Short Attention Span Sunday School: Primary 5 Lesson 18 The Lord Reveals The Law of Consecration

PRIMARY 5 LESSON 18 THE LORD REVEALS THE LAW OF CONSECRATION

CLASSROOM PREP

Write on the board C __________ N

Write scripture:

For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me. - D&C 42:38

OPENING ACTIVITY - WATER OBJECT LESSON INTRO

From the D&C Seminary Teacher Manual

• Bring in six clear plastic cups with a line drawn with a Sharpie about ⅓ from the bottom (so less water is needed to be brought in)
• Bring a water bottle with a blank piece of paper taped on (you’ll be writing on this later) Make sure you’ve figured out beforehand the exact amount of water you need to fill each cup to its line and make sure you have enough water for that.

Set out the water bottle and explain it represents all the money and things the Saints had in their Kirtland community.

Set out the cups with the lines drawn on, and tell them you'll explain what it all means.

LESSON

So it’s early 1831 and they’re all in Kirtland, Ohio and Joseph was concerned because many were poor. Remember they sold everything they had!

They didn’t have a lot of the basics that everyone needs: food, clothing, shelter.

The Prophet needed to find a way to help them.

When he arrived, he found that members there were living together on a farm owned by Isaac Morley.

They’d read in the Bible that in Jesus’ time they shared everything that they had and these church members were trying to do the same thing. However, the plan didn’t always work very well.

For example, one man thought if everything was shared then he could sell a watch that belonged to someone else. That man was very angry!

The Prophet saw that although it was good they were trying to share, their plan wasn’t the Lord’s plan. He prayed to find out what to do. The Lord revealed to Joseph a new law!

Reference the board and fill in the blanks: CONSECRATION

What does this word mean?

Add to the board = GIVE FOR A SACRED PURPOSE

So now the board should show: CONSECRATE = GIVE FOR A SACRED PURPOSE

This new law allowed everyone to share with each other in an organized way

CONTINUING OF WATER OBJECT LESSON

Refer to the empty glasses/water bottle again

Explain that each glass represents a family and the line represents the needs and righteous desires of that family

Name each cup/family just for fun and to keep their attention - write it on the cup with a Sharpie

Fill each with water from the bottle: fill one to the line, fill three above the lines, fill two below the lines

The ones with water above the line - have more than they need

The ones with water below the line - don’t have enough money/things for their needs

So for the law of consecration, here are the steps:

Draw/label on the board or on paper how you see it -- perhaps as a circle of giving and receiving

1. Consecrate all of their property/possessions to the Church. The bishop would be responsible for everything.
2. The bishop would decide with each family what they needed to work and live and they would get those things.
3. The families would work hard and if they had any extra, they would give that to the bishop to help the poor and strengthen the church

Now pour each cup of water back into the water bottle

Explain that this water bottle represents the Church (write on the piece of paper on the bottle “the Church/bishop”) and reference step one ("Consecrate all...")

Now pour the water from the water bottle into each cup, filling each to its line.

Explain that this is step two. Everyone has according to their needs.

So because of this law, they were able to take care of one another and the Church grew.

WHAT DID THE NEW LAW OF CONSECRATION HELP?

Missionary work

• Men out serving missions had their families taken care of with food and clothing
• John E Page was asked to serve a mission in Canada, but he couldn’t because he didn’t have a coat. The Prophet gave him his own coat!

Temple:

• Men helped build the temple
• Women made clothes for the workers, curtains and carpets for the temple
• Someone donated a horse and oxen which were sold, and the money helped buy materials for the temple and feed the builders
• One woman spent a whole summer spinning 100lb of wool for their clothing and to sell

Why do you think these early Saints were willing to give of everything? Who were they really serving?

Reference scripture on the board

CONSECRATION TRAIL MIX ACTIVITY IDEA
adapted from an idea from Jenn on the Facebook Group LDS Primary Farm
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jONsBk3JwnY4yueT6IbjHBy3e3XADxQPQoi0mJKU1Lw/edit

I'm simplifying a bit as I only have 6 kids in my class if all show up.

Each kid will receive two things:
- a name tag with their role (details below)
- food order paper (details below)

Roles:
My version will have one bishop, and the rest are farmers.
If you want another role, one kid could be a "warehouse owner" and be in charge of giving out the ziploc bags.

1/ First, hand out the name tags and food order papers.

2/The farmers are given a full product bag of their particular food and a spoon

3/Everyone fills out their food orders (they check only what they need)

4/They receive a new empty bag and tape their food order on it

5/They then fill their empty bag with their own product (except the bishop)

6/Those bags then go to the bishop (farmers keep their product bag)

7/The Bishop goes to each kid and fills the food order on the bag by asking each farmer for 1-2 spoonfuls of their product (he holds the bag open while each kid puts 2 spoonfuls of their product inside)

8/As each bag is finished, I will close it up with ribbon or fold it over and staple.

Everyone ends up with a bag of everything, and everyone helped!
Set that aside to take home.

TIME/TALENTS/MEANS & STORIES FROM THE MANUAL (PRESIDENT MONSON)

We aren’t asked to give everything we have, but what are we asked to do?

Read Psalms 24:1 - the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein

What does this scripture tell you? The earth was created by Jesus Christ under the direction of Heavenly Father, everything belongs to them

They bless us by sharing with us their creations...so we need to share what we have with others. Especially when we have more than we need!

Hand out a piece of paper split into three with a label for each section:

Party Money Story

Baseball Story

Violin Story

Tell them before each story to listen for how the child shared time, a talent, or means

While telling the story, pause at the moment when it’s clear whether it’s time, talent, or means and prompt them to write down which it is

Illustrate each to show or find images online to show to help hold their attention

Discuss each story

For the baseball story:

Time ideas = teaching lessons, going to church, helping around the house, cleaning the church, visiting people who are lonely, playing with a friend

For the violin story:

Talents ideas = speaking in Primary, bearing testimony in Sacrament, playing a musical instrument, making decorations for a church activity

For the party money story:

Means ideas = tithing, fast offerings, missionary donations and food, food and clothing to the poor

What are fast offerings?

• When we fast, we are asked to pay that amount of those two meals or more

What does that money do? Take care of the poor, build temples and meetinghouses, lesson manuals, etc.

STORY - TORTILLA MIRACLE (IF TIME!!!)

Read this and illustrate the story to help keep their attention

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2009/10/the-tortilla-miracle?lang=eng

TESTIMONY

Bear testimony of the Law of Consecration