Come, Follow Me Jul 1-7: "Ye Shall Be Witnesses Unto Me"

 

Hi! Welcome to Simply Family Home Evening! I am so excited about this week's lesson. We have "graduated" from the Gospels and now we are reading Acts. One book of scripture and learning about the organization of Christ's Church the first time it was on the earth. It almost feels like we have an opportunity to go back to the basics of the Gospel. That's what the Apostles were teaching right? This week we are studying Acts 1-5. The title of the lesson is "Ye Shall be Witnesses unto Me." Great subject as the Apostles head out to preach the good news of the Gospel! Here we go - Simply Family Home Evening lesson ideas 👇 coming right up!

{Note for those who are familiar with our lesson layout. We have moved all the video, scripture and General Authority message links to the end of our posts. We hope this helps declutter the posts a bit for those who just want to get to the lesson ideas without losing those quick reference links.}

If this is your first time here, make sure to check out THIS POST which will give you an overview of the layout for our lessons.

July 1-7
Acts 1-5
"Ye Shall be Witnesses unto Me"

Simply Family Home Evening Lesson Plan

• Ye Shall be Witnesses unto Me

The lesson idea we decided to focus on for Family Home Evening this week is:

I can be honest

Preparation: Do the activity first! Have the kids help you decorate an Honesty Jar, one for each kid (pint Mason Jar or some other container, fabric, hot glue, glitter, sequins, whatever fits your kids!) Get pom poms or some other material or object to fill the jar. Have this story from the Friend.
Opening Song: “I Believe in Being Honest” (Children’s Songbook, 149).
Scriptures: Acts 5:1–11 
Lesson: 
Read the story in Acts 5:1–11.

Talk about how important it is to be honest. Read this story from the Friend. 

Use the Smiling/Frowning face and read the following scenarios. You can pass it around or print off one for each kid. You may already have a copy if you saved yours from our lesson back in April. If the scenario is one where they are being honest, have them turn the face to smiling, if they are being dishonest, have them turn the face to frowning.

• Taking a treat when your mother has asked you not to do it.
• Telling the truth about what you do.
• Taking something that doesn’t belong to you.
• Admitting to doing something wrong.
• Saying that someone else did something wrong when you really did it.
• Finding some money or something that belongs to someone else and returning it to the owner.

Tell the kids that if they are honest, then you and Heavenly Father can trust them. When you notice them being honest in the next few weeks, have them put something in their honest jars until they are full. If you notice they are dishonest, tell them they have to empty their jars and start all over. This is how trust works. Tell them that Heavenly Father and Jesus want to trust them, but they must always be honest to earn that trust.

Activity Ideas:
Decorate honesty jars
Play Independence Day BINGO from One Creative Mommy

Additional Lesson or Discussion Ideas:

Jesus Christ leads His Church through prophets and apostles.

Preparation: Print out the Latter-Day Prophet Don't Eat Pete from our Activity Page and gets some candy to use as game pieces. Review the Simply Family Home Evening lesson for the week of March 11-17 and prepare to review and discuss who the current First Presidency is in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Scriptures: Acts 1:1–11 22–26

Videos:
New Testament Stories: 
     Chapter 55: The Apostles Lead the Church
Lesson: 
Watch the video and read Acts 1:1–11 22–26.
Use your favorite activities from the Mar 11-17 Simply Family Home Evening lesson to learn or review who the current First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles are. 
Activity Ideas:
Latter-Day Prophet Don't Eat Pete

Heavenly Father can bless others through me

Preparation: Print out pictures that depict service and put them in a bag (Preparing and passing the sacrament, paying tithing, praying for other people, acts of service, missionary work, temple work, giving blessings.) You may have some of these from previous lessons.

Scriptures: Acts 3:1–10

Videos:

Bible Video: 
     Peter and John Heal a Man Crippled Since Birth
New Testament Stories: 
     Chapter 56: Peter Heals a Man

Lesson: 

Read the scriptures; watch the videos or use a combination of both.

Explain to your kids that Heavenly Father used Peter to bless this man. Have each kid reach

into the bag and pull out a picture of an act of service they can perform (Preparing and passing the sacrament, paying tithing, praying for other people, acts of service, missionary work, temple work, giving blessings) Have each kid tell you what is happening in the picture. Tell them that since Heavenly Father and Jesus are not physically on earth, they often use us to bless other people.

Activity Ideas:

Go out and serve our neighbors. You could take them a treat, volunteer to mow someone's lawn or weed their garden, go spend 15 minutes in a grocery store parking lot and see how many people you can help load their groceries or put their carts away, write anonymous notes telling people how much you love them and why and leave them in their mailbox or taped to their door. I'd love to hear what other ideas you have in the comments on this post!

The Holy Ghost bears witness to my heart of gospel truths

Preparation: Get a poster board and print out or write the words "What Shall We Do?" across the top.
Scriptures: Acts 2:36–47 
Lesson: 

Read Acts 2:36–37  

Repeat the phrase “they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Tell the kids that when we hear gospel truths, the Holy Ghost tells us in our hearts and whispers us to go and do.

Start a poster this week and put the words “What Shall We Do?” at the top. Each week, take one things from the lessons and discussions you have and write down what the Holy Ghost is telling them to do. Work on doing that each week. Add to the list for the rest of the year.

Activity Ideas:

Decorate your poster.

Let us know what worked for your family this week. We want to know how it went! Feel free to comment below, or show us how it's going using #simplyfamilyhomeevening on social media. You can also tag us in your photos on Instagram and Facebook. We'd love to see you there!

Discussion Topics:

• Jesus Christ leads His Church through prophets and apostles. (Acts 1:1–11) 
• I can be honest.(Acts 5:1–11) 
• Heavenly Father blesses others through me, even if I am not wealthy. (Acts 3:1–10) 
• The Holy Ghost bears witness to my heart of gospel truths. (Acts 2:36–47) 
• Heavenly Father can bless others through me. (Acts 3:1–10) 

Bible Videos:

• Peter and John Heal a Man Crippled Since Birth 
• Peter Preaches and is Arrested
• Peter and John are Judged
• Peter and John Continue Preaching the Gospel 

New Testament Stories:

• Chapter 55: The Apostles Lead the Church
• Chapter 56: Peter Heals a Man 

General Authority Messages:

• Elder Renlund Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying
• Brother Ashton The Doctrine of Christ
• President Nelson Sustaining the Prophets
• President Hinckley God Is at the Helm 

Other Resources From The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints:
Link to Come, Follow Me for Primary
Link to Come, Follow Me for Individuals and Families
The Friend - For ideas on how to use The Friend Magazine see our Activity Ideas page