones. Sorry.) Have the children sing the song again, and have them pay attention to how their voice slides up or down as they sing those words.

Senior Primary – Explain to the children that they are going to start memorizing the verse. Tell them that the words of the verse are under some of their chairs, but they can’t get them yet. Number off each row, and then have a child reach into the container of numbers and pull one out. Have all the children in that row look under the chairs and find the words. Have the children take their words off the display board. Go over the words of the song again, and see if the children can remember what words are missing. Sing the song again. Have another child pick a number from the container, and do the activity again. Continue in this manner until all the words are gone and the children have the song memorized.

To review the song the following week, show the bulletin board with the words. Cover the first line and give a child the magnet words of the first line to put in order on the board as everyone sings the song. Tell the child that he/she has until the song is finished to put the words in the right order. Do the same with the other lines in the song until you feel they have reviewed the song sufficiently.

Junior Primary – Use the following actions to help teach the song:  If I (point to self) had been a little child (put hand out, palm down, as if to measure the height of a small child)  when Jesus (point to a picture of Jesus) lived on earth (point down as if pointing to the earth), I (point to self) would have liked (smile and nod) to walk with him (walk in place) and listen (hand cupped around edge of ear) to his words (point to mouth). But as I (point to self) search the scriptures (one hand stretched out with palm up, like a book, and the other hand pretending to turn the pages) I can hear (hand to ear)  his words (point to mouth) of peace (wrap arms around self  and have a contented, peaceful expression on face).  And if I (point to self)  listen (hand to ear) with my heart (hands over heart) I can hear (hand to ear) the Savior’s voice (point to picture of Savior).

Have the children do the actions as they sing the song. Review by saying the words of the verse and stop at the words with actions and just do the action. See if children know what that word is.

Safety Note: Use only battery powered lanterns. If you use a lamp, put the paper on the lamp shade using a straight pin. Do not put the paper near the hot light bulbs.

Mar 24 2011

Scripture Power – Verse Two

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Scripture Power – Verse Two

Preparation

  • Print and cut out the Armor of God illustrations. Also print the word pages and the armor labels.
  • Items needed: magnets or tacky putty to attach the armor pieces to the soldier figure on the chalkboard.

Presentation

Start off by telling the children about the movie clip (found in the New Testament CES videos) called “The Whole Armor of God”:

“The Whole Armor of God” starts off showing some young soldiers from ancient times who are battle weary, hot, and tired. Some of the soldiers put down their swords and take off their armor to rest by a river. Hooded, dark figures with bows and arrows sneak up on them. There is a battle, and the soldiers who took off their protective armor are injured or killed.

Remind the children that we are fighting a spiritual battle against Satan and his temptations. When we let down our guard, and don’t keep near us the things that will protect us, we become open to the fiery darts of Satan’s temptations. The second verse of “Scripture Power” talks about the protective spiritual armor we need in order to be protected from Satan’s temptations.

Show the picture of the soldier without his armor and ask the children if he is protected from attack. Put the sword in the soldier’s right hand, and inform the children that a sword is an item that was used for defense against attack. When we are spiritually attacked we need what is called “The Sword of Truth”. Write the words “The Sword of Truth” on the board. Ask what the words would become if you erased the S. (“The Word of Truth”) Explain that the words of truth found in the scriptures help us have a defense against Satan’s attacks, because knowing truth helps us recognize Satan’s deceptions and then we are not deceived. (Give an example of a scripture truth verses a deception of Satan.)

Inform the children that the first line of the second verse is – “I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn.”  (Put this word page on the board.)

Inform the children that the next line of the verse is – “I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn.”  Put this word page on the board, and then put the shield in the soldier’s left hand.  Explain that as we obey the words found in the scriptures, we see the good results, and we gain faith and trust in God’s words.  Our faith  in God’s word  protects us against the temptation to do something that is opposite of His word.

The next line is –  “I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord.” (Put this word page on the board.)  There is a scripture in Ephesians 6:11-17 that tells about  the armor of God and what each piece represents. Each piece can be related to the things we learn and gain from the scriptures.

  • Put the helmet on the soldier, and explain that it is called the helmet of salvation. Salvation comes through Christ, so focusing our minds on Christ’s teachings (which are found in the scriptures) give us protection against unworthy thoughts.
  • Put the breastplate on the soldier, and explain that it is called the breastplate of righteousness and represents our righteous choices. As we make righteous choices our spirits grow stronger, which gives us more protection against temptation.
  • Put the girdle on the soldier, and explain that in old times people used to gird up their clothes when they were getting ready to get to work so that their clothes wouldn’t inhibit their movement. So we are to be girded with truth to protect our actions.
  • Put the feet coverings on the soldier, and explain that the feet represent goals or objectives (where you are going in life), and we are to shod our feet with the gospel of peace to guide our lives.

 

Just as each piece of a soldier’s armor protects vital parts of his body, so does each part of the armor of the God protect our vital and important spirituality.

With the armor of God on we are prepared to fight against the temptations of Satan and win. Explain that the last line in the verse is – “and fight my daily battles, and win a great reward.” (Put this word page on the board.) What is the great reward for winning the spiritual battles of life against Satan?( Eternal Life) Encourage the children to keep their protective spiritual armor on. We do this by reading the scriptures daily and striving to do the things found in them.

Sing the verse all the way through with senior Primary. (Sing each line as you put them on the board with junior primary.)

Memorizing the Verse

Have five children come up to the front and act out the words by doing the following:

Hide the paper sword in some scriptures and have a child “find” it, and then have that child point to the scriptures and then to his/her head for the part that says “I’ll find the sword of truth in each scripture that I learn”.

Give the second child some scriptures with the shield in it. Have the child “take” the shield from the scriptures and then turn the pages of the scriptures for the part that says “I’ll take the shield of faith from these pages that I turn”.

Have the third child dress up in a few pieces of armor (look online for how to make some easy costume armor and a shield) for the sentence “I’ll wear each vital part of the armor of the Lord”.

Have the fourth child hold a play spear made out of a wrapping paper tube and a triangular cut sponge stuffed in the top opening for the tip.  Write the word “temptations”  on the tube. Put some curly red ribbon coming out of the back of the spear so it represents the fiery darts of Satan. Have the third and fourth child do a simple mock battle during the words “I’ll fight my daily battles” by having the third child block the spear with the costume shield.

After the battle, have the fifth child put a medal around the neck of the child wearing the armor to act out the words “and win a great reward.  The medal can be made with foil and cardboard with the words “eternal life” written on it. Attach a large loop of ribbon to the top of the medal so it can be hung around the child’s neck. (Or a trophy could be used for the great reward with a sign attached to it that says eternal life.)

Have the primary sing the song while the five children act out the words. Take a word page off the board and have the child or children who are acting out that part sit down. Do this each time the children sing the verse. By the time all the word pages and all the actors are removed, the children should have the verse memorized.

( Angie shared the idea on sugardoodle about taking the S off the sword of truth. She got the idea from the 2005 Primary workshop.)

Oct 7 2010

Scripture Power

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“Scripture Power“ Song Teaching Idea

Preparation:


  • Print the Scripture Power pictures and wordstrips. Put the pictures into page protectors.  Obtain pictures of the following scripture stories from the meetinghouse library:  Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife, Noah Preaching to the People, Two Thousand Stripling Warriors, Enos, Daniel and his friends in the kings court, Alma at the Waters of Mormon, The Ten Lepers, Sermon on the Mount, Good Samaritan, David and Goliath, Prodigal Son. Put each scripture story picture into one of the page protectors that contain the song pictures. Put them facing out on the opposite side.


  • Cut the song word pages on the dotted lines, and cut apart the scripture story matching word strips on the dotted lines.


  •  Match each of the song words to their matching song picture. Turn over the song pictures one at a time and see what scripture story is on the back. Glue the scripture story’s matching word strip to the back of the song words that go with that song picture. The following are the matches for the scripture stories:

Joseph and Potiphar’s wife – Flee from temptation

Noah preaching to the people – Listen to the Prophet

Two Thousand Stripling Warriors – Listen to Your Parents

Enos- Pray Always

Daniel and his friends in the kings court – Word of Wisdom

Alma at the Waters of Mormon – Make Baptismal Covenants

The Ten Lepers – Be Grateful

Sermon on the Mount -Share the Gospel with Others

Good Samaritan – Help and Serve Others

David and Goliath – Have Faith in God

Prodigal Son – Repentance Brings Forgiveness

Presentation Instructions:

Post on the board the word strips of things we learn from the scriptures. Make sure the song words on the opposite side are in the correct order they will be sung when turned over.  Leave the word strips that say “Scripture Power” facing forward. Tell the children that “Scripture Power”  is the name of the song they are going to learn or review. (The words “scripture power” are a visual reminder of what they gain from the scripture stories.)

Also post the pictures of  the scripture stories on the board.

The object of the activity is for the children to match the scripture story picture with the word strip of what they learn from that story. When a child makes a match, that child gets to check that match by turning over the word strip and the picture. If the child thinks the song words match the picture, have the child put the picture by its words. If it doesn’t match, have the child try again. When all the matches had been made, have the children check to see if they think all the song matches are correct. Have them correct any they think are wrong. (You will have to read the word strips to junior Primary, and briefly describe what the scripture story pictures are about.)

Note:  To help prevent overwhelming Junior Primary, only post and do half the verse with them at a time. When they have mastered the first half, then post and do the rest. It may be a good idea to do the same thing with Senior Primary so they do not become restless.

After the activity, go over the words (and pictures) with the children and explain what they mean such as:

Because I want the power His words will give to me. – What is the power the scriptures give to us? Explain that it is the strength and power to do the right things, because the scriptures teach us and remind us what is right.

I’m changing how I live. I’m changing who I’ll be. –  We gain more strength and power as we do the right things.

Scripture Power is the power to win – Win what? Win power over temptation, which helps us win the test of life and gain eternal life.

Scripture power, every day I need.  – We all need the help the Lord provides through the scriptures. We would spiritually starve without the scriptures. As we read the scriptures we are spiritually strengthened.