Creating the Plan of Salvation
It's a new year which means it's a new topic for study in Primary: The Old Testament.
I'm excited for this change because, I'll be the first to admit, I've never read all the way through the Old Testament. I always start completely motivated but before I get out of Exodus I've moved on to the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, or the Doctrine and Covenants. Since I have to teach the Old Testament, I have added motivation to actually study and learn what I'm teaching.
The first lesson is "Heavenly Father's Plan for Us" meaning the Plan of Salvation.
Justin and I used this activity years ago when we taught the Plan of Salvation to 11-12 year olds. They had a blast and I'm sure 8-9 year olds will enjoy it just as much. Below is helping your class create the Plan of Salvation.
Creating the Plan of Salvation
It all starts with a test. A test of how well your students already understand the Plan of Salvation. I made cards for each of the main parts of God's plan (some diagrams have more detailed parts, but I like to keep things simple).
Before teaching the class about the Plan of Salvation, tell them you are going to have a test. Tape one card onto each child's back but don't let them see which card they have. Without telling each other what their own card is, the kids need to line up in the order that the plan follows from pre-mortality to the degrees of glory.
If you'd like to add some detail about the Council in Heaven where we all had to choose whether to follow Christ and come to Earth or to follow Lucifer, you can have the two teachers (or choose two students) to act as the Holy Spirit and Satan. The rest of the class won't know which one is which but both will be trying to "help" the kids get in the right order. The "Spirit" will genuinely help by giving them truthful guidance whereas "Satan" will try to trick them to have them make a mistake.
This game always ends with a lot of giggles but is a good way to see how well they know the plan and helps them get wiggles out before you dive into discussing it in depth.
Afterwards, put the cards on the chalkboard in the order that the kids lined up in. If they made a mistake, correct it on the board and explain the true order of God's plan for us.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Plan of Salvation, this is God's plan to help us become like Him so we can live with Him again.
It begins in our pre-mortal life or pre-mortality when we were just "intelligences" or spirits without bodies.
We chose to follow Christ's plan to come to earth and live a mortal life to be tested and to prove that we would obey God's commandments and follow Him. In order to be tested we passed through a veil that clouds our memories of our pre-mortal life.
While in mortality we are meant to be tried and tested so that we can prove ourselves and live righteously.
While on the earth we will absolutely make mistakes while we learn to become like our Savior. In order for us to stay clean despite our mistakes and sins, the Savior provided the Atonement for us. Learn more about the Atonement here.
Death is when we return to Heaven to await judgement on how we lived our lives and who we became. The veil is removed from our eyes and our understanding will return.
We each will then wait in the Spirit World for our resurrection and judgement. We wait in either the Spirit Paradise or the Spirit Prison. Spirit Paradise is a place of peace for those who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ while on the earth. Spirit Prison is a place for those who either did not accept the gospel (or did not have the chance to accept it) to be taught the gospel and given the choice. Learn more about the Spirit World here.
Every single one of us will then be resurrected and our bodies will be returned to us perfected. This gift is given because of Christ's atonement and resurrection. Learn more about the Resurrection here.
Once we are judged, we will inherit one of three degrees of glory. The Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial kingdoms. The Celestial kingdom is where we receive exaltation and can live with our family forever. Learn more about the three kingdoms here.
I am so grateful for my knowledge of where I came from, why I'm here, and where I'm going. It gives my life such purpose and I love teaching it to the children and youth of the church.
If interested, you can learn more about the Plan of Salvation here.
Also, I found this beautiful talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that is so touching if you need a pick-me-up: The Atonement of Jesus Christ
I'm excited for this change because, I'll be the first to admit, I've never read all the way through the Old Testament. I always start completely motivated but before I get out of Exodus I've moved on to the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, or the Doctrine and Covenants. Since I have to teach the Old Testament, I have added motivation to actually study and learn what I'm teaching.
The first lesson is "Heavenly Father's Plan for Us" meaning the Plan of Salvation.
Justin and I used this activity years ago when we taught the Plan of Salvation to 11-12 year olds. They had a blast and I'm sure 8-9 year olds will enjoy it just as much. Below is helping your class create the Plan of Salvation.
Creating the Plan of Salvation
It all starts with a test. A test of how well your students already understand the Plan of Salvation. I made cards for each of the main parts of God's plan (some diagrams have more detailed parts, but I like to keep things simple).
Before teaching the class about the Plan of Salvation, tell them you are going to have a test. Tape one card onto each child's back but don't let them see which card they have. Without telling each other what their own card is, the kids need to line up in the order that the plan follows from pre-mortality to the degrees of glory.
If you'd like to add some detail about the Council in Heaven where we all had to choose whether to follow Christ and come to Earth or to follow Lucifer, you can have the two teachers (or choose two students) to act as the Holy Spirit and Satan. The rest of the class won't know which one is which but both will be trying to "help" the kids get in the right order. The "Spirit" will genuinely help by giving them truthful guidance whereas "Satan" will try to trick them to have them make a mistake.
This game always ends with a lot of giggles but is a good way to see how well they know the plan and helps them get wiggles out before you dive into discussing it in depth.
Afterwards, put the cards on the chalkboard in the order that the kids lined up in. If they made a mistake, correct it on the board and explain the true order of God's plan for us.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Plan of Salvation, this is God's plan to help us become like Him so we can live with Him again.
It begins in our pre-mortal life or pre-mortality when we were just "intelligences" or spirits without bodies.
We chose to follow Christ's plan to come to earth and live a mortal life to be tested and to prove that we would obey God's commandments and follow Him. In order to be tested we passed through a veil that clouds our memories of our pre-mortal life.
While in mortality we are meant to be tried and tested so that we can prove ourselves and live righteously.
While on the earth we will absolutely make mistakes while we learn to become like our Savior. In order for us to stay clean despite our mistakes and sins, the Savior provided the Atonement for us. Learn more about the Atonement here.
Death is when we return to Heaven to await judgement on how we lived our lives and who we became. The veil is removed from our eyes and our understanding will return.
We each will then wait in the Spirit World for our resurrection and judgement. We wait in either the Spirit Paradise or the Spirit Prison. Spirit Paradise is a place of peace for those who accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ while on the earth. Spirit Prison is a place for those who either did not accept the gospel (or did not have the chance to accept it) to be taught the gospel and given the choice. Learn more about the Spirit World here.
Every single one of us will then be resurrected and our bodies will be returned to us perfected. This gift is given because of Christ's atonement and resurrection. Learn more about the Resurrection here.
Once we are judged, we will inherit one of three degrees of glory. The Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial kingdoms. The Celestial kingdom is where we receive exaltation and can live with our family forever. Learn more about the three kingdoms here.
I am so grateful for my knowledge of where I came from, why I'm here, and where I'm going. It gives my life such purpose and I love teaching it to the children and youth of the church.
If interested, you can learn more about the Plan of Salvation here.
Also, I found this beautiful talk by Jeffrey R. Holland that is so touching if you need a pick-me-up: The Atonement of Jesus Christ
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