“February 13–19. Matthew 5; Luke 6: ‘Blessed Are Ye,’” Come, Follow Me—For Primary: New Testament 2023 (2022)
“February 13–19. Matthew 5; Luke 6,” Come, Follow Me—For Primary: 2023
Jesus Preaching Sermon on the Mount, by Gustave Doré
February 13–19
Matthew 5; Luke 6
“Blessed Are Ye”
Your opportunity to teach children is precious. As you prepare yourself spiritually, the Lord will guide you.
Invite Sharing
Ask the children to talk about something they did this week to share the light of the Lord with someone—perhaps by being a good example or showing love and kindness.
Teach the Doctrine: Younger Children
I can be a peacemaker.
The children you teach can have a powerful influence at home as they treat others with love and kindness.
Possible Activities
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Read Matthew 5:9 to the children, and explain that peacemakers make any place peaceful, no matter where they are. Write on strips of paper some examples of contentious situations the children might face (for example, siblings fighting over a toy). Invite each child to pick a strip of paper. As you read each scenario, ask the children to share how they could be a peacemaker in that situation. Or share a few fictional scenarios, and help the children identify whether or not the people involved are being peacemakers.
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Invite a few of the children’s parents to visit your class and share examples of times when their children were peacemakers in the home.
Jesus wants me to be a light to others.
Little children can have a powerful influence for good on others. How can you inspire them to let their light shine?
Possible Activities
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Show the children several items that give light, and show a picture of children. Read Matthew 5:14–16, and tell the children that their good examples can be like a light for others to see. How can we use our light to bring others to God?
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Shine a flashlight around the room, and invite the children to follow the light with their eyes. Use the light to lead their eyes to a picture of the Savior. How does light help us? How can we be a light to the world? Cover the flashlight. What happens if we don’t share our light or if we hide it?
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Hide a flashlight in the room, and turn off the lights. Let the children try to find it. Review Matthew 5:15, and talk about why we shouldn’t hide our light.
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Help the children find and color the hidden candles in this week’s activity page.
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Sing with the children a song about being a light for others, such as “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” “Shine On,” or “I Am like a Star” (Children’s Songbook, 60–61, 144, 163).
We can be happy by living the way Jesus taught.
Jesus Christ wants me to love everyone.
Younger children can begin now to practice showing love, even when they are treated unfairly by peers or siblings. As you read Matthew 5:44–45, consider how the Savior’s teachings apply to the children you teach.
Possible Activities
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Restate Matthew 5:44 using words and situations the children will understand and relate to. Ask the children to share times when they showed love for someone even though it was hard. How did these experiences make them feel?
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As a class, sing a song about loving others, such as “Love One Another” (Children’s Songbook, 136–37). What do we learn from this song about loving others?
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Give the children paper hearts labeled with the words “I will show my love for everyone.” Ask them to decorate the hearts and hang them in their homes as a reminder to love others.
Teach the Doctrine: Older Children
I can be happy when I live the way Jesus taught.
As you read Matthew 5:3–12, what words and phrases stand out to you? How will these teachings bless the lives of the children you teach?
Possible Activities
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Create a chart on the board with two columns labeled Blessed are … and Blessing. Invite the children to search Matthew 5:3–12 looking for the qualities of those Jesus said would be blessed and the blessings He promised them. Then fill in the chart with what they find. Discuss with the children what each quality and corresponding blessing mean.
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Write each quality from these verses on a card and its corresponding blessing on a card. For example, one card would say “meek,” and another would say “inherit the earth” (verse 5). Let the children match the qualities and the blessings. Ask the children to pick one of the qualities in these verses that they want to develop.
I can be a peacemaker.
Jesus taught that peacemakers will be called the children of God. How can you inspire the children to be peacemakers?
Possible Activities
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Invite a child to read Matthew 5:9 aloud. What is a peacemaker? What are ways we can be peacemakers with our families and friends? (For some ideas, see verses 21–24, 38–47.)
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Ask each child to think of a situation that would need the help of a peacemaker. What would a peacemaker do in the situation?
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Invite the children to share times when they showed love for someone, even if that person was different from them or was difficult to love.
My example can light the way for others to follow Jesus.
Many of the children you teach have made baptismal covenants. Think about how the Savior’s words in Matthew 5:14–16 relate to their covenants. What messages might the Lord have in this passage for the children in your class?
Possible Activities
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Help the children memorize Matthew 5:16. Write the verse on the board. Read it together several times, erasing a few words each time. Invite the children to draw things they can do to be a light to others. Talk about how being a light to others helps us fulfill our baptismal covenants (see Mosiah 18:8–10).
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Sing a song about sharing light with others, such as “Shine On” (Children’s Songbook, 144). How can we share the Savior’s light?
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Ask the children to draw things that give us light. Read Matthew 5:14–16. Ask them why Jesus wants us to be a light to the world.
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Invite two children to face each other, and ask one to try to make the other smile without touching him or her. Talk about the power the children have to bring happiness to others.
Encourage Learning at Home
Challenge the children to watch for someone being a peacemaker this week. At the beginning of next week’s class, invite them to talk about who and what they saw.
Improving Our Teaching
Help children be active. “As you teach children, allow them to build, draw, color, write, and create. These things are more than fun activities—they are essential to learning” (Teaching in the Savior’s Way, 25).