Family Home Evening Inspiration

I came across this article today in the Meridian Magazine and wanted to share:

Welcome, Welcome 2010!
By C.S. Bezas

Many homes celebrated Christmas this past week. But how much of a focus was on the birth of Him who came to redeem, even Jesus Christ? Perhaps the reality of His advent has not been seen by some hearts. Do your children understand how anciently His coming has been foretold? This Family Home Evening lesson uses a set of binoculars, a piece of paper and the scriptures to bring to sight Christ's earthly presence in the minds of your children. Time for some FHE Fun!

Opening Song: #46 Who Is the Child?

Opening Prayer: By invitation.

Devotional: Time for a quiet moment of testimony sharing. Has a scripture touched the life of anyone in the family this past week? Simple moments like these can be some of the sweetest in the weekly lives of children. Powerful and potent, a weekly FHE Devotional (or even a nightly one) can arm our children with strength in this virulent and dangerous world.

Activity:

Items needed:

• binoculars (easily obtained through a sports fan or a hunting friend)
• piece of paper
• scriptures

Ask a child to come forward and look through a pair of binoculars. Then ask, "What do you see?" How can the power of binoculars change our vision? In other words, how do they help us see something more clearly that is far off? Allow everyone in the room to try out the binoculars.

Ask another volunteer to come forward. Hold a piece of paper flatly and in front of their face, obstructing their vision with it. Now let them roll it into a tube and look through it. How does rolling the paper into a tube help them focus on the important things in the room? Let the others try it also.

Hold up a set of scriptures. Ask how the scriptures help a person to see distant things more clearly. What must we do so that the scriptures work for us, helping us see ourselves and life plainly? How do we sometimes prevent the scriptures from working for us? (see this resource and also 1 Nephi 18:12-21) How does prayer, sincere desire and repentance help our scripture study?

Application:

In closing, ask "What is the most important message the scriptures hold?" Once family members have shared their important thoughts, share that the knowledge that Jesus Christ is real, and actually came to earth, will shape their lives more deeply than any other thing. This is the visual clarity scriptures hold for each life. And once each person uses their scriptures effectively, the reality of Jesus Christ remains focused and eternity draws close...just like the binoculars brings far off items into closer view.

To finish off the lesson, select three for four scriptures from the following list to show Christ's coming had been known for ages and had many witnesses (the full table is available at this link).

• Isa. 7: 14 (2 Ne. 17: 14) virgin shall conceive, and bear a son.
• Isa. 9: 6 (2 Ne. 19: 6) unto us a child is born.
• Micah 5: 2 Bethlehem . . . out of thee shall he come forth.
• Matt. 1: 23 virgin shall . . . bring forth a son . . . Emmanuel.
• Matt. 2: 1 Jesus was born in Bethlehem.
• Luke 1: 31 bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
• Luke 2: 11 unto you is born this day . . . a Saviour, which is Christ.
• John 1: 14 (John 1: 3) Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
• Rom. 1: 3 Jesus . . . made of the seed of David.
• Gal. 4: 4 God sent . . . Son, made of a woman.
• 1 Ne. 10: 4 (1 Ne. 19: 8; 2 Ne. 25: 19) six hundred years . . . God raise up among the Jews even a Messiah.
• 1 Ne. 11: 18 mother of the Son of God.
• 2 Ne. 26: 3 signs given . . . of his birth.
• Alma 7: 10 he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem.
• Hel. 14: 4 sign . . . before he is born.
• 3 Ne. 1: 19 day that the Lord should be born.
• D&C 20: 1 since the coming of our Lord . . . in the flesh.
• D&C 76: 41 he came into the world, even Jesus.
• D&C 93: 4 I . . . made flesh my tabernacle.
• Moses 5: 57 (Moses 6: 57-62) Son . . . should come in the meridian of time.

Closing Song: #42 Away In a Manger

Closing Prayer: By invitation.

Refreshments: Candy canes stirred in hot chocolate could serve as an excellent refreshment for tonight's Family Home Evening. The sweet treats are abundantly available at this time of year and this link explains the fables and legends behind them.