Family Home Evening Lesson fro Malachi

 Read or Summarize Malachi 3:8-12

8 ​​​​​​Will​ a man ​​​rob​ God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In ​​​tithes​ and offerings.

​​​9 ​Ye ​are​ ​​​cursed​ with a curse: for ye have robbed me, ​even​ this whole nation.

​​​10 ​Bring ye all the ​​​tithes​ into the storehouse, that there may be ​​​meat​ in mine house, and ​​​prove​ me now herewith, saith the ​​Lord​​ of hosts, if I will not ​​​open​ you the ​​​windows of heaven​, and pour you out a ​​​blessing​, that ​there shall​ not ​be room​ enough ​to receive it.​

​​​11 ​And I will ​​​rebuke​ the ​​​devourer​ for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the ​​Lord​​ of hosts.

​​​12 ​And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the ​​Lord​​ of hosts.

Discuss

What is tithing?

D&C 119:4 simply states that all members “shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, … saith the Lord.”

What is tithing used for?

In Elder David A. Bednar’s talk “The Windows of Heaven” (Ensign October 2013), he said, “These sacred funds are used in a rapidly growing church to spiritually bless individuals and families by constructing and maintaining temples and houses of worship, supporting missionary work, translating and publishing scriptures, fostering family history research, funding schools and religious education, and accomplishing many other Church purposes as directed by the Lord’s ordained servants.”

Share Your Testimony

Share your testimonies with each other of the blessings of tithing. Elder Bednar discussed how his mother recognized that by giving the Lord 10% of their income, they didn’t spend as much money on medical bills. Elder Bednar bore his testimony of tithing by saying, “I testify spiritual and temporal blessings come into our lives as we live the law of tithing. I bear witness that such blessings often are significant but subtle.”

Activity 

Look at the following incomes below. Have children identify how much money in each group should be given to tithing. If you give your children an allowance, help them figure out how much money they should give to tithing.

Answers to the activity, and our video for this lesson is in the video, when you click on the picture below.

Family Home Evening for Haggai; Zechariah 1-3; 7-14

 Read Haggai 1:2-7

 ​Thus speaketh the ​​Lord​​ of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the ​​Lord​​’s house should be built.

​​​3 ​Then came the word of the ​​Lord​​ by Haggai the prophet, saying,

​​​4 ​​Is it​ time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ​​​ceiled​ houses, and this house ​lie​ waste?

​​​5 ​Now therefore thus saith the ​​Lord​​ of hosts; ​​​Consider​ your ways.

​​​6 ​Ye have ​​​sown​ much, and bring in little; ye ​​​eat​, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that ​​​earneth​ wages earneth ​​​wages​ ​to put it​ into a bag with ​​​holes​.

​​​7 ​​Thus saith the ​​Lord​​ of hosts; ​​​Consider​ your ​​​ways​.

Discuss

The Israelites had been in captivity for a long time. When they finally went back to Jerusalem, the whole city had been destroyed. Their houses were broken up and the temple had been destroyed. The people wanted to rebuild the temple immediately, but the Lord told them that they needed to rebuild their own spiritual foundation first. 

The scriptures we just read asked us to “consider your ways.” As a family, let’s think about our ways. “Our ways” represents our habits and the things that we do everyday. Think about the phrases in verse 6. What could they mean in your family? For example, “Ye have sown much, and bring in little,” could mean that though you are busy all day, maybe you fill your day with things that don’t help you come closer to Heavenly Father, develop your talents, help others, or help you become the person that Heavenly Father wants you to be. Or “ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink,” could mean that you have your scriptures open or you sit quietly during family scripture study, but you don’t really listen to or pay attention to what is being read.

Find your own family meaning for these phrases and discuss how you could work harder to “consider your ways” and grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus, as a family.

• ​​​​Ye have ​​​sown​ much, and bring in little

• Ye ​​​eat​, but ye have not enough 

• Ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink

• Ye clothe you, but there is none warm

• He that ​​​earneth​ wages earneth ​​​wages​ ​to put it​ into a bag with ​​​holes

Click the picture below to see how we did this lesson

Family Home Evening for Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah

Read Zephaniah 2:3

3 ​Seek ye the ​​Lord​​, all ye ​​​meek​ of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek ​​​righteousness​, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the ​​​day​ of the ​​Lord​​’s anger.

Discuss

What does it mean to be righteous?

The Guide to the Scriptures teach us that people who are righteous do what is right, are holy and virtuous, act fair, avoid sin, and obey God’s commandments.

What does it mean to be meek?

The Guide to the Scriptures teach us that to be meek means that we put what God wants us to do above what we want or what other people want us to do. A meek person is righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering. The meek are willing to follow gospel teachings.

What does it mean to seek righteousness and meekness?

Activity

Sometimes it is hard to find meekness and righteousness in a world that’s full of so many distractions. See if you can find 5 MEEKNESS words and 5 RIGHTEOUSNESS words in the words below

VIDEOGAMES TELEVISION ONLINE MOVIES GAMES MEEKNESS FOOD FRIENDS PARTIES PLAYING RIGHTEOUSNESS EMAIL TEXTING MEEKNESS PHONES NOTIFICATIONS RIGHTEOUSNESS SOCIAL MEDIA RIGHTEOUSNESS BALLOONS BUBBLES MEEKNESS TOYS SIBLINGS MONEY SLEEPING WEB SURFING RIGHTEOUSNESS HOMEWORK FITTING IN SICKNESS LAZINESS MEEKNESS THOUGHTS NEWS NOISE RIGHTEOUSNESS PEER PRESSURE CLOTHING WANTING TO BELONG MEEKNESS

Click on the picture below to see our video of this lesson

 

Family Home Evening for Jonah and Micah

 Today, we will be covering Jonah 1-4. These are very short chapters, but they are a lot more fun to act out, than they are to read. You can read the chapters and write your own script. Here is what we did:

Lord: Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

Jonah: (Jumps up) I don’t want to go to Nineveh. Those people are so wicked, they won’t listen to me. I know, I’ll hide out in Tarshish instead!

A great storm arises, people on the boat are shaking, being squirted with squirt guns or having water thrown on them, pieces of the boat break off. The people in the boat are scared and begin to kneel down and pray. Some of them start throwing things overboard to lighten the load)

Jonah: Sleeping in the bottom of the boat.

Shipmaster: Why are you sleeping?! You need to wake up and pray, or we are all going to die! 

Shipmate 1: Let’s cast lots and see who made God so mad that He sent this storm! (Passes out sticks. Jonah gets the short stick)

Shipmate 2: (to Jonah) What did you do that caused this to happen? Where did you come from?

Jonah: I am an Hebrew; and I pray to the God that created the whole world. I am running away, because God told me to do something that scared me.

All Other Shipmates: Gasp

Shipmaster: Why did you do that? What should we do to save us and our ship?

Jonah: I know that this storm is my fault. Just throw me overboard and you will be safe.

Shipmaster: I hate throwing you over board in this storm. Maybe we can row really fast and make it to land.

The storm continues as they try to row to land.

Shipmaster: Please God, do not let us die. We tried to protect this man, but we know that’s not possible. We hate killing this man, but we will do what you want.

Throw Jonah overboard. The storm stops. The shipmates thank God, and the boat leaves, and Jonah is swallowed by a big whale.

Inside the belly of the whale

Jonah: (praying) Please forgive me. Thank you for answering my prayer and saving me from that terrible storm. I promise, if I make it out of here alive, I will go to the temple. No matter what happens, or whomever I am with, I will always worship Thee!

Jonah gets spit out of the belly of the whale onto dry land.

Lord: Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.

Jonah: Okay! 

Narrator: Nineveh was a great city that took 3 days for Jonah to travel to.

Jonah: In 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown, according to the word of God.

Townsperson: We should worship God and fast. We don’t need fancy clothes or jewels.

King of Nineveh: I too shall take off my fancy clothes and repent of my sins. I send out a royal decree that every man, woman, child, plant, and beast will begin a fast. Nothing will eat or drink anything, but we will be humble and pray to God for forgiveness.

Lord: I am pleased with the humility of these people. I forgive them and I will not let them be destroyed.

Jonah: Hey! I was like them, when I was at home, and I knew you were kind, merciful, forgiving, and not angry. That’s why I tried to leave and go to Tarshish. If you are going to forgive them that easily, I might as well just die.

Lord: Is it doing you well to be angry?

Jonah: I’m going to sit up in the mountains and watch this city fall again.

Narrator: Overnight a gourd grew and the leaves covered Jonah’s head and protected him from the sun. Jonah was grateful for the gourd. The next evening, the Lord sent a worm to destroy the gourd. Then there came a strong east wind and the sun beat down on Jonah all day, until he fainted.

Jonah: It is better for me to die than to live.

Lord: Do you still think it is worth it to be angry? Would you rather be angry at or be happy for the people of Nineveh? You are sad that the gourd died, but you didn’t do any work to create it or grow it. Nineveh is a great city, with thousands of people and animals that are mine, and I love them. Why should I not save them?

Discuss

What lessons do we learn from Jonah?

Click in the picture below to see how we did this lesson

Family Home Evening for Amos and Obadiah

 Read Amos 5:4

4 ​ ​For thus saith the ​​Lord​​ unto the house of Israel, ​​​Seek​ ye me, and ye shall live:

Discuss

What does it mean to seek the Lord?

Activity

Make a poster to help your family remember ways that they can seek the Lord. One idea would be to put the scripture in the center of the poster and have children surround the scripture with things that they could do to seek the Lord. Pictures could be hand-drawn, cut out from magazines, or printed clip art from the internet. For older children, you could add other scriptures that teach us to seek the Lord or how to seek the Lord, such as Matthew 7:7–8; Ether 12:41; and Doctrine and Covenants 88:63.

Click on our poster below, to see how we did this lesson

Family Home Evening for Hosea 1-6; 10-14; Joel

 Read

As you read the following scriptures, ask your children to look for 2 things. 1- How can we show the Lord that we love Him? 2- How does the Lord show us that He loves us?

Jake will read Joel 2:12-13

Zander will read Hosea 2:20-21

Parker will read Hosea 10:12

Joel 2:12-13

12 Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning:

13 And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.

Hosea 2:20-21 and 23

20 I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord.

21 And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth;

23 And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.

Hosea 10:12

12 ​Sow to yourselves in ​​​righteousness​, ​​​reap​ in mercy; ​​​break​ up your fallow ground: for ​it is​ time to seek the ​​Lord​​, till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

Discuss

In these scriptures, the Lord asks us to turn to Him with all of our hearts, fast, feel truly repentant for our sins, sow ourselves to righteousness, reap mercy, break up our fallow ground (prepare ourselves to grow spiritually), and to seek the Lord. 

Use these things to help you make a list of what you can do to show your love for the Lord. For example, you could turn to Him by turning off a movie that has things in it that would make the Lord sad.

The Lord shows us that He loves us, because He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forgives us of our sins. He wants to bind us to Him forever, just as someone who marries another person is bound to them. He gives us the Holy Ghost so that we can hear what Heavenly Father wants us to know, and He listens to us, when we pray. Sometimes the world seems so mean and hard. Sometimes it feels like nobody loves us and we are all alone. If we can learn to turn our hearts to the Lord we will see that we will find mercy and love. The kind of love that is eternal, pure, and everlasting, and He will rain righteous upon you.

Activity 

Fill out the clock on the next page to help children identify something that they can do each hour to show the Lord that they love Him. Set a reminder or alarm and have them do these things for 1 week. At the end of the week ask them how they were able to better feel the love of the Lord, as they gave their love to Him. 

Watch

Click the picture of our clock below to see how we did this lesson

Family Home Evening for Daniel 1-6

 Discuss

Has anybody ever asked you to do something that your parents have taught you not to do? Do you know what the Word of Wisdom is?

According to the Guide to the Scriptures, the Word of Wisdom is, “A law of health revealed by the Lord for the physical and spiritual benefit of the Saints (D&C 89). It has become commonly referred to as the Word of Wisdom. The Lord has always taught His followers principles of health. The Lord revealed to Joseph Smith which types of foods to eat and which to avoid, along with a promise of temporal and spiritual blessings for obeying the Word of Wisdom.”

The following are the things outlined in the word of wisdom:

• All things which come of the earth are to be used with judgment, not to excess.

• The Lord counseled the Saints to not use wine, strong drinks, tobacco, and hot drinks.

• Herbs, fruits, flesh, and grain are ordained for the use of man and of animals.

• Eat meat in thankfulness and should be eaten sparingly

The Lord promises in D&C 89:18-21

18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

Discuss how your children should respond when someone offers them something that is against the Word of Wisdom.

Did you know that there is a story in the Bible where Daniel and his friends, Shadrach; Meshach; and Abed-nego, were offered food and strong drink and they had to tell the prince of eunuchs, Melzar, that they could not drink the wine or eat the meat that the king offered them. 

The prince was afraid that the kind would be very mad and kill him, because they would be sick and look too skinny. They asked the prince to give them grains to eat and water to drink, for 10 days.

After 10 days, Daniel, Shadrach; Meshach; and Abed-nego looked more healthy than those that had eaten the king’s meat and drank the king’s wine.

Daniel 1:17-20 says

17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams.

18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar.

19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah [Shadrach], Mishael [Meshach], and Azariah [Abed-nego]: therefore stood they before the king.

20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

As Daniel grew older, he became loved by all the kings, and he was known as the interpreter of dreams. King Darius loved Daniel and made him a prince over the kingdom. The other princes got jealous and tried to find a reason to get him in trouble, but Daniel was honest and good.

So, the princes told Darius to make a royal decree that said if anyone should ask any man or God for something for 30 days, then he should be ​​​cast​ into a den of lions.

Daniel was not ashamed to pray, and left the windows open in his house, when he knelt down to pray. The princes saw him and told the king that they saw Daniel pray 3 times a day. King Darius wanted to change the decree, but there was a law that once a decree was made, it could not be changed. 

King Darius asked his guards to go arrest Daniel and cast him into the lion’s den. As he went into the den, the King told Daniel that he believed that the God that Daniel prayed to would save him. 

The king fasted all night and ran to the lion’s den as soon as the sun came up. He went to the top of the den and said, 

Daniel 6:20-23

20…O Daniel, ​​​servant​ of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?

​​​21​Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.

​​​22 ​My God hath sent his ​​​angel​, and hath shut the ​​​lions’​ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.

​​​23 ​Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he ​​​believed​ in his God

Daniel was blessed because he prayed to God and didn’t let anybody stop him. What do we learn from Daniel’s example? What can we do to be more like him?

Click the picture below to see how we did this lesson