“July 1–7. Acts 1–5: ‘Ye Shall Be Witnesses unto Me’” Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2019 (2019)
“July 1–7. Acts 1–5,” Come, Follow Me—For Primary: 2019
Day of Pentecost, by Sidney King
July 1–7
Acts 1–5
“Ye Shall Be Witnesses unto Me”
Begin your preparation by reading Acts 1–5. Prayerfully seek to understand the needs of the children you teach. Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families and this outline can also help you.
Record Your Impressions
Invite Sharing
Write Who am I? on the board. Provide several statements about Peter and ask the children who the statements are about. What else do they know about Peter?
Teach the Doctrine
Younger Children
Jesus Christ leads His Church through prophets and apostles.
Learning about how the Savior led His ancient Church through apostles can help the children gain testimonies of prophets and apostles in our day.
Possible Activities
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Show the full-page picture from this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families. Ask the children why they think the men are looking at the sky. Summarize the account from Acts 1:1–11. See also “Chapter 55: The Apostles Lead the Church,” New Testament Stories, 145–47, or the corresponding video (LDS.org).
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While the class looks at the picture from this week’s outline in Come, Follow Me—For Individuals and Families, invite a child to hold up a picture of the current Apostles. Who leads the Church when Christ is not on the earth? How do they lead the Church?
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Play a matching game with two sets of pictures of the living First Presidency and Twelve Apostles. When a match is made, share the Apostle or President’s name and something about him.
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On the back of a picture of Jesus, tape small pictures of things a prophet might teach about, like baptism or a temple. Let each child take a turn looking at one of the pictures and telling the rest of the class, “The prophet teaches us about [the topic on the picture].”
Heavenly Father can bless others through me.
What can you do to help children recognize ways they can bless those around them? Help them learn from the example of Peter and John healing the lame man.
Possible Activities
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Invite the children to do actions that go along with the story in Acts 3:1–10, such as putting out their hands for money and leaping for joy. How did Heavenly Father bless the man who couldn’t walk?
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Bring a bag containing pictures that represent ways that we can bless and serve others. Let the children take turns choosing pictures from the bag and sharing how they can bless others in that way.
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Ask the children to share a time when they helped someone.
I can be honest.
The early Christians practiced a form of the law of consecration to help care for the poor. Those who owned land sold it and gave the money to the Apostles to be distributed among the Saints according to their needs. Ananias and Sapphira were dishonest about their contribution, thinking they could deceive the Lord’s servants.
Possible Activities
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Help the children act out the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Explain that although we won’t die when we tell a lie, this story shows how important being honest is to Heavenly Father.
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Sing together a song about honesty, such as “I Believe in Being Honest” (Children’s Songbook, 149). Help the children understand that part of being honest means always telling the truth and not taking things that belong to someone else.
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Use paper-bag puppets to act out simple situations in which someone is being honest or dishonest. Ask the children to stand up if the person was being honest or sit on the floor if the person was being dishonest.
Teach the Doctrine
Older Children
Jesus Christ leads His Church through prophets and apostles.
The children you teach can understand that the Savior’s Church today is led by prophets and apostles, just as it was in ancient times.
Possible Activities
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Write on the board How does Jesus Christ lead the Church when He is not on the earth? Invite the children to look for answers to the question as you read the Savior’s words to the Apostles in Acts 1:8.
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Read together Acts 1:22–26. As a class, identify how the Apostles called a new Apostle.
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Ahead of time, ask a child and his or her parent to read about a recently called Apostle (perhaps on LDS.org). Invite the child to share what he or she learned with the class and, if possible, what the Apostle said about his call in his first general conference message.
The Apostles led the Church after Christ ascended to heaven.
Heavenly Father blesses others through me, even if I am not wealthy.
How can you teach the children that they can bless others, even if they do not have “silver and gold”? (Acts 3:6). How can you help them see opportunities to serve God by serving others?
Possible Activities
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Ask a child to read Acts 3:1–10 while the other children act out the story. (For help, see also “Chapter 56: Peter Heals a Man,” New Testament Stories, 148–49, or the corresponding video on LDS.org.) You could also show the video “Peter and John Heal a Man Crippled Since Birth” (LDS.org). In what way was the blessing this man received greater than the money he asked for?
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Pass around a bag of coins. As the children hold the bag, ask them what they can buy with money. Then take back the bag of coins and ask the children what blessings they cannot buy. Invite them to share how they can serve somebody without using money (Acts 3:6).
The Holy Ghost bears witness to my heart of gospel truths.
When children learn to recognize how the Holy Ghost speaks to them, they will be inspired to listen and act on the inspiration they receive.
Possible Activities
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Read together Acts 2:36–37. What does it feel like when the Holy Ghost tells us something in our hearts?
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As a class, make a poster with the words What shall we do? at the top. Display the poster each week, and add ways the children can act on what they learn in each week’s lesson.
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Invite the children to find the good things the people did after they were baptized in Acts 2:41–47. What good things can we do to show we are thankful for the gift of the Holy Ghost we received when we were baptized?
Encourage Learning at Home
Encourage the children to plan one way they can serve Heavenly Father by helping a member of their families this week.
Improving Our Teaching
Memorize a scripture. Select a scripture passage that you think could help the children in your class, such as Acts 2:38 or Acts 3:19, and help them memorize a phrase from the scripture. Visual aids, hand motions, or gestures can also help children commit scriptures to memory.