Lesson 48: Mormon 7-8, 10
Category: Lesson Aids
Sunday School Lesson 47
Lesson 47: Moroni 1-6
Sunday School Lesson 46
Lesson 46: Ether 7-15 These notes will concentrate on Ether 12.
Sunday School Lesson 45
Lesson 45: Ether 1-6 Chapter 1 Though things are complicated by the fact that Mosiah (which one?) withheld the Book of Ether from his people (Ether 4:1), it is plausible to think of the book as being like a Book of Mormon for the people of the Book of Mormon.
Sunday School Lesson 44
Lesson 44: Mormon 7-9
Sunday School Lesson 43
Lesson 43: Mormon 1-6, Moroni 9 Since I’m putting these together between conferences all over North America, the last lesson and this are not as complete as I would like. My apologies.
Sunday School Lesson 42
Lesson 42: 3 Nephi 27-30 and 4 Nephi Chapter 27 Verse 6: What does it mean to take Christ’s name upon us? (What sermon in the book of Mormon has the most to say about that?) When we are told to endure to the end, what are we to endure?
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Eighteen
BMS: The People of Ammon MBM: Anti-Nephi-Lehies
Sunday School Lesson 41
Lesson 41: 3 Nephi 22-26 I’ll be out of town for each of the next three weekends, but I will try to keep up on the study materials for Gospel Doctrine class.
Sunday School Lesson 40
Lesson 40: 3 Nephi 16, 20-21 Chapter 16 Verses 8-10, especially 10: Who are the Gentiles? Look at each condition for when these things will happen. What does each mean?
Sunday School Lesson 39
Lesson 39: 3 Nephi 17-19 Chapter 17 Verses 1-3: Does the Savior think what he has said is easy to understand? Are the things he has taught “plain and simple�? Why haven’t the Nephites understood him well? In what ways are they weak? What does it mean to ponder something? What does it mean to ask the Father for understanding?
Sunday School Lesson 38
Lesson 38: 3 Nephi 12-15 This will be one of the longer sets of notes. I would apologize for their length, but even at this length I have left a great deal unexplored. Though I will continue to post following lessons, I will spend more than one week on this material in my class. There are enough extra Sundays at the end that, given where I now am in the lesson materials, I can do so and still finish all of the materials. I’ve not had time to look carefully over this to correct typographical errors, so I apologize in advance for the one’s that I am sure you will find.
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Fourteen
MBM: Alma BMS: Alma Teaches and Baptizes
Sunday School Lesson 37
Lesson 37: 3 Nephi 8-11 Chapter 8 Verses 1-23: Why might there have been so much destruction in this hemisphere at the time of the crucifixion and so little destruction in the other?
Sunday School Lesson 36
Lesson 36: 3 Nephi 1-7 We will concentrate on chapters 5-7.
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Thirteen
(Completely unreleted to everything but I just had to mention: my three-year-old noticed that the skin on the bottom of my foot is peeling and asked, “Mommy, are you molting?”) BMS: Abinadi and King Noah MBM: Abinadi Theme: We should be witnesses of Jesus Christ. Scripture: Mosiah 16:8-9 Resources: (1) Can’t take credit for this one but the kids liked it: as we read from the story (also available in the Friend), we cheered every time Abinadi was mentioned and boo’ed every time Noah was mentioned. (2) GAPK #308 (3) CS #118 verse 4 (4) If you didn’t use the prophets activity from the May 2003 Friend, you could do it now. (5) We had an interesting discussion about why God didn’t prevent Abinadi from dying.
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Twelve
(This is last week’s; I’ll have today’s later today. Sorry to get behind; I was out of town.) BMS: King Benjamin MBM: King Benjamin Scripture: Mosiah 5:7 Theme: We can follow Jesus Christ. Resources: 1. The June 1992 Friend has a flannel board for King Benjamin. 2. GAPK #307 3. Children’s Songbook #276 “Do As I’m Doing” 4. The June 2000 Friend has a nice, short story called “King Benjamin’s Words.” 5. We played a little game with the poster article called “Prophets” from the May 2003 Friend. 6. The kids’ favorite part was when we took turns pretending to be King Benjamin standing on his tower (i.e., kitchen chair) and telling the people assembled in their tents (blankets) what they could do to follow Jesus.
Sunday School Lesson 35
Lesson 35: Helaman 13-16 Chapter 13 Verses 1,ff: Does the Lord threaten the Nephites through Samuel, telling them to “repent or else�? If so, how do we understand such a threat? How does it differ from bullying? If not, how are we to understand this kind of prophecy? Verse 5: What does Samuel mean by “the sword of justice�? Verse 7: What are the glad tidings which the angel brought him and which he hoped the Nephites would receive? Verse 8: Why does the Lord say he will withdraw from them because of the hardness of their hearts rather than because of their wickedness? What does the Lord mean when he says he will take his word from among them? When he says he will suffer them no longer? When he says he will turn the hearts of their brethren against them? (After all, it can’t mean he’ll send the Lamanites against them since the Lamanites are now righteous.)
Sunday School Lesson 34
Lesson 34: Helaman 6-12 Chapter 6 Verse 3: How does the attitude of the members of the Church compare here with Moroni’s attitude? Verse 9: As soon as we read that the Nephites and Lamanites “became exceedingly rich� what do we expect to read about soon? Verse 17: Why do they want gain? What does it mean to be lifted up above another? What’s wrong with it? How do we lift ourselves above others? Verse 27: Why is the comparison of the Gadianton robbers to Cain an important one for us? What does it tell us? Verse 30: What does it mean to say that Satan is the author of all sin? Does that mean I am not the author of any sins? If so, how can I be held responsible?
Sunday School Lesson 33
I’m back from a couple of weeks during which the internet wasn’t accessible–altogether, a very nice experience. This is the lesson that I will be teaching tomorrow, and I will try to get next week’s lesson out early in the week. Lesson 33: Helaman 1-5 Chapter 1 Verses 7-8: How do we understand a righteous person like Pahoran the elder having a child who was so unrighteous? For what did the Nephites condemn Paanchi to death? Why was his crime so terrible that it deserved death?
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Eleven
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Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Ten
MBM: There is a Christ BMS: Jacob and Sherem
Sunday School Lesson 32
Lesson 32: Alma 53-63 Many people find it difficult to read the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon. Though I certainly understand why they have difficulty, for me the most difficult chapters are those on war at the end of Alma. I understand that they show us what happened to the Nephites, an important part of the Book of Mormon’s message. But I don’t find a lot of spiritual meaning in them, so I find myself just reading through them, not stopping to think, wonder, or meditate. I am interested in what others might contribute to helping me think about these chapters.
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Nine
BMS: A New Home in the Promised Land MBM: The Promised Land–The Nephites
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Eight
My main hope with this lesson is that Children’s Protective Services doesn’t knock on the door while the three-year-old is tied to the chair.
Sunday School Lesson 31
Lesson 31: Alma 43-52 The manual gives this overview of the material in the lesson: a. Alma 43–44. Led by Zerahemnah, the Lamanites come to battle against the Nephites, seeking to bring them into bondage. The Nephites, led by Moroni, fight to defend their families and their liberty. The Nephites prevail because they are “inspired by a better cause” and because they exercise faith in Jesus Christ. b. Alma 45:20–24; 46. Amalickiah desires to be king and causes dissension among the Nephites. Captain Moroni raises the “title of liberty” to inspire the people, and they covenant to follow God. Amalickiah and a few of his followers join the Lamanites. c. Alma 47–48. Through treachery, Amalickiah becomes king of the Lamanites. He incites the Lamanites to fight against the Nephites. Captain Moroni prepares the Nephites to defend themselves righteously. d. Alma 49–52. War continues between the Nephites and the Lamanites. The king-men desire to set up a king over the Nephites, but they are defeated. Teancum kills Amalickiah, who is succeeded as king of the Lamanites by his brother Ammoron. The Book of Mormon was written for us and for our day. What do these chapters have to do with us and our day? What spiritual purpose does this account of Lamanite and Nephite wars serve? Or, instead of having a spiritual purpose in themselves, are they primarily part of the background necessary for what follows?
Sunday School Lesson 30
Lesson 30: Alma 39-42 Why is the lengthy discussion of resurrection in chapters 40-31 addressed to Corianton? Why does that part of Alma’s sermon come before his discussion of the punishment of sin (chapter 42)?
Sunday School Lesson 29
Lesson 29: Alma 36-39 Alma 35:15-16 explains why Alma says the things in these chapters to his sons, Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton: because he grieved for the hardness of the hearts of the people to whom he and others had been sent as missionaries. (See Alma 31:6-7.) How does that explain what he says, especially since one of the three sons to whom he speaks, Helaman, was not part of that mission?
Book of Mormon Family Home Evening Lesson Seven
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Sunday School Lesson 28
Lesson 28: Alma 32-35 Warning: this set of study questions is long, probably the longest I’ve done so far. If you bother to go through them, I think you’ll see why. If you don’t, it probably doesn’t matter why, but this should give you some idea: In the first edition of the Book of Mormon, Alma 30-35 are one chapter (16). 1. Korihor (30) 2. Zoramites (31-32a; 35) 2a. the poor in spirit (32a) 2b. faith and the atonement (32b-34) 3. Separation of the Ammonites from Jershon (35) This suggests that we should read these stories as a piece, as a story about how Alma deals with different forms of apostasy. Alma’s sermon in chapters 32 and 33, with Amulek’s response to Alma’s sermon, are the conclusion or climax of the story. Notice that the division between chapters 32 and 33 occurs in the middle of the sermon, breaking it up artificially. The result is that we tend to treat the two parts of the sermon as distinct things, but we ought not to do so.