I’ll Serve Jesus Christ by Serving Others

Purpose

To help the children understand that they can show love for Jesus Christ by serving others.

Preparation

Prayerfully study Mosiah 2:17 and Luke 10:30–37, and be prepared to explain these scriptures to the children.
Be prepared to hum “When We’re Helping” (Children’s Songbook, p. 198) and “‘Give,’ Said the Little Stream” (Children’s Songbook, p. 236).
Be prepared to sing or say the words to “Our Bishop” (Children’s Songbook, p. 135).
Talk to your bishop or branch president about his childhood. Ask him to tell you some ways in which he served others while he was young. Prepare a short presentation about him so the children can guess whom you are describing. If possible, borrow a picture of your bishop or branch president as a child. (You could also prepare this presentation about the Primary president or another leader.)
Make a flower out of construction paper for each child similar to the examples shown below. Make it large enough to print a short message on the back.
Materials needed:
1. A Book of Mormon and a Bible.
2. A drinking straw or stick for each child, if available.
3. Transparent tape, if available.
4. A pencil or crayon for each child.
5. A vase or bottle.
6. Chalk, chalkboard, and eraser.
7. Picture 3-63, The Good Samaritan (62156; Gospel Art Picture Kit 218).
Make the necessary preparations for any enrichment activities that you will be using.

Suggested Lesson Development

Invite a child to give the opening prayer.

We Show Love for Jesus Christ by Serving Others

Attention activity

Ask the children to report one way they have shown love for Jesus Christ during the past week (see lesson 36). Explain that you would like them to hear more about one way they can show love for Jesus Christ.

Explain to the children that the game they are going to play will help them understand a very important way that we show love for Jesus Christ. Explain that you will hum a song. When they think they know the name of the song, they may raise their hands. You can either interrupt your humming and ask a child to guess what the song is or wait to ask until you have finished humming the song all the way through.

Hum “When We’re Helping.” After a child has guessed the name of the song, ask this question:

What is this song about? (Helping.)

Print Helping on the chalkboard.

Hum “‘Give,’ Said the Little Stream.” After the children guess the name of the song, ask them this question:

What is this song about? (Giving.)

Print Giving under Helping.

Can you think of another word that means helping and giving? (Serving. Give them additional clues as needed until they can guess it.)

Explain that serving others can include giving and helping. We often serve by helping and giving to others.

Article of faith

Help the children repeat together the following part of the thirteenth article of faith: “We believe … in doing good to all men.”

Scripture

Read Mosiah 2:17. Explain that this means that when we serve others willingly, we are serving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ also. We can show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we love them by serving one another.

Story and picture

Display picture 3-63, The Good Samaritan, when appropriate as you tell the following story in your own words:

Jesus Christ taught about serving one another in the story of the good Samaritan. He told of a man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way, he was attacked by thieves who took his clothes, beat him, and left him nearly dead. A priest came along and, seeing the injured man, passed by on the other side of the road. Then a Levite, a man who helped priests in their duties, came by, but he also passed on the other side of the road to avoid the man.

Finally, a Samaritan, a group of people hated by the Jews, came by and stopped to help the hurt man, washing and wrapping his wounds. The Samaritan put the man on his own animal, took him to an inn, and stayed with him through the night. The next day, the Samaritan paid the innkeeper and told him that if the injured man needed more care than the money would cover, he would return and pay more.

Why do you think the priest and the Levite passed by the injured man without helping him? (Possible answers might include the following: Maybe they were in a hurry. They might have been afraid of the injured man. Maybe they didn’t want to be bothered with someone else’s problem.)
Why do we sometimes pass by people who need our help?

Explain that the children can be good Samaritans by helping people in need. Tell them of some situations in which someone needs help, and have the children role-play how they would help. You might use situations such as the following:

There are toys all over the floor, the baby is crying, and your mother is trying to prepare supper.
A new girl has moved in next door. She is from a different country and can’t speak your language very well. When she goes out to play, she looks lonely.
Sister Castro comes to church each week, but no one seems to notice her. She is old, always sits alone, and looks sad.
Your little sister is upset because her favorite toy broke.

Explain that Jesus is pleased when we serve others willingly. Suggest to the children that they can give service to other people.

We Can Show Love for Jesus Christ by Serving in His Church

Picture presentation

Explain that there are many people in the Church who serve Jesus Christ by helping others every week, such as Primary teachers, choristers, organists, priests and deacons who administer the sacrament, and many others.

If possible, display the picture of the bishop or branch president as a boy, but do not tell the children who he is.

Explain that this is a picture of a boy who grew up to be someone important in your ward or branch. State that it is a person who gladly serves the people in your ward or branch every week.

Teacher presentation

Tell the children the information you have gathered is about a man whom they know well. Explain that he served others as a boy. Have the children guess who it might be. If necessary, give more clues until they guess correctly. (For example: he helps us choose the right; he helps us when we have problems; we give our tithing to him.)

Explain that the bishop gives many hours of service to the members of the ward each week. He helps not only on Sunday but also on other days of the week.

By serving the people in his ward, whom else is the bishop serving? (God.)
For whom does the bishop show love as he serves? (Jesus Christ and the people in his ward.)

Song

Have the children sing or say the words to “Our Bishop.”

Busy as a man can be,
He’s our bishop.
He finds time to talk to me;
He’s our bishop.
Always kindly words he’ll say
To the children ev’ry day.
Let us help him ev’ry way;
He’s our bishop.

Cheerful as he serves the Lord,
He’s our bishop.
He’s the father of our ward;
He’s our bishop.
He helps us to do the right
In our Heav’nly Father’s sight.
We love him with all our might;
He’s our bishop.

Summary

Activity

Explain that you would like to have the children make a thank-you gift for the bishop for the hours of service he gives them. Hand out a flower, a pencil, and a straw or stick to each child. Ask the children to write or draw a way they can show love for Jesus Christ on one side of the flower and sign their names. Finally, tape the straws or sticks on for stems.

After everyone has finished, collect the supplies and have each child place a flower in the vase or bottle you have brought. With the children, pick a class member to deliver the paper flowers to the bishop after class.

Invite a child to give the closing prayer.

Enrichment Activities

Choose from the following activities those that will work best for your children. You can use them in the lesson itself or as a review or summary. For additional guidance, see “Class Time” in “Helps for the Teacher.”

Tell the following story about Heber J. Grant, the seventh President of the Church, and discuss how he served others.

Heber’s father died when he was just nine days old. His mother was very poor and had a hard time providing for herself and little Heber. She supported them by sewing for other people and taking in boarders. Sometimes she sewed for so many hours without resting that she could hardly push the pedal of her old-fashioned sewing machine. Heber would often crawl under the sewing machine and push the pedal for her. The winters were very cold in Salt Lake City, and Heber had only a thin, worn coat to keep him warm. He longed to have a warm coat but knew that they barely had enough money for food. Heber was delighted on his birthday when his mother presented him with a warm winter coat that she had made for him. His new coat was his most prized possession. A few weeks later, as Heber was hurrying on an errand, he saw a boy about his size shivering with cold. The boy was wearing a thin sweater, and Heber remembered how it felt not to have a warm coat. Heber took off his new coat and insisted that the boy put it on. He told the boy to keep it because he had another coat at home.

You might have the children role-play this story and then explain how the various characters might have felt.
Have the children sit in a circle and pass around a ball or soft object while you hum “When We’re Helping.” When you stop humming, whoever is holding the ball or soft object tells a way that he or she could help someone. Be sure that everyone gets a turn to tell a way he or she could help.
Pin or tape upside-down smiley faces on the children before they leave class. Tell them that when they do a kind service for someone, they may turn the smiley face right side up.