Assess Your Learning 4
This lesson is intended to help you evaluate the goals you have set and the learning and personal growth you have experienced during your study of the New Testament.
Praying for students. To better focus on individual students, pray for them by name. Ask for Heavenly Father’s help in understanding students’ needs and in knowing which teaching strategies to use to help meet those needs. Listen for promptings about how to help each student.
Student preparation: Invite students to reflect on the spiritual growth they have experienced during their study of the New Testament. Is their New Testament study helping them know, love, and serve Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ? What meaningful experiences have they had?
Possible Learning Activities
This lesson is intended to help students assess goals they have set, their ability to explain teachings in the New Testament, or how their attitudes, desires, and ability to live the gospel are changing. The class’s study of Matthew 14–20; Mark 6–10; Luke 10; 12; 14–18; and John 5–11 may have emphasized truths other than those in the following activities. If so, the activities could be adapted to include those truths.
Come unto Jesus Christ and become His disciple
Take some time to reflect on how you are growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ and seeking to more fully come unto Him as you study the New Testament. Some of the ways that you have been encouraged to do this are in your ability to receive and follow personal revelation and explain some of the roles and titles of Jesus Christ and in your efforts to seek peace in this life through Jesus Christ. Seek to know from your Father in Heaven how you are growing and developing in these ways as well as any actions you should continue making or adjust in order to continue deepening your discipleship to Jesus Christ.
Increase your ability to receive revelation
Begin class by playing a familiar song very quietly. It should be quiet enough that even with students making as little noise as possible, those sitting closest to the source of the sound might not hear the music. Ask students to identify the song that is playing.
Take a minute to listen to sounds around you.
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What sounds can you hear only when you are listening carefully?
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What can you do when you hear something very faintly and you want to know what it is?
Students might respond that they move closer to the source of the sound, try to be very still and quiet, focus their thoughts on listening, or block out background noises. Consider writing student responses on the board and then asking students to use those methods to try to identify the song playing.
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How is this activity like receiving revelation from the Holy Ghost?
An important objective in seminary is to help you increase your ability to receive personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.
Consider students’ needs and whether the information in the following paragraph will be helpful for them.
In the Book of Mormon, Nephi described the Holy Ghost as a “still small voice” that we feel more than we hear (1 Nephi 17:45). We can improve our ability to hear or feel the Holy Ghost in our hearts in ways similar to those we use to listen for a quiet sound. Drawing spiritually closer to God, being still in our mind, focusing our thoughts, and blocking out background noise are all effective ways to increase our ability to recognize the whispering of the Holy Ghost.
Take some time to reflect on recent experiences you have had receiving personal revelation from the Holy Ghost. You might review notes you have written in your scriptures or study journal. You might also ask Heavenly Father to help you recognize or remember the personal revelation you have received. Then record the thoughts and feelings that come to your mind and heart.
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What recent experiences have you had receiving personal revelation? How did you recognize these experiences as being from God?
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What have you learned in your study of the New Testament that can help you recognize the Holy Ghost?
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What insights could you share with someone struggling to recognize the Spirit?
One of the main roles of the Holy Ghost is to testify of the Father and the Son (see Matthew 16:17; John 15:26; 3 Nephi 11:32).
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What has the Spirit helped you understand or feel about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ?
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How are the gift of the Holy Ghost and the opportunity for personal revelation evidence of God’s love for you?
If needed, consider showing “Patterns of Light: Spirit of Revelation” (3:04), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org, to help students understand that large, dramatic spiritual experiences are probably less common than quiet, simple impressions from the Holy Ghost.
Encourage students to continue to seek personal revelation even if they feel it is difficult to recognize promptings from the Holy Ghost.
Explain roles and titles of Jesus Christ
Display the following pictures of bread and of a sheep. Ask students if they can explain how the Savior used these as symbols to teach about Himself.
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How did the Savior use bread and sheep to teach about Himself?
You may recall the Savior teaching in metaphors like “I am the bread of life” (see John 6:35, 41, 48, 51), “I am the good shepherd” (John 10:11), and “I am the resurrection, and the life” (John 11:25).
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What do these titles teach you about the Savior’s character and the roles He can play in your life?
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How does understanding His character and roles help you love Him more?
As you have studied the New Testament, you may have kept a list in your study journal of the roles and titles of Jesus Christ. If you have this list, take a few minutes to review it. Add any titles or roles you may have missed. If you have not yet created that list, you may want to start it now, listing any roles or titles that you can think of. If you can’t think of any, consider reviewing “The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles” (ChurchofJesusChrist.org) or “Jesus Christ” in Guide to the Scriptures or the Topical Guide for some ideas.
Students may enjoy doing the following activity with a partner or in small groups. Invite students to share with the class what they create.
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Write a thank-you card to the Savior, focusing on one or more of His roles or titles. Include any experiences you have had recognizing Him fulfilling that role in your life, and express your gratitude.
If students created a collage in the previous lesson, consider skipping the next suggested activity.
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Create a visual that explains the Savior’s roles or titles. Include applicable scripture references and why these roles or titles are meaningful to you. Consider sharing it on social media when you finish.
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Write a short talk or prepare a mini lesson about one or more of the Savior’s roles or titles that you could teach as a seminary devotional, as a home evening lesson, or in a church class. Include what the role or title means and any experiences you have had when He fulfilled that role in your life.
Feel an increased desire to seek peace in Christ
If visual aids were used in the lessons referred to in the following paragraph, consider showing those same visual aids to help students recall those lessons. Rather than reading the paragraph, consider asking students what they remember from those lessons.
In your study of the New Testament, you have likely had opportunities to learn and think about the peace that can come from Jesus Christ. For example, you might remember the Savior’s invitation for us to come unto Him when we feel heavy laden (see Matthew 11:28–30) or Jesus walking on the water and helping lift Peter up when he began to sink (see Matthew 14:26–33). You might have had the opportunity to draw a picture in your study journal as part of the lesson on Mark 4:35–41 that discussed Jesus Christ calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. If you have any notes in your study journal from these lessons, consider reviewing them.
Ponder and answer the following questions in your study journal so you can track your spiritual progress.
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How have your desires to find peace in Christ changed as you have studied His life and ministry?
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Have you felt an increase or a decrease of peace in Christ in the last few weeks? If so, what do you think has contributed to this change?
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Why do you think Jesus Christ is the source of peace?
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Why do you think the Savior wants to give you His peace?
Invite willing students to share some of their thoughts, impressions, or questions. Allow students to “be as candid about [their] questions as [they] need to be” while also encouraging them to not “let those questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle” (Jeffrey R. Holland, “Lord, I Believe,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2013, 94).
Consider bearing testimony of how studying the life and teachings of Jesus Christ in the New Testament increases faith. It may be helpful to share a personal story and testimony.