January Week 4 Primary Sharing Time Helps and Ideas

Week 4 The family is ordained of God and is central to His plan.

First, let's define ordained : to invest officially (as by the laying on of hands) with ministerial or priestly authority2 a: to establish or order by appointment, decree, or law : enact , from Late Latin ordinare, from Latin, to put in order, appoint, from ordin-, ordo order (Thank you merriam-webster.com)

See here for more direction on how to have a successful reader's theatre during sharing time.

Really... if you've never done this before, read the tips! If you don't have strong readers in your Junior Primary read the narrator parts and President Hinckley yourself. Nephi has a simple part and the words between Narrator 2 and Little brother are also easier to read. Have littler children come up as you need them to act out different parts.

A Family First Loved

By Sofia Lykes

Characters:
Narrator 1
Narrator 2
Narrator 3
Nephi
President Hinckley
Little Brother
Helpers to act things out as the narrators speak

Props:
Think Simple
GAK picture of Nephi and President Hinckley for children to hold
Scriptures

Narrator 1: There are many families in the scriptures. There are many families on earth today. There will be many families in the years to come.

Narrator 2: Why are families so important?

Narrator 3: How will families help me come closer to Christ?

Nephi: "I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents..." 1 Nephi 1:1

Narrator 1: Yeah, Nephi had great parents, even a great brother named Sam....

Narrator 2: But that Laman and Lemuel were T-R-O-U-B-L-E, trouble!!

Narrator 3: And don't forget Jacob and Joseph who were born in the wilderness!

Nephi: "I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell." 2 Nephi 33:6

Narrator 1: How could Nephi stay so happy and true to God, when he suffered so much because of his brothers?

Narrator 2: Yeah, didn't they beat him with a rod and refuse to help him build the ship that would take them to the promised land?

Narrator 3: You guys, don't you see! Families aren't always perfect, but we can learn from our experiences within the home how to be closer to Christ.

President Hinckley: "It is within families that truth is best learned, integrity is cultivated, self-discipline is instilled, and love is nurtured. It is at home that we learn the values and the standards to which we guide our lives. It is at home that we come to determine what we will stand for." (Standing for Something p.195)

Narrator 2: Wow. President Hinckley is so awesome.

Narrator 3: We have families here on earth, but our ward is also a family. Actually, the whole world is my family.

Narrator 1: You mean my teacher at school is my brother or my sister?

Narrator 2: Sure! After all, don't we only have one father who created our spirits?

Narrator 3: Heavenly Father! Psalms 82:6 says, "All of you are children of the most High."

President Hinckley: "Faith... is a fact of life. Faith can become the very wellspring of purposeful living...We are children of God, that God expects us to do something with our lives, and that He will give us help when help is sought." (Standing for Something p. 128)

Narrator 3: All families are different.

Narrator 2: Perhaps your family is far from perfect. When there are mistakes made, there is the chance of forgiveness and love.

Narrator 1: When Laman and Lemuel had tied up Nephi with chords, Nephi prayed and the bands were loosed. Laman and Lemuel were really mad and wanted to kill Nephi! But then they realized they were wrong and bowed down before Nephi, pleading for forgiveness.

Narrator 2: Boy, that sure makes me grateful for my little brother! He grabs my toys sometimes, but that is way better than wanting to take away my life!

Nephi: "And it came to pass that I did frankly forgive them all that they had done, and I did exhort them that they would pray unto the Lord their God for forgiveness." (1 Nephi 7:21)

Narrator 3: What does frankly mean?

Narrator 1: Frankly means being free and sincere... according to the dictionary.

Little Brother: Frankly, I'm sorry for grabbing your toys.

Narrator 2: I love you!! No worries!! I'm not perfect and make mistakes too, so I hope you'll forgive me.

Little Brother: I'm sure lucky to have you in my family.

Narrator 1: This is what it's all about. I bet you guys are making Nephi and President Hinckley really happy!

(Nephi and President Hinckley shake heads yes)

Narrator 3: And I bet our Father in Heaven is pleased also. After all the family is central to God's plan. (hold up proclamation) It has been since before we were born.

Narrator 2: "We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

*And please forgive me, on weeks that I do reader's theatre I don't post other ideas.

**But... I did have one thought. You could tape a circle on the floor and have the word family inside. Then tape 2 larger circles around it. Have a bean bag and let children come up and try to toss on the central circle that says family. (Remember to define... "central" is center or of utmost importance!) If it lands on the family you can sing a song or read a scripture. If it lands within the other 2 circles they can answer questions on how to strengthen the family. The same can be done with a dart board... but please, be careful because blood is never fun. You could earn points for where the beanbag/dart is thrown, but I would never make it into a competition. I would always see how many points they can earn together as a primary! Encourage unity!