Doctrinal mastery scripture passages contain important truths about Jesus Christ and His gospel. This lesson can help you gain a greater understanding of these truths and help you practice explaining them to others.
Practicing explaining. Giving students opportunities to practice explaining the truths the Savior taught can help them recognize what they know about a truth and increase their confidence in sharing their knowledge with others.
Student preparation: Invite students to select a doctrinal mastery scripture passage they have learned recently and to explain it to someone.
Possible Learning Activities
A doctrinal mastery passage lesson may need to be taught in place of this review lesson. Refer to the pacing schedule provided by the area or region director or coordinator to ensure that each doctrinal mastery passage lesson will be taught while seminary is in session.
Consider inviting a student to demonstrate a skill that took practice to develop, such as playing a musical instrument or singing.
Developing a skill
What is something you are really good at?
How did you become good at it?
Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked about how to develop a skill.
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Elder Gary E. Stevenson
For someone to be really good at anything, it takes, in addition to natural talent, great discipline, sacrifice, and countless hours of training and practice.
How might this apply to your study of the scriptures?
How confident are you in your ability to explain the Savior’s teachings to others?
Feel free to select other doctrinal mastery passages for the following activities.
Today you will use doctrinal mastery scripture passages to deepen your understanding of truths the Savior taught, and you will practice explaining these truths to others. First, it may be helpful to review the doctrinal mastery passages you have studied recently. Try matching the doctrinal mastery scripture reference with its correct key scripture phrase.
Feel free to select other doctrinal mastery passages for the following activities. The answers for the matching activity are 1-C, 2-B, 3-A, 4-D.
D. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. … Thou shalt love thy neighbour.”
Understanding the passage
Consider doing the following activity as a class. Write a doctrinal mastery scripture passage on the board (prior to class, if possible). Share the following instructions and invite students to write their questions on the board.
Write down as many questions as you can about the doctrinal mastery passage. (Examples of questions you could ask include the following: What does this phrase mean? Who was the Savior speaking to, and why? What truth did the Savior teach, and why? When could this teaching be helpful to me?) Seek answers to your questions using resources such as other scripture passages, prayer, gospel study helps, and people you trust. Record any answers you find.
It is important to remember that not all answers can be found quickly. Some require extra time, extra study, and personal revelation. However, the exercise of asking questions and seeking answers can strengthen your relationship with your Father in Heaven and help you grow in your ability to be spiritually self-reliant.
Invite students to share what they found. Then invite them to do the same activity on their own with a different passage. Or it may be beneficial to assign each student one of the doctrinal mastery scripture passages being reviewed and then to divide students into groups, with each student in the group having been assigned a different scripture passage.
Explaining the truth
Consider adapting the following activity by placing envelopes around the room with a single doctrinal mastery passage inside each envelope. Assign each student to study one of the doctrinal mastery passages. Divide students into groups, making sure that each student in the group has been assigned a different passage. Invite the groups to go to each envelope. After they open it, have the student in the group who studied the doctrinal mastery passage that is in the envelope explain to the rest of their group the meaning of the passage and what they learned about it.
Imagine a friend read the doctrinal mastery scripture passage you just studied but had a hard time understanding it and how it is relevant to their life. They ask you about it.
Write an explanation of the doctrinal mastery scripture passage to your friend. Be sure to identify important truths and explain why they are important to you.
Following up on practicing
Reflect on this experience of seeking to more deeply understand and explain truths found in doctrinal mastery scripture passages.
How did deepening your understanding affect your ability to explain gospel truths?
What could you do in the future to be ready to explain to others the truths found in doctrinal mastery passages and in other scripture passages?