April Sharing Time: He Lives!
by st4

This sharing time will help the children better understand the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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This sharing time will help the children better understand the atonement, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Preparation: Get a flannel board and Visual Aids Cut Outs, Set 8: Christmas and Easter Figures from your meetinghouse library. Familiarize yourself with the scriptures that tell the stories of Jesus in the Garden, on the cross, and when he was resurrected. (See Matthew 26:36-45; Matthew 27:33- 50; and John 20:10-20.) Create a paper with one large starburst and three smaller ovals. Inside the starburst write He Lives! Inside the three ovals draw a simple tree labeled Garden of Gethsemane, a simple cross, and a simple open tomb (cave with round stone door). Make cardstock copies of this sheet for each child. For the younger children cut out the shapes before sharing time. Obtain three pieces of yarn (approx. 6 inches long) for each child.

Presentation: Using the visual aid cut outs and the flannel board, retell the story of Jesus’ atonement, death, and resurrection. Make sure to cover these points: Jesus went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. He was filled with sorrow because he knew he must suffer great agony to atone for the sins of the world. He prayed that the Father would “let this cup pass from me” (meaning he would not have to do it) but “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (meaning he would do whatever Heavenly Father required). Jesus then atoned (or suffered) for all the sins of the world. This suffering caused him to sweat drops of blood.

Jesus was taken before the leaders of the government and sentenced to death. The Roman soldiers took him to a hill called Golgotha or Calvary where they drove nails through his hands and feet and placed His cross between two criminals. Before Jesus died, he asked Heavenly Father to “forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Jesus’ body was taken to a tomb where they wrapped him in cloth and closed the opening with a large stone. Roman soldiers were set to guard the tomb. Three days later Mary Magdalene returned to put spices and ointments on his body. When she arrived, the stone was rolled away and Jesus’ body was no longer inside the tomb. Jesus had been resurrected (his spirit and his body were reunited in a perfect state). He appeared to Mary and told her to tell the apostles that she had seen him. Later, He appeared to the apostles and others.

Testify that you know Jesus really does live again and that because of Him, we can be forgiven of our sins and also live again.

Have the pianist play “I Know that My Redeemer Lives,” (Hymns, 136). Ask the children to hum along until you get to “He Lives!” Have them sing the “He Lives!” (Cue them by holding up one of the starbursts each time.)

Give each child the starburst and ovals. Have them make a mobile by hanging the three ovals from the starburst with yarn. (Punch three holes along the bottom edge of the starburst and one hole in the top of each oval.) Encourage them to retell the story to their parents, using the mobile as a reminder.

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