SUNDAY SCHOOL Come Follow Me Interactive Activities – OCTOBER (week 3) Old Testament “Before I Formed Thee in the Belly I Knew Thee” (Jeremiah)

• You might begin a discussion about Jeremiah’s call as a prophet by displaying a picture of the living prophet and asking class members to share how they came to know that he was called of God. You could also ask them to share how they have helped others come to know this important truth. How does this knowledge bless our lives? Class members could then list on the board things they learn about prophets from Jeremiah 1:4–19. What do prophets in our day “root out” or “pull down”? What do they “build” and “plant”? (verse 10).

• Invite class members to share what Jeremiah learned about himself in Jeremiah 1:5. How might this knowledge have affected his ministry? Class members could read the statement in “Additional Resources” and the following scriptures that support this truth: Alma 13:1–4; Doctrine and Covenants 138:53–56; Abraham 3:22–23. How do these truths about our premortal life affect the way we live our mortal life?

• To prompt a discussion about Jeremiah 2:13, you could draw on the board a cistern (a large underground reservoir) and a fountain (like a natural spring). Class members could then read Jeremiah 2:13 and talk about why it is better to get water from a fountain rather than digging a cistern. What might be the spiritual equivalent of making broken cisterns? You could invite class members to read verses from Jeremiah 2 and 7 and share some of the ways the Israelites had forsaken “the fountain of living waters” (see, for example, Jeremiah 2:26–28; 7:2–11). Why is “living water” a good symbol for what the Savior gives us?

  Jeremiah 7:2 “Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord.”

  Notice that children are illustrated in the next two activities. So, tell the youth that Jesus wants us to be humble and teachable like little children (Matthew 18:3-4).

Jeremiah 3:14–18; 16:14–15

The Lord will gather His people.

. . . YOU ARE UNIQUE AND SERVE UNIQUELY . . .

President Russell M. Nelson taught:

“Your spirit is an eternal entity. The Lord said to His prophet Abraham: ‘Thou wast chosen before thou wast born’ [Abraham 3:23]. The Lord said something similar about Jeremiah [see Jeremiah 1:5] and many others [see Alma 13:2–3]. He even said it about you [see Doctrine and Covenants 138:55–56].

“Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth. You were chosen not for your bodily characteristics but for your spiritual attributes, such as bravery, courage, integrity of heart, a thirst for truth, a hunger for wisdom, and a desire to serve others.

“You developed some of these attributes premortally. Others you can develop here on earth as you persistently seek them” (“Decisions for Eternity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 107).