Teach tonight's Family Home Evening
FHE: The Sacrament
Tell your
family that President Oaks called one of our church meetings: “the most sacred and important meeting in
the Church.”
Ask: which
meeting do you think he was talking about? Why?
Once you have
talked through their answers, share this quote with them: “The ordinance of the sacrament makes the sacrament meeting the most
sacred and important meeting in the Church” (Dallin H. Oaks, “Sacrament
Meeting and the Sacrament,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2008, 17).
Ask: Why is the
sacrament so important? (discuss)
Invite your
family to read Moroni 4:1-3 and Moroni 5:1-2 and look for phrases and ideas
that help us understand why the sacrament is so important.
Ask them to
discuss what they found.
Then ask:
- What does the water represent? (Jesus Christ’s blood [see Matthew 26:27–28; 3 Nephi 18:8–11].)
Be sure to
teach this truth: The emblems of the sacrament help us remember the Savior
Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
Ask:
·
What are some
things we should remember and think about during the sacrament? (Be sure to
share what you try to remember during the sacrament and how it helps you)
·
What can we do
to focus on remembering the Savior and His Atonement during the sacrament? (Be
sure to share some things you do to help you focus on the Savior and what
difference it has made for you.)
Ask your parents this question:
·
What difference
has it made for you personally to remember the Savior and His sacrifice as you
have partaken of the emblems of the sacrament?
I’ve included 2 stories on the back side that
you could share here to help your family understand why it’s so important to
remember the Savior. Pick one to share
at this point.
Share your testimony of the Savior and
challenge your family to focus more on the Savior during the Sacrament this
Sunday.
STORY
#1 He Took My Lickin For Me (Pres. Faust, Oct 2001)
Some years ago, President Gordon B.
Hinckley told “something of a parable” about “a one room school house in the
mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to
handle them.
“Then
one day an inexperienced young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher
had received an awful beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day
of school the teacher asked the boys to establish their own rules and the
penalty for breaking the rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were
written on the blackboard. Then the teacher asked, ‘What shall we do with one
who breaks the rules?’
“‘Beat
him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response.
“A
day or so later, … the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. ‘The
thief was located—a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.’
“As
Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keep his coat on. ‘Take
your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’
“The
boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled
body. As the teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and
volunteered to take the boy’s licking.
“‘Very
well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are
you all agreed?’ the teacher asked.
“After
five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. ‘Little
Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m
sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you
till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”’”
President
Hinckley then quoted Isaiah:
“Surely
he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. …
“…
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”
No
man knows the full weight of what our Savior bore, but by the power of the Holy
Ghost we can know something of the supernal gift He gave us. In the words of
our sacrament hymn:
We
may not know, we cannot tell,
What
pains he had to bear,
But
we believe it was for us
He
hung and suffered there.
STORY #2 You Remember Him
As
you tell the following story by Elder Gerald N. Lund, ask your family to
imagine what it may have been like to be the man in this story:
“Some
time ago there was an interesting article about mountain climbing [containing]
a story that offers a wonderful answer to the question, ‘What can we as
unprofitable servants ever do to repay Christ for what He has done for us?’
“The
article was about a man named Czenkusch who runs a climbing school. … Czenkusch
was describing to the interviewer the belay system in mountain climbing. This
is the system by which climbers protect themselves from falls. One climber gets
in a safe position and secures the rope for the other climber, usually around
his or her own body. ‘You’re on belay,’ means, ‘I’ve got you. If something
happens, I will stop you from falling.’ It is an important part of mountain
climbing. Now note what followed next in the article: ‘Belaying has brought
Czenkusch his best and worst moments in climbing. Czenkusch once fell from a
high precipice, yanking out three mechanical supports and pulling his belayer
off a ledge. He was stopped, upside down, 10 feet from the ground when his
spread-eagled belayer arrested the fall with the strength of his outstretched
arms. “Don saved my life,” says Czenkusch. “How do you respond to a guy like
that? Give him a used climbing rope for a Christmas present? No, you remember
him. You always remember him”’ [Eric G. Anderson, “The Vertical Wilderness,”
Private Practice, Nov. 1979, 21; emphasis added]” (“The Grace and Mercy of
Jesus Christ,” in Jesus Christ: Son of God, Savior, ed. Paul H. Peterson, Gary
L. Hatch, and Laura D. Card [2002], 48).