POST-AND-PRESENT. PERFECT BRIGHTNESS OF HOPE mood changer. Youth can draw tissue from the box as they: #1 Draw a SAD SUN card and read the situation. #2 Tell how Jesus made it better to “dry our tears” (Revelations 21:4). #3 Place a HAPPY SUN under the story pictures that match the situation: Garden of Gethsemane, After the Resurrection, and Spirits in Heaven.
Use for COME FOLLOW ME for Primary and Home, Sunday School, Seminary, and family home evening
POST-AND-PRESENT Activity
Perfect Brightness of Hope mood-changer
OBJECTIVE: Tell how Jesus saved us from physical and spiritual death giving us a perfect brightness of hope. With this mood-changer activity, they can give others hope.
The activity teaches how we can change our mood when we are saddened by spiritual or physical problems to gain a “brightness of hope” as Jesus Christ has paid the price to “dry our tears” (Rev. 21:4). He suffered for our sins and died and was resurrected to show us the way.
TO MAKE VISUALS: Print, color, and cut out the three pictures, tissue box covers and pockets, hopeless cards, and sun-stickers. You’ll need a tall 9 1/2-inch wide tissue box full of tissues. Mount the sad and happy sun faces on the front and back of the tissue box and sad and happy sun pockets on the ends (leaving an opening at the top). Slip hopeless cards in the sad sun pocket to draw from. Mount the sun stickers on the bottom of the board below the pictures.
DETAILS FOR THE “PERFECT BRIGHTNESS OF HOPE” ACTIVITY (ABOVE)
FOR YOUTH TO PRESENT:
1. Mount poster with sun stickers as shown (not mounting pictures yet). Place tissue box on a tall stand so all youth can see. Show youth the sad and happy sun on the tissue box. Show the sad sun and pull a tissue from the box and pretend to wipe your eyes. Show sad sun and say, “Many people in this world are sad because they don’t have hope. What makes them sad?
• Some are sad because they have sinned and don’t think they can be forgiven.
• Some are sad because they are handicapped or have physical problems and they don’t think they will ever receive a healthy, whole body again.
• Some are sad because they have lost loved ones and don’t think they will see them again.” Read from the box Revelations 21:4, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
2. Turn the box around and show happy sun and say, “Jesus brings everyone a ‘perfect brightness of hope’ (2 Nephi 31:20); He dries our tears. Heavenly Father sent His son Jesus to the earth to save us from sin and death.”
3. Mount pictures on a poster as shown as you tell about each:
• Garden of Gethsemane: “Jesus saved us from our sins, making it possible for us to repent and be forgiven.” Talk about Jesus suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46).
• After Resurrection: “Jesus died and was resurrected. He did this so that we can all be resurrected and have a perfect body again.” Talk about the Apostles who felt the nail prints in His hands (Luke 24:38-40) and were happy to know it was Jesus alive again.
• Spirits in Heaven: “Jesus promised us eternal life. This means we can live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus and our families again if we keep Heavenly Father’s commandments.” Talk about how the spirits in heaven will be united (D&C 132:1-29).
4. Have youth take turns doing the following to “wipe away tears” (Rev. 21:4):
• Draw a hopeless card from the sad sun pocket on the side of the tissue box.
• Turn the tissue box to show the sad face and read the card.
• Tell what Jesus did to give this person a “perfect brightness of hope” and move a sun sticker from below the poster to below one of the three pictures on the board. Then tell what Jesus did to dry their tears.
• Turn the tissue box to show the happy face and place the card in the sun pocket on the side of the tissue box.
Reference Ideas (Brightness of Hope Scriptures):
• Alma 13:29 “Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest.”
• Moroni 7:41 “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise.”
• Moroni 7:42 “Wherefore, if a man have faith he must needs have hope; for without faith there cannot be any hope.”
• Psalm 31:24 “Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.”
• John 11:25 “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
THOUGHT TREAT: Hum a Sacrament Tune Hummus & Veggies. As you share and sing or hum hymns about the atonement you can share this treat. CLICK HERE FOR Hummus Recipe.
SOURCE ST 2006 #4
MORE LESSON IDEAS:
Because of Christ’s Atonement, I can repent and live with God again.
Identify the doctrine (filling in the blanks): Before Primary, write on the board, “Because of Christ’s _______, I can ______ and live with _____ again.” Write the words Atonement, repent, and God on separate wordstrips and tape them under three of the chairs in the room. Invite the children to find the wordstrips and place them on the board in their proper place. Read the sentence together.
Gospel Grab Bag Suggestions: PRESENT THE “Perfect Brightness of Hope” mood-changer . . . TO DOWNLOAD HERE or above (shown above).
Encourage understanding (reading scriptures and answering questions): Place pictures of Christ in Gethsemane and the Crucifixion on the board. Cover the pictures with several smaller pieces of paper. On each piece of paper write a question about the event in the pictures and a scripture reference from Matthew 26–27 or Luke 22–23 where the answer can be found. (For example: What is the name of the place where Jesus went to pray? Matthew 26:36.) Divide the children into groups, and ask each group to look up one of the scriptures and find the answer to the question. Have the groups share the answers to their questions and remove the corresponding pieces of paper to reveal the pictures.
Encourage application (seeing an object lesson): Discuss with the children the meaning of the words Atonement and repentance, and explain how the Atonement can bless us (see True to the Faith: A Gospel Reference [2004], 14–20, 132–35). Show the children a gift. Ask a child to try to give the gift to another child, and ask the second child to refuse to receive it. Explain that when we do not receive a gift that is given to us, we cannot enjoy the blessings of the gift. Have the children listen for what they must do to receive the gift of the Atonement as you read together Doctrine and Covenants 19:16.
OTHER SOURCES & IDEAS:
• Heavenly Father chose Jesus Christ to be our Savior (Abraham 3:22-28; Gospel Principles, chapter 3).
• Heavenly Father sent the Savior to fulfill His promise to help us gain eternal happiness (John 3:16; Gospel Principles, chapter 12).
• Jesus Christ was resurrected. He lives today (Matthew 28:5-6; Primary 2, lesson 45).
• Heavenly Father gave me agency and through Jesus Christ provided a way for me to repent and return to Him (Primary 3, lesson 10; Gospel Principles, chapter 19).
