December

The Scriptures Teach Me about the Savior’s Birth and Second Coming

“For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).

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: Prophets prophesied about the birth of Jesus Christ.

Encourage understanding: Divide the children into five groups. Give each group one of the following scriptures and some props or a simple costume to represent the corresponding prophet: Isaiah 7:14; 9:6 (Isaiah); 1 Nephi 11:14–21 (Nephi); Mosiah 3:5, 8 (King Benjamin); Alma 7:9–10 (Alma); Helaman 14:2–6 (Samuel). Invite each group to read and discuss what the prophet said about Christ’s birth. Have one child from each group use the props or costume to represent the prophet and tell the other children which prophet he or she is representing and to read or tell what that prophet said about Jesus’s birth. Sing “He Sent His Son” (CS, 34–35) or “Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus” (CS, 36).

Scriptures: Reading directly from the scriptures can help children feel comfortable with scriptural language. Make sure to define difficult words or ideas. (See TNGC, 50–51.)

Week 2: Jesus Christ was born.

Encourage understanding: Sing together the first verse of “The Nativity Song” (CS, 52–53). Divide the children into four groups, and assign each group one of the remaining verses (2–5). Ask the children to draw pictures to go with their verse. Sing the whole song, and have the children hold up their pictures as they come to their part in the song.

Note: The Savior should not be portrayed by children in a dramatization except in a nativity scene.

Week 3: Jesus Christ will someday return to the earth.

Introduce the doctrine: Write each of the following phrases on small wordstrips: For the, Son of man, shall come, in the glory, of his Father. (Wordstrips are available at sharingtime.lds.org.) Display the wordstrips in random order on the board, and invite the children to help you unscramble them. (You may want to make a few sets of the wordstrips and let the children work together in groups.) When the children have put the phrases in the correct order, have them check their answer by reading Matthew 16:27.

Encourage understanding: Ask four children to come to the front of the room and hold up pictures of Samuel the Lamanite, the birth of Jesus, Jesus teaching, and the Second Coming. Discuss each picture with the children. Ask the children holding the pictures to stand in random order. Invite the Primary to tell the children where to move so the pictures are in chronological order.

Using pictures or other visuals helps children tie a principle or doctrine to an image in their mind, which increases their ability to understand and remember what they have learned.

Paintings available at sharingtime.lds.org

Encourage application: Draw a line down the middle of the board. At the top of the board write “Jesus Christ will someday return to the earth.” On one half of the board write the following questions. On the other half write the scripture references in random order.

• What are some wonders that will take place when Christ comes again? (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:33, 36–37)

• When will the Savior come again? (Joseph Smith—Matthew 1:38–40)

• Why should we prepare for the Second Coming? (D&C 38:30)

• How long will the Savior dwell on the earth? (D&C 29:11)

Ask the children to work with their teacher to match the questions to the answers. Discuss the answers together. (See also True to the Faith [2004], 159–61.) Ask the children how they can prepare for the Second Coming.

Different age-groups: Plan your sharing times to engage both older and younger children (see TNGC, 110–17). For example, the second activity in week 3 would work better with younger children because it uses pictures to teach a simple concept. For the first activity in that week, you could ask the older children to help the younger children unscramble the wordstrips.

Week 4: To prepare for the Second Coming, I will follow Jesus Christ.

Encourage understanding: Tell the children that Jesus often taught with parables, using familiar objects and situations to teach spiritual truths. Briefly tell the story of the ten virgins (see Matthew 25:1–13; see also “The Parable of the Ten Virgins,” Ensign, Mar. 2009, 48–49). Explain that this parable compares the Second Coming of Jesus Christ to a wedding. Invite some children to dramatize the parable. Ask the children who play the parts of the wise virgins how it feels to know they were prepared, and discuss the importance of preparing for the Savior to come again.

Encourage application: Draw a lamp on the chalkboard. Discuss how following Jesus Christ by doing good things each day is like putting oil in our lamps. Have the children name some ways they can follow Jesus Christ, such as serving others, paying tithing, and praying. Explain that these are things they need to do individually; other people cannot do these things for them. Give each child a piece of paper cut into the shape of a large drop of oil. Ask them (or their teachers) to write “To prepare for the Second Coming, I will follow Jesus Christ by ” on their papers. Ask the children to fill in the blank or draw a picture of something they can do to prepare for the Second Coming. Encourage the children to take their papers home and share what they learned with their families.

Lamp and droplet available at sharingtime.lds.org

To prepare for the Second Coming, I will follow Jesus Christ by