Priesthood is the divine power given by God to act in His name. It is essential for performing sacred ordinances and leading the Church. Through the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, priesthood authority was restored to the earth.
This lesson will introduce children to the concept of the priesthood and help them learn about some of the ways we are blessed by the priesthood.
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➤ P R E P A R A T I O N
Find a small lamp or desk light that you can use for the introduction activity. It would be good to have a power strip or extension cord as well, so that children can easily see when the light is plugged in and when it is unplugged.
➤ L E S S O N
Open the lesson with a song and a prayer.
🎶 K A R A O K E V I D E O : "We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet"
➤ I N T R O D U C T I O N
Display the light in a place where everyone can see it, but leave it unplugged for now. Say “To start our lesson today, I’m going to turn on this light.” Attempt to turn on the light several times while the children watch.
1) Why won’t this light turn on? (It’s not plugged in.)
2) Why do we need to plug it in? (It has electricity/power.)
3) If it’s not plugged in to the power, will it ever work? (No.)
Now plug in the light and turn it on!
1) Can the light work by itself? Or does it need something else to make light? (It needs something else.)
2) What does the light need in order to make light? (Power/electricity.)
Explain: Today we are learning about the priesthood. The priesthood is God’s power. It’s the power He uses to do good things for all of us. Sometimes, God lets us use His priesthood power to help Him do His work.
1) Can you think of anything that God lets us do with His priesthood power? (Perform baptisms, bestow the Gift of the Holy Ghost, give priesthood blessings, administer the sacrament, etc.)
Just like this light can’t turn on by itself, we can’t do God’s work by ourselves. (Turn off the light.) If we try to do his work without His priesthood power, that’s kind of like trying to turn on a light without any electricity. We need to have the priesthood power from Heavenly Father. (Turn on the light again.)
🎥 V I D E O : "What is the Priesthood?"
Say: “Now we are going to watch a video about the priesthood. Try to find the answer to this question while you are watching: What are three things that were done with the power of the priesthood?”
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Discuss the following questions after watching the video:
1) What is the priesthood? (The power of God.)
2) Can you remember three things in the video that were done with the power of the
priesthood? (Creation of the world, Jesus Christ performing miracles, Samuel the Lamanite was protected, Moses parted the Red Sea, 16 stones made light for the Jaredites.)
3) Did those people have permission to use the Priesthood? (Yes.)
4) How did they get permission to use the priesthood? (Laying on of hands by someone who has the authority.)
5) Were these people plugged in to the power of the priesthood? (Yes.)
6) What did they have to do to be plugged in to the power? (Keep the commandments.)
7) Can we do baptisms or bless the sacrament without the priesthood? (No.)
8) Why not? (It won’t work without the power, just like the light won’t work without the power.)
➤ S C R I P T U R E
“...and I would that ye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.”
1) Did these priests have the power from God to teach? (Yes.)
2) How did they get it? (From God. They were ordained by one who had authority.)
“Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;”
1) How many people were ordained to the priesthood? (Many.)
2) Were they plugged into the power of the priesthood? (Yes.)
3) How? (They showed exceeding faith, repentance and righteousness.)
➤ A C T I V I T Y
Pass out activity pages.
Follow the directions on the activity pages. Use this activity as an opportunity to discuss the power and authority of the priesthood.
➤ T E S T I M O N Y
Bear testimony of the truths found in the scriptures.
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