April

Jesus Christ Is My Savior and Redeemer

Song of your choice from the Children’s Songbook

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3).

Supplement the ideas provided here with some of your own. Plan ways to introduce the doctrine to the children and help them understand it and apply it in their lives. Ask yourself, “What will the children do to learn, and how can I help them feel the Spirit?”

Week 1: Jesus Christ was chosen to be our Savior.

Introduce the doctrine: Write on the board “Jesus Christ was to be our Savior.” Have the letters c, h, o, s, e, and n scattered around the room. Let the children unscramble the letters to complete the sentence. Ask them to read Moses 4:2 to check their answer. Read the statement on the board together.

Memorizing scriptures can help children learn doctrines of the gospel. The Spirit can help the children recall these words in times of need. (See TNGC, 171–72.)

Encourage understanding: Prepare three wordstrips with one of the following questions about “I Lived in Heaven” (CS, 4) written on each:

1. Who presented a plan to everyone in heaven before we came to earth?

2. Who said, “Father, send me, and the glory be thine”?

3. What did Jesus conquer by following the Father’s plan?

Have the children sing the first verse of the song and stand when they sing the answer to the first question. Then discuss some of the other things they learned from this verse. Consider singing the verse again after you have discussed it. Then repeat the activity with the other verses and questions.

Week 2: Jesus Christ is the perfect example for me.

Introduce the doctrine: Sing “Do As I’m Doing” (CS, 276), and ask the children to follow you as you do several simple actions, such as clapping your hands, stretching your arms above your head, or marching in place. Ask the children to name some things they have learned by following someone’s example (for example, how to make a bed or play a game). Write on the board “Jesus Christ is the perfect example for me.” Testify that Christ was the only person who has lived on the earth who has set the perfect example for us to follow. Have the children read the sentence together.

Songs: Primary songs teach gospel truths in such a way that children will remember them throughout their lives (see TNGC, 172–75).

Encourage application: Display some pictures of Jesus loving and serving others. Write “Jesus loved everyone” and “Jesus served others” on the board. Draw a heart and a hand beneath these phrases. Tell the children that we should follow Jesus’s example by loving and serving others. Give each child a piece of paper and have them draw a heart or trace their hand. Then invite them to write or draw something they can do to follow Jesus’s example. Have the children share their ideas with the Primary and place their papers next to the pictures of Jesus. Sing “I’m Trying to Be like Jesus” (CS, 78–79).

Week 3: Through the Atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved.

Introduce the doctrine: Divide the children into groups and give each group a phrase from the third article of faith. Have each group stand, in the correct order, and repeat their phrase. Then have the entire Primary stand and repeat the whole article of faith.

Encourage understanding: Testify that one way the Atonement of Jesus Christ saves us is that it saves us from sin. Show the children a clear glass of water and explain that it represents a person who is free from sin. Drop a small amount of food coloring in the water. Point out how the food coloring spreads throughout the water and makes it no longer clean. Explain that when we sin, we become unclean, like this water. Then add a few drops of liquid bleach to make the water clean again. Explain that when we repent, the Atonement cleanses us from sin and we are forgiven. Show a picture of Christ in Gethsemane. Let the children share what they know about the picture. Testify of Jesus Christ’s love for us and of His willingness to pay the price for our sins.

Encourage application: Using some of the teaching methods modeled in this booklet, teach the children about repentance, which includes feeling sorry, asking for forgiveness, righting the wrong, and not repeating the wrong (see Primary 3, 46–49).

Object lessons can be used to create interest, focus the children’s attention, or introduce a gospel principle (see TNGC, 164). If you do not have the materials needed for the object lesson described in week 3, consider using materials you have access to. For example, you could wash a dirty hand with soap to make it clean.

Week 4: Jesus Christ was resurrected, and I will be too.

Encourage understanding: Use pictures to briefly tell the story of Jesus’s death (see Matthew 27:33–60; Mark 15:22–46; Luke 23:33–53; John 19:17–42). Ask the children to think about how Jesus’s family and friends must have felt when He died. In advance, ask several children (or adults) to come to Primary prepared to share a story of one of the witnesses of Christ’s Resurrection, such as Mary Magdalene (see John 20:11–18), Peter and John (see John 20:2–10), the disciples (see John 20:19–22; Luke 24:33–53), Thomas (see John 20:24–29), and the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 11:8–17). Give them name tags to indicate whose story they are sharing.

“It is often easier to understand a gospel principle when it is expressed as part of a scriptural story” (TNGC, 55).

Nephi