POSTER ACTIVITY. APOSTASY & RESTORATION Church Building Blocks. Help youth understand the teachings and leadership positions in the Church at the time Jesus organized His Church with the priesthood. Compare THEN, when Jesus lived (and how it was taken away) and NOW when the Prophet Joseph Smith restored The Church of Jesus Christ again in the Latter-days.
Great for COME FOLLOW ME, Primary and Family Home Evening, Bible Study, and Activity Days
POST-AND-PRESENT ACTIVITY:
Apostasy and Restoration
(Church Building Blocks Object Lesson)
OBJECTIVE: (see above).
ACTIVITY: Talk to youth about when Jesus was on the earth and how He organized His Church with priesthood leadership, true doctrine, temples, and ordinances. Stack the blocks as you talk about each. Church Organization Blocks to Stack Are Baptism, Commandments, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Missionaries, Priesthood, Prophets/Apostles, Sacrament, Scriptures, and Temples.
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HOVER OVER or ZOOM IN (to view) Show pictures of Jesus, such as His teachings (Sermon on the Mount) and His Crucifixion and Resurrection. Tell the youth that after these events, the people started teaching the wrong things. Have them knock down the blocks as you tell about the Apostasy.
- Discuss Joseph Smith’s call to restore the Church. Have youth pick up the blocks to help rebuild The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the same Church Jesus built. Turn blocks around to images of our day to show that Joseph was instructed to bring back the true gospel.
- Bear your testimony of the Restoration of the Church through Joseph Smith.
TO MAKE: Print, color, and cut out the Church building blocks. Laminate them. Cut out boxes again and fold and tape boxes with a few beans or corn inside for weight, then seal with tape. Ahead of time, practice stacking blocks like visual 1, showing the Church organization THEN at Jesus’s time. Then practice stacking blocks like visual 2, showing the Church organization NOW after the Restoration.
TESTIMONY SHARING: Ask youth to share their testimony on the following. Ideas: Why was a restoration necessary? During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ established His Church with priesthood authority. It was led by prophets and apostles who taught true doctrine and received the revelation that was recorded as scripture. With the death of the apostles, priesthood authority was taken from the earth, revelation ceased, and essential doctrines were lost or corrupted. Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Church that Jesus Christ established was restored.
THOUGHT TREAT: Jell-O Building Blocks. Make several batches of blocks gelatin recipe and have youth talk about the identical blocks Joseph Smith used NOW in these latter-days to build the church back to the THEN state when Jesus organized His church upon the earth.
RECIPE FOR BLOCKS: 3 pkg. (3 oz. each) JELL-O Raspberry Flavor Gelatin, 4 envelopes KNOX Unflavored Gelatine, 1 qt. (4 cups) boiling water
TO MAKE: Mix dry gelatins and gelatin in a large bowl; stir in boiling water until completely dissolved. Pour into a 13×9-inch pan. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Cut into small squares.
