Sacrament meeting could be the most joyous hour during the week . . . if approached sweetly. Here is a Family Home Evening lesson to teach just that. Time for some FHE Fun!
Opening Song: #195 Family Night
Opening Prayer: By Invitation.
Devotional: Explaining, sharing, and testifying all work together to forge powerful bonds amongst family members. Why not take advantage of the opportunity that weekly FHEs offer for this. Take a few moments at the beginning of each Family Home Evening to allow spontaneous sharing of scriptures discovered during the past week. Invite family members to share an experience they had during personal scripture study and why it touched them.
Activity:
Items Needed:
- An angel food cake (or pre-make a cake without any decorations or icing)
- Cake icing and spatula
- Cake decorations
Explain to the kids that today for Family Home Evening, the family will be decorating a cake and eating it. Enjoy the responses as the kids excitedly gather around to help. Quietly remember the phrases they say so that you can share them later.
Give each child a special assignment during the activity. Stand back and let them decorate without criticizing or giving directions how to do it (unless the children are very small).
Once the cake is “decorated”, set it aside. Ignore any comments like, “But, Dad, we want to eat it now. You said we could eat it!”
Quietly explain there is some preparation to do first.
Application:
Read the following scripture:
“For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent;
“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—“ (D&C 19:16-18).
- Ask the family what that scripture has to do with the Sacrament they take each week?
- Ask them why they take the Sacrament?
- If they are really paying attention to the Spirit while taking the bread and the water, what do they think they'd be feeling?
- How can they prepare during the week to feel these feelings?
The Lord has given each one of us a wonderful gift. What is that gift (that the Sacrament reminds us of)?
The Lord loves each one of us. He desires us back in His presence. He has given us the ordinance of baptism to wipe away sins. Weekly preparation for the covenant offered by the Sacrament will renew those baptismal covenants and joyous promises. Ask the family to think of three ways to begin now preparing to partake of the Sacrament each Sunday.
Let them know that if they look forward to partaking of the Sacrament each week as much as they look forward to eating the cake they decorated, they will experience over time a mighty change of heart. The Sabbath day will become a day of rejoicing every week. The Sacrament they take on Sundays will change their lives. And the entire Sacrament meeting will take on a sweet and joyous significance.
Closing Song: #177 ‘Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
Closing Prayer: By Invitation.
Refreshments: Eat and enjoy your “Sabbath Cake” the kids decorated. Help them know that joy can be theirs as they prepare all through the week to renew baptismal covenants. The Lord loves them and desires them back in His presence.
