Lesson 1 Teacher Material

Accepting the Savior’s Invitation to Learn of Him

This course provides a wonderful opportunity for you and your students to increase your faith in Jesus Christ and His everlasting gospel. In this lesson students will consider what they can do to more fully accept the Savior’s invitation to learn of Him. They will also consider the importance of learning spiritual truth through study and faith.

Improving Our Teaching and Learning

Leverage the preparation material to foster learning. The preparation material is designed to help both teachers and students prepare to have edifying learning experiences together. Consider the following tips:

• If possible, contact students who register for this course prior to their first day of class, and invite them to read the preparation material before coming to class.

• Because some students will not have received the material in advance, show them how to access the digital copy or provide them with a printed copy of the material before you begin your class discussion. Provide this same help to individual students who join your class later on.

• During class discussions, draw on students’ experiences with the preparation material. Also look for ways to use the preparation material during class for those who did not prepare in advance.

• Occasionally invite students to share how they are being blessed by studying the preparation material.

Suggestions for Teaching

Jesus Christ invites all people to learn of Him.

Note: Central to the mission of institute is fostering an environment where everyone feels safe, supported, and valued. To help create a sense of belonging, consider spending some time at the beginning of the class getting to know each other. You may want to watch for ways throughout the course to help all students feel welcome and loved in your class.

To begin class, consider showing a picture of Jesus Christ and briefly sharing your feelings about Him. You could also invite a few students to share how they feel about the Savior.

Read Matthew 11:28–30 and Doctrine and Covenants 19:23 with the class, and ask students what stands out to them about these invitations and promised blessings. You might emphasize the personal and loving nature of these invitations as students identify a truth like the following: Jesus Christ invites each of us to learn of Him and experience His peace.

• What do you think it means to learn of Christ? (If needed, invite students to review Elder Kim B. Clark’s statement in section 1 of the preparation material.)

• Why do you think promises of peace, rest, and lightened burdens are connected to learning of Jesus Christ? In what ways have you experienced these types of blessings?

You could write the phrase Gospel = Good News on the board. Then invite students to read 3 Nephi 27:13–16, 20–21 and discuss the following questions with a partner or in small groups.

• According to the Savior, what are the core truths of His gospel? Why are these truths such good news? (You could review the statement by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in section 1 of the preparation material.)

• In what ways has learning and living the gospel helped you learn of the Savior and become more like Him?

The Lord taught us how to learn spiritual truth.

To help students ponder the significance of how we can learn spiritual truth about Jesus Christ and His gospel, you could present the following scenario:

Chloe, a friend of yours, is scientifically minded. She seems to have a need for proving things before she will believe them. Because she knows you believe in Jesus Christ, she asks how she can know He is real. How would you respond?

You could invite students to share their response with a partner and then discuss as a class the limitations of relying on a scientific approach to learn of the Savior. (You might share Elder Paul V. Johnson’s statement in section 2 of the preparation material.) To deepen your discussion, consider asking one or more of the following questions:

• What is the Lord’s way to learn spiritual truth? (Consider reading Doctrine and Covenants 88:118.)

• What does it mean to learn by faith? (It may be helpful to review President Russell M. Nelson’s statement in section 2 of the preparation material. You could also help students identify a truth similar to this: As we seek to learn the gospel by acting in faith, our faith in Jesus Christ will increase.)

• What are some examples of people in the scriptures or people you know who learned by acting in faith? Take a minute and think of a time when you learned something about Jesus Christ because you acted in faith. What did you learn about Him?

You might give students a few minutes to ponder and record what they most want to learn about the Savior during this course and how they can improve their ability to learn of Him. Encourage them to write down their goals. Look for opportunities to have students review their goals in the coming weeks.

Improving Our Teaching and Learning

Communicate with students outside of class. To assess students’ needs and inspire them to study the preparation material, you might find ways to communicate with them through messaging. You could use the suggestions in the section called “For Next Time” or design your own message.

For Next Time

Encourage students as they study for the next class to look for what Jesus Christ’s different names and titles teach us about Him. Or you might invite students to ponder why we refer to the Savior as the “living Christ.”