Increasing Our Faith In Jesus Christ
Supplies
A pot or bowl big enough for a small garden
Supplies to decorate the garden.
Oreo cookies.
Supplies to decorate the garden.
Oreo cookies.
Activity
Ask everyone who have ever driven in a car to get somewhere to raise their hands. Explain:
- What kind of faith did you need to have in a vehicle in order to ride in it?
- How could that vehicle disappoint you?
- What could have happened if that vehicle had not lived up to your faith in it?
Activity
Divide your family into two teams, Give each team a plastic bag and tell them that they have 5 minutes to search for objects that are dead and objects that are alive. They will get 3 points for all ‘alive’ objects and 1 point for all ‘dead’ objects. They are allowed to get the same object only once (eg. One blade of grass ect. . .) After five minutes is up and every has tallied up their scores explain:
All around us there are dead things and things that are living. Our faith can be categorized the same way.
All around us there are dead things and things that are living. Our faith can be categorized the same way.
- How do we know if our faith is dead or alive?
- How do you know if a plant is dead or alive?
Activity
In a food processor, chop up Oreo cookies until they look like potting soil. Place the crumbs/soil into a flowerpot. Get a seed. Then here is the lesson.
Faith being like a grain of mustard or a seed that is planted in good soil. (Take the seed that you have and plant it in the soil)
We need to make sure that the seed has sun, water, and fertilizer if needs be. This is like our own faith in Jesus Christ. Right now we each have planted a seed in our ’soil’ and have done different things to help it grow. Sometimes having faith can be a hard principle to understand. To make it easier for us to understand having ‘faith in Jesus Christ’, God has given us parents. As we learn to trust our parents and have ‘faith’ in what they teach you, it is easier to have ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ.
For instance, who has faith that I will do everything possible to keep you safe (hopefully everyone will)? Pick one of them to come up. In front of everyone put a few drops of peppermint oil in the ’soil’ and say “Do you have faith in me?” (they say yes) “I just put peppermint in this soil and it now tastes very yummy. If you really have faith in me I want you to show it by opening your mouth and eating this soil.” (feed them a spoonful-if they won’t see if you can get someone else to eat the soil)
Faith being like a grain of mustard or a seed that is planted in good soil. (Take the seed that you have and plant it in the soil)
- If I want this seed to grow, is it enough to just have planted the seed?
- What else do I need to do?
- What are some of the ‘works’ that we need to do in order to keep this flower alive?
- what would happen if we didn’t do anything else to this seed?
We need to make sure that the seed has sun, water, and fertilizer if needs be. This is like our own faith in Jesus Christ. Right now we each have planted a seed in our ’soil’ and have done different things to help it grow. Sometimes having faith can be a hard principle to understand. To make it easier for us to understand having ‘faith in Jesus Christ’, God has given us parents. As we learn to trust our parents and have ‘faith’ in what they teach you, it is easier to have ‘faith’ in Jesus Christ.
For instance, who has faith that I will do everything possible to keep you safe (hopefully everyone will)? Pick one of them to come up. In front of everyone put a few drops of peppermint oil in the ’soil’ and say “Do you have faith in me?” (they say yes) “I just put peppermint in this soil and it now tastes very yummy. If you really have faith in me I want you to show it by opening your mouth and eating this soil.” (feed them a spoonful-if they won’t see if you can get someone else to eat the soil)
Story
One early march I traveled with a group of about 65 fifth-grade boys to Clear Creek Camp located up Spanish Fork Canyon. Shortly after we arrived, the principal of the school informed us that we would be taking a two-mile hike through nearly three feet of fresh snow, and many of the boys did not think to bring boots. However we were all required to make the trek so we were told to dress as warmly as we could.
The hike proved to be exciting. . .Within the first hour we stopped to discuss wildlife. . .As we were beginning the last half of the hike, I noticed the boy in front of me was missing a shoe. We searched all around but could not find it anywhere. The scary thing was his foot was so numb with cold that he hadn’t even realized he had lost the shoe, and he had no idea how long it had been missing.
As a mother, I was worried, and we decided that the boy should put on both of my boots, because his feet were so wet and frozen. I resorted to the next best thing. Each of the boys had been asked to bring a large plastic garbage bag on the hike, so I put two bags on over my socks and then pulled his wet socks over the top of the bags to keep them in place. Once we had made the switch we began to hike again through the snow.
The principal had passed us in the process of switching boots and was fully aware of the situation, so it really surprised me when he directed us to continue up the mountain instead of returning home. Since we had been hiking for more than an hour, I didn’t want to turn back alone, and so I followed. I made it for about five minutes before the cold started to sink in. With the use of a pair of snowshoes I was able tot keep from sinking, but my feet still came in direct contact with the snow with every step. I was freezing, and still we were making our way up the hill.
I tried thinking of the pioneers to convince myself that his sacrifice was minimal compared to what they must have walked through, but hat lasted only about fifteen minutes, and then I was fighting back tears and frustration. I wondered what the principal was thinking.
By the time we finally stopped our climb, I realized we were more than an hour from our cars by the way we had come, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it back: I was pretty sure they would have to send in a helicopter to rescue me. I looked with some irritation at the principal. . .We were standing almost at the crest, with the mountain falling below us at a steep angle, and far below us, I could see our three cabins nestled in the trees. By now I was standing on my heels to keep the rest of my feet out of the snow, and I wondered how I would ever get back. I figured the principal had forgotten about me. Surely he must have, or he would have raced us all home the way we had come..
The, just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, the principal did the stangest thing. He lay down flat on his back on one of the large plastic bags and began sliding down the hill, foll speed toward the cabins. The rest of us were shocked! And then it dawned on us what he was doing. This ws athe purpose of the plastic bags. We were to sit on them and slide home.
I have never been so grateful for a plastic garbage bag in my life! I sat down ant stared sliding and found myself back at the cabins within ten minutes. I had made it! And I realized that all along the principal had known what he was doing. He knew I would be fine, because he knew the plan, and he had prepared the quickest way to get me out of a tough situation.
The hike proved to be exciting. . .Within the first hour we stopped to discuss wildlife. . .As we were beginning the last half of the hike, I noticed the boy in front of me was missing a shoe. We searched all around but could not find it anywhere. The scary thing was his foot was so numb with cold that he hadn’t even realized he had lost the shoe, and he had no idea how long it had been missing.
As a mother, I was worried, and we decided that the boy should put on both of my boots, because his feet were so wet and frozen. I resorted to the next best thing. Each of the boys had been asked to bring a large plastic garbage bag on the hike, so I put two bags on over my socks and then pulled his wet socks over the top of the bags to keep them in place. Once we had made the switch we began to hike again through the snow.
The principal had passed us in the process of switching boots and was fully aware of the situation, so it really surprised me when he directed us to continue up the mountain instead of returning home. Since we had been hiking for more than an hour, I didn’t want to turn back alone, and so I followed. I made it for about five minutes before the cold started to sink in. With the use of a pair of snowshoes I was able tot keep from sinking, but my feet still came in direct contact with the snow with every step. I was freezing, and still we were making our way up the hill.
I tried thinking of the pioneers to convince myself that his sacrifice was minimal compared to what they must have walked through, but hat lasted only about fifteen minutes, and then I was fighting back tears and frustration. I wondered what the principal was thinking.
By the time we finally stopped our climb, I realized we were more than an hour from our cars by the way we had come, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it back: I was pretty sure they would have to send in a helicopter to rescue me. I looked with some irritation at the principal. . .We were standing almost at the crest, with the mountain falling below us at a steep angle, and far below us, I could see our three cabins nestled in the trees. By now I was standing on my heels to keep the rest of my feet out of the snow, and I wondered how I would ever get back. I figured the principal had forgotten about me. Surely he must have, or he would have raced us all home the way we had come..
The, just when I thought I couldn’t take it any longer, the principal did the stangest thing. He lay down flat on his back on one of the large plastic bags and began sliding down the hill, foll speed toward the cabins. The rest of us were shocked! And then it dawned on us what he was doing. This ws athe purpose of the plastic bags. We were to sit on them and slide home.
I have never been so grateful for a plastic garbage bag in my life! I sat down ant stared sliding and found myself back at the cabins within ten minutes. I had made it! And I realized that all along the principal had known what he was doing. He knew I would be fine, because he knew the plan, and he had prepared the quickest way to get me out of a tough situation.
- How would have the hike been different for her if she had of had more ‘faith’ in the principal?
- Why didn't she talk to the principal about the situation?