SUNDAY SCHOOL Come Follow Me Interactive Activities – FEBRUARY (week 2) New Testament “Ye Must Be Born Again” Come, Follow Me (John 2-4)

This week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families suggests reading John 2:1–11 from the perspective of someone who was present when Jesus turned water into wine. Perhaps class members could share insights they gained from doing this. What do we learn about the Savior from these verses? How did this miracle manifest the glory of God? (see verse 11).

• To help class members learn from the account of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple, you might ask them to think of other things, in addition to temples, that the Lord considers sacred. How can we help preserve the sanctity of these sacred things?

How might we explain to someone what it means to be born again? Consider inviting class members to practice how they would answer this question with the person sitting next to them. As they do, they could discuss questions like these: What do we learn from Jesus’s words in John 3:3–7? How do repentance, baptism, and confirmation help us be born again? The statements in “Additional Resources” could add to this discussion.

Some people believe that a person can’t really change. Nicodemus, however, is an example of someone who did change as a result of following the gospel of Jesus Christ. To help class members see this, you could invite them to search John 3:1–2; John 7:45–52; and John 19:38–40. What do we learn from these passages about Nicodemus’s attitudes and beliefs? How did he change over time? What examples can we share of people who have changed because of the gospel?

Elder David A. Bednar taught: “Conversion … is mighty, not minor—a spiritual rebirth and fundamental change of what we feel and desire, what we think and do, and what we are. Indeed, the essence of the gospel of Jesus Christ entails a fundamental and permanent change in our very nature made possible through our reliance upon ‘the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah’ (2 Nephi 2:8). As we choose to follow the Master, we choose to be changed—to be spiritually reborn” (“Ye Must Be Born Again,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2007, 20).

President Dallin H. Oaks taught: “We were born again when we entered into a covenant relationship with our Savior by being born of water and of the Spirit and by taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ. We can renew that rebirth each Sabbath when we partake of the sacrament. Latter-day Saints affirm that those who have been born again in this way are spiritually begotten sons and daughters of Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 5:7; 15:9–13; 27:25). Nevertheless, in order to realize the intended blessings of this born-again status, we must still keep our covenants and endure to the end” (“Have You Been Saved?,” Ensign, May 1998, 56).

Our bodies need food and water daily. Jesus referred to these universal needs when He taught both the Samaritan woman and His disciples (see John 4:5–34). To help class members understand what the Savior was teaching, you could put pictures of food and water on the board and invite class members to write under each picture the truths about spiritual food and water that Jesus taught. How does the Savior satisfy our spiritual hunger and spiritual thirst?