April 2009 Sharing Time
Week 3: My family and I will be resurrected
References: Luke 24; Alma 11:43; Resurrection TTF, 139-40
Read the story My Brother and the Resurrection from the April 2009 Friend. Ask the children if they know what it means to be resurrected. Discuss with them what happens when we die, focusing on the resurrection.
Keep this sharing time very simple and reverent. Focus on the atonement, so try to avoid cute and clever ideas. The most effective sharing times I’ve ever seen for this topic were very simply done.
Set out a basket (not decorated for Easter, just a plain one with a simple ribbon tied to it to make it a gift. As you show pictures, place the ones you’ve used into the baskets.
Begin by reviewing the Savior’s life, using pictures. Show a picture of the manger scene. Ask the children what they know of it. Ask: What was Heavenly Father’s gift to us on this day? (the Savior.)
Now show a series of pictures from the Savior’s life. Each time, ask what God’s or Jesus’ gift to us was using the picture as a clue.
These might include:
Jesus being baptized. (GAK 208) (We learned how to be baptized. Discuss why baptism matters.)
Jesus Ordaining the Apostles (GAK 211) (We know to have apostles today, and they help testify of Jesus Christ.)
Sermon on the Mount (GAK 212) (We learned the teachings of Jesus.)
Jesus Healing the Blind Man (GAK 213) (We can be healed by the priesthood.)
Christ and the Children (GAK 216) (We know that Jesus loves children and even a child can learn to be like Jesus.)
The Last Supper (We learned how to take the Sacrament.)
Now move to the pictures of Jesus’ death. Don’t be so dramatic you upset the children, but don’t treat it too lightly. Instead of putting these into the basket right away, display them as you finish talking about them. First show Jesus in Gethsemane. Tell the story yourself, simply and quietly. Ask the children to tell you in a soft voice, what gift Jesus gave us that day. Do the same with the cross.
Show the resurrected Christ. Ask the children to tell you what they know about this picture. Help them to understand Jesus was resurrected, and because of the things that happened in the last two pictures, we can be resurrected also.
Music: Did Jesus Really Live Again?
Sharing Time: Give children the picture in the April 1999 Friend Sharing Time. Help them color the picture, mount it on colored paper, and then cover it with plastic wrap, as that lesson suggests. There is also a suggestion for coating it with salad oil, but that’s a bit messy for Sharing Time.
Music: Sing songs about resurrection.
Sharing Time: Ask the children to tell you what can happen to their families after they die? They can be together forever. Show a picture of the temple. Tell them if they marry in the temple, they can someday be with their families forever. If you have children who know their families aren’t sealed, remind children that sometimes children are sealed to their families later on in life, when their parents are ready. Invite two parents, one who was sealed at the very start of their marriage, and a convert family that was sealed later, to talk briefly about the experience and how it makes them feel to know someday they will be resurrected and be together forever.
Music: Place paper tulips around the temple picture. Let children select flowers which have on the backs the names of songs about families.
What do you want to do next:
Go to April 2009 Sharing Times Week 4
By following Jesus Christ, we will be able to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus again.
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